Literacy Skills for Book and Online Reading to avoid the shallows of the web

Essay aus dem Jahr 2011 im Fachbereich Medien / Kommunikation - Sonstiges Universität Bayreuth Sprache: Deutsch Abstract: This paper reflects on book and web literacy. In particular the differences between online reading and book reading are outlined by referring to the differences in use of these two mediums and by taking into account the brain processes during reading. The reasons for the various kinds of literacy in regard to books and websites are described. Furthermore there are some studies done in Germany about reading behaviours which led to the main question which reading capabilities will be of importance in the future?In regards to books this essay does not differ between books readed as a printed version or on an electronical device such as the Kindle Wireless Reader or a similar item this will not explicitly be considered as online reading.To specify the meaning of online reading in this essay all reading of websites articles blogs etc. on the web will be considered as online or web reading while disregarding the perception of digital books as there is less difference to reading printed books.The theory of the knowledge gap was already described in the 1970ies: The infusion of mass media information into a social system increases segments of the population with higher socioeconomic status tend to acquire this information at a faster rate than the lower status segments so that the gap in knowledge between these segments tends to increase rather than decrease. At the moment the German society is confronted with a new risk of knowledge gap: the Digital Divide an advanced term including the knowledge gap theory in regard to the internet and also taken into account the diffusion of personal computers and other electronical devices to access the internet. As discussed in chapter 2.4 efficient online reading requires certain skills as the navigation and orientation within nonlinear structures seems to rely on the reader's ability to men