Blog 2

Speculation Post

Throughout the first two units we have discussed how new technologies change the way readers read. If we’ve come to a consensus that the Internet has, already, changed reading practices, then we must agree that the Internet is in the process of changing the way we study literature. This second post asks you to speculate about how: how has the study of literature changed with the rise of the Internet? (Is it possible we’ve gotten worse at reading and counting?)

We have two primary texts to help us think through this problem. Both Stephen King’s novella UR and Maria Cecire’s “Massively Open” depict scenes of reading within educational contexts, and both focus on literary studies. While King’s story was set in the present of a precise historical moment (the release of Kindle 2), Cecire’s imagines a not-so-distant future where higher education looks a bit strange, perhaps, but also familiar. Use one or both of these texts as a starting point for your own speculation about how new technologies—specifically Internet-enabled digital technologies—are changing education.

Speculation is, by necessity, imaginative because it requires thinking about the future. Feel free to be creative with that aspect of the assignment. But speculation also needs to be grounded in rigorous thinking about our present moment, if it is to connect with readers. For that reason, you also need to do a little research for this post. Find at least one secondary source that documents how new technologies have impacted education. Use that source to justify your speculations about the future.

If you need a little inspiration, watch this video: