Screening: Reading in the 21st Century

Since the advent of computer technology in the mid to late 20th century, the act of reading has been quietly changing. Now in the 21 century - you may be surprised to learn - that reading is radically different from the meaning-making activity that you were trained to do as a child.
Reading used to be:
• recognizing 26 characters/symbols
• decoding those symbols to find meaning in words, sentences and paragraphs
• moving your eyes from left to right across a line and down a page
• turning pages from left to right
• trusting your textbook and library for authoritative sources

Screening is now:
• recognizing 26 characters/symbols
• decoding those symbols to find meaning in words, sentences and paragraphs
• scanning a screen to locate and decode the meaning of characters, images, tables, buttons, links, colored text, navigation bars/arrows/buttons/words
• making micro decisions to disregard irrelevant information
• scrolling right and left, up and down, clicking forward, backward and to other texts and back
• clicking a word to find its meaning
• making micro-decisions mid-sentence to leave the page for additional/alternative information
• downloading and locating texts
• making meaning from and interpreting graphics/slides/videos

Additionally the abundance of information available raises important questions about the role of authoritative sources. Screeners need to learn how to finds relevant screening materials and assess their value.

Through this course you will become a skilled "screener" and develop the tools to teach "screening."

Work will also be conducted on-line between the last two classes.