Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Reading, writing and thinking






Found this online today. Think it encapsulates at least part of what blogging is about and why I blog, certainly why blogs should be used in education.

Reading exposes us to the ideas of others, and the more widely in views and opinions we read, the more we can form and understand our own. Likewise, the more broadly we read, the more connections we can draw between seemingly disparate areas of knowledge. Reading with breadth as well as depth is to be encourage.

But thinking means reading reflectively, sometimes slowly. I can't bring myself to write in books (other than my bible), but when I read a paper (no not the newspaper) I do so with pen and highlighter and scribble all over them.

I find writing helps me think about what I've read, using strategies like:


  • compare and contrast thinkers/writers
  • synthesise the view of writer/s
  • push their views to their logical conclusion
Thinking is such an important skill when drinking from the firehouse that is Web 2.0 and filtering the dirty water that is corporate media and the masses of ill-informed opinion and poor research. The truth may (or may not) be out there, but unless you think about what you read, you'll never even get close to finding it.

No comments: