Friday, May 25, 2012
Print culture is anything that is printed, whether it is text or visual. As I teach second grade, I think of the written text in textbooks accompanied by pictures, graphs, charts, etc. Anything on the page that aids in student understanding is considered print culture.
Print culture, compared to oral culture or scribal culture, has great benefits. The invention of the printing press allowed for mass production of important documents, whereas oral and scribal limited the number of copies that could be produced. The information on documents could be saved and not loose meaning due to word of mouth and transcription errors. The impact on society has been profound; books, newspapers, magazine, and now the World Wide Web. Different printed documents even aided in our attained freedom.
The surge of technology on our society is taking print culture to the next level. I have heard it said that "the world is shrinking." We have an overwhelming amount of print in the form of information and knowledge at our fingertips. We have social networks that afford us the ability to keep in touch with friends and family that live thousands of miles away. And the implications for learning in schools are phenomenal. We have learning games, dictionaries, facts, visuals, and different cultures at the simple push of a button.
"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller
- connie.epperly
- I am a wife of 21 years (almost 22) to Don, and we have two sons and one cocker spaniel (Daisy). Dylan is 19 years old and attends WVU in pursuit of a Chemical Engineering Degree. Matthew is a Junior at BHS, plays ice hockey constantly and has big dreams of becoming a doctor someday. My greatest joy is spending time with them all, which this class is really putting a damper on.
The digital age is extreme print culture. Especially when you consider that young people coming of age in the digital age will read and write more than in any other time in history.
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