In the article entitled “Perseus Unbound”, is a part of
Sven’s Birkerts’ book The Gutenberg
Elegies: The Fate of Reading in a Electronic Age. The book references Johann Gutenberg, the
creator of the first practical printing press, to the widespread availably of
books. It then links the discussion of replacing
conventional print with unlimited information via the Internet. The debate between the amounts of usage of
computers during the late age of print is still being provoked by Elegies well after its publication.
Birkert brings up the point that whether us as a society
likes it or not, technology with video capability had pushed its way into the
previously textbook exclusive methods of education. He believes the process of increasing the
amount of integration of this newer technology into the current system is
inevitable. The flexible nature of
computer programs allows many applications in Law school, medical procedures,
and Perseus 1.0 for ancient Greek culture.
However, the debates against the use of these new
technologies in education lies in the potential danger of losing the valve of
the information itself, and create a lack of actual understanding. The huge influx
of all the previously unknown information will put a stress on the user that
may be too much to handle. We as a society
may also lose a sense of depth of the information we learn. Rather than spending countless hours
analyzing Shakespeare, verse by verse, to understand the original meaning, the process
has been reduced to a few simple keystrokes.
While I understand the notion by the opposition, that we
could eventually lose the sense of understanding of the information that we
study by using this newer technology, I tend to think that we could adapt the
technology in a way the helps the user understand the materials. As we continue to use the technology, our
learning methods will continue to adapt, and evolve the definition of “wisdom”.
The older methods will never become obsolete, rather become incorporated
alongside the technology.
I feel as if a lot of the authors we've read who have an argument against digital literacy/print/using the internet for academics are failing to realize something vital: not everyone understands and learns just by sitting down and reading a text. 1) Collecting knowledge and putting it all together in one glob called the internet, makes it easy for the young scholar to quickly obtain and digest information. 2) Many scholars learn things way better through new media presentations of information (as I somewhat mentioned in another comment.)
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