The History of Silent Reading
Hi everyone,
I decided to make silent reading the focus of my documentary. Silent reading is a pastime I have always enjoyed, but I have never really given much thought to how or when it originated. I realized that we probably do much more silent reading on a daily basis then we even realize, which is a message I try to convey in the introduction. I wanted to take a minimalist approach to delivering the history of silent reading, so as to provide an easy listening and viewing experience. I didn’t include too many graphics in my documentary, and I struggled with whether or not it just looked too scarce (I’m still not sure). I really enjoyed the history lesson I got while completing my research, but definitely found it challenging to organize and present all of the information I came across in a coherent manner. There was definitely a lot of condensing that needed to happen. Enjoy!
Here is the link to my video
& Here is a link to the PDF/Reference list: ETEC 540 – Assignment 2
Natalie
Hi Natalie:
I had never thought of Silent Reading in this way. Well done!
Your comment that the skill needs to be cultivated is consistent with the research I did on how the brain processes information. Reading is unnatural act for our brains in general.
It’s interesting as well how your research coincides with Ong — the idea that scholasticism required silent reading to bring about critical thought and reasoning. The move from oral reading and rote memorization to silent reading and “meaningful learning” as you referred is a significant one. The printing press was certainly an underlying disruption to all aspects of our world at the time.
Thanks for your hard work!