Reading Quest 3

The Internet

The author of this piece, Steven Johnson, seems to believe that the internet has revolutionized the way our culture thinks and spends its free time. Johnson makes the point that a majority of the activities carried out online are extremely participatory, where as when one watches a television program the phrase "zone out"  comes to mind instantly. The author continues by stating that the internet, and all of its different software and tools that may be included, presents a learning curve comparable to learning a new language. Steven Johnson believes that the net continuously challenges our minds in three ways: "by virtue of being participatory, by forcing users to learn new interfaces, and be creating new channels for social interaction."
I agree with most everything Steven Johnson states in his essay. Every time someone downloads a new program or application, the learning process begins to take place. Sure, a vast majority of such software includes some sort of tutorial or a "Help Me" button, yet most users choose to simply dive right in and figure out the in's and out's for themselves. We are constantly challenging the logical part of our brains, attempting to understand all of the functions of a certain application, or perhaps even troubleshooting a recent problem we have experienced on our desktop computers.


Learning to Think in a Digital World

The author of this essay, Maryanne Wolf, concurs that the current technological enhanced society we live in may encourage thinking habits for younger generations that could possibly destroy everything that our intellect has been able to create. Wolf states that it is a possibility that younger generations may become so accustomed to information popping up at their will, that they may no longer know, or feel the need, to investigate further or to analytically tear apart what is presented to them. The author then goes on to say that the complete opposite may also occur; the younger generation may one day show that they have mastered the necessary skills to improve and, "increase human intellectual capacities, quality of life, and collective wisdom as a species..." Wolf states that the children of our society should develop expert reading minds before being submerged in a technologically driven world.
Although I wish this weren't true, it seems as Maryanne Wolf has brought up many valid points. If one were to take a step back and look at a simple feature of a software program, such as Spell Check, one might begin to see such behavior being exhibited. Spell Check was implemented to make the users life easier, but is it also possible that this awesome device is dumbing our culture down? Instead of looking the word up in a dictionary and studying how it is spelled, the user just has to right click and select the right word. I believe that this is the message Maryanne Wolf was trying to convey, and I have to say she did a pretty swell job.


Learning Theory, Video Games, and Popular Culture

This piece, written by author James Gee, introduces a new way of looking at the mind. Interestingly enough, the author has chosen to interpret the human brain as a video game. Gee states, "...I am arguing that the mind is a simulation, but one that builds simulations to prepare purposely for specific actions and to achieve specific goals..."  The author goes on to establish a solid foundation for his argument by giving an example of how video games may be used as a metaphor for interpreting the complexities of the human brain. He starts by explaining how many video games may come with some type of an "editor" that enables the end user to manipulate the world of which the game takes place. Gee believes that this example directly correlates to the human mind's ability to edit and create different scenarios of a certain event based on past experiences. Much like our brains, video games posses the necessary tools for the user to create different worlds, characters, and outcomes based on previous events. The author goes on to state that, "For humans, effective thinking is more like running a simulation in our heads," in which we are able to imagine many different outcomes to a certain event without actually experiencing said event. I agree with the author on most details pertaining to his argument. James Gee uses many different examples, much like the one above, that effectively display how video games may be used to depict the human mind.

Usability of Websites for Teenagers

Jakob Nielsen, known as the world's leading expert in web usability, believes that most of the websites on the World Wide Web are simply not as easy to navigate as they should be. According to a study preformed by Mr. Nielsen, there is a success rate of only 55% amongst teenagers whilst trying to preform a certain task on a website. This seems low, especially when compared to the success rate that adults experience, 66%, while attempting to navigate the same sites. The author goes on to list the different reasons for why teenagers seem to have a harder time succeeding at preforming different tasks. These reasons include, "insufficient reading skills, less sophisticated research strategies, and a dramatically lower patience level." A common misconception about teens is that they are all web-savvy, yet as majority of teens struggle to complete a somewhat easy web-based task. Jakob Nielsen continues by explaining that teens dislike sites that are slow or boring, or even sites that just have way too much going on. I can agree with this 100%. I believe we have all had experiences with a certain website that had so many icons, badges, buttons, and glittery banners that by the time you're done looking at all of it, you've almost forgotten why you visited that site in the first place.