Notes and tidbits posted on FB and Twitter. Part 166
Note: I take notes of books I read and comment on events and edit sentences that fit my style. I pa attention to researched documentaries and serious links I receive. The page is long and growing like crazy, and the sections I post contains a month-old events that are worth refreshing your memory.
La faille est trop grande pour eviter la contagion dans ces lignes de partage et de demarcation entre Nord/ Sud,
coloniaux/ indigenes, lois civil/ lois ancestral, civilization/culture pittoresque, expat/immigre, dissident d’un system/opposant d’un despot…
Ce que nous appelons Avenir n’est qu’une variation du passe’. Tout de meme, le temps nous a change’ un tant soit peu
Jerusalem is the door to peace as well as to war: Religions are infamous catalysts to all kinds of mischief
A lire: “Desorientale” de Nigar Djavadi
Lebanon Foreign minister Bassil uttered an ignominy: I have no ideological problems with Israel. As if foreign people occupying a land and transferring its citizens is a purely human rights issue.
That’s the thing about life; It is fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given right
Si je raconte mes histoires personnel avec humour, ce sont les contes du petit royaume du “Je” de chacun de nous.
Lebanese university graduates are Not better off in job hunting. If they perform good in Lebanon, they are transferred oversea, mainly in the Arab Gulf States
Qatar, now on the verge of hosting the 2022 World Cup, is being accused of mistreatment of the workers from Bangladesh, Nepal and the Himalaya States, employed to build the stadiums, or a form of slavery. Over 400 workers died so far from overwork, malnutrition and unsanitary dwelling.
Stephen Spilberg, mawt sariri bi Loubnan. The Post lan yo3rad bi Loubnana 7atta iza Al Mashnouk wa al Moustakbal badhon yo3rdou. Spilberg tbarra3 bi one $million la Israel fi 7arbha 3ala Loubnan fi 2006
Anzarna Syrian Kurds in 3afreen (north-west Syrian province) la ta7tami ta7ta mizalat al shar3iyyat al Souriyyat
Talama al Jaish al Souri bi takkadom midani, fa al oumour bi ta7asson
Bassil kan bi 7ajat la 5 sa3aat ma3 Sayyed al Moukawamat 7atta yefham shou Ideologia bte3neh
Esta3malet al mokhtaar rabou2, 7ejjat la lo2maha. “kahrabt al jaww”. (niaiserie personelle de maitresse de jardin d’enfants)
Today’s students see themselves as digital natives, the first generation to grow up surrounded by technology like smartphones, tablets and e-readers.
Teachers, parents and policymakers certainly acknowledge the growing influence of technology and have responded in kind. We’ve seenmore investment in classroom technologies, with students now equipped with school-issued iPads and access to e-textbooks.
In 2009, California passed a law requiring that all college textbooks be available in electronic form by 2020; in 2011, Florida lawmakers passed legislation requiring public schools to convert their textbooks to digital versions.
Given this trend, teachers, students, parents and policymakers might assume that students’ familiarity and preference for technology translates into better learning outcomes. But we’ve found that’s not necessarily true.
As researchers in learning and text comprehension, our recent work has focused on the differences between reading print and digital media. While new forms of classroom technology like digital textbooks are more accessible and portable, it would be wrong to assume that students will automatically be better served by digital reading simply because they prefer it.
Speed- at a cost
Our work has revealed a significant discrepancy. Students said they preferred and performed better when reading on screens. But their actual performance tended to suffer.
For example, from our review of research done since 1992, we found that students were able to better comprehend information in print for texts that were more than a page in length.
This appears to be related to the disruptive effect that scrolling has on comprehension. We were also surprised to learn that few researchers tested different levels of comprehension or documented reading time in their studies of printed and digital texts. (That was in 1992 before advanced digital technology?)
To explore these patterns further, we conducted three studies that explored college students’ ability to comprehend information on paper and from screens.
Students first rated their medium preferences.
After reading two passages, one online and one in print, these students then completed three tasks: Describe the main idea of the texts, list key points covered in the readings and provide any other relevant content they could recall.
When they were done, we asked them to judge their comprehension performance.
Across the studies, the texts differed in length, and we collected varying data (e.g., reading time). Nonetheless, some key findings emerged that shed new light on the differences between reading printed and digital content:
Students overwhelming preferred to read digitally.
Reading was significantly faster online than in print. (Not in my case. Probably because I don’t read digitally frequently?)
Students judged their comprehension as better online than in print.
Paradoxically, overall comprehension was better for print versus digital reading.
The medium didn’t matter for general questions (like understanding the main idea of the text).
But when it came to specific questions, comprehension was significantly better when participants read printed texts.
Getty Images/Sean Gallup
Placing print in perspective
From these findings, there are some lessons that can be conveyed to policymakers, teachers, parents and students about print’s place in an increasingly digital world.
1. Consider the purpose
We all read for many reasons. Sometimes we’re looking for an answer to a very specific question. Other times, we want to browse a newspaper for today’s headlines.
As we’re about to pick up an article or text in a printed or digital format, we should keep in mind why we’re reading. There’s likely to be a difference in which medium works best for which purpose.
There’s No “one medium fits all” approach.
2. Analyze the task
One of the most consistent findings from our research is that, for some tasks, medium doesn’t seem to matter.
But when the reading assignment demands more engagement or deeper comprehension, students may be better off reading print. (If we intend to reflect on a topic we are passionate about, print is the medium?)
Teachers could make students aware that their ability to comprehend the assignment may be influenced by the medium they choose.
This awareness could lessen the discrepancy we witnessed in students’ judgments of their performance vis-à-vis how they actually performed.
Elementary school children use electronic tablets on the first day of class in the new school year in Nice, September 3, 2013.REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
3. Slow it down
In our third experiment, we were able to create meaningful profiles of college students based on the way they read and comprehended from printed and digital texts.
Among those profiles, we found a select group of undergraduates who actually comprehended better when they moved from print to digital.
What distinguished this atypical group was that they actually read slower when the text was on the computer than when it was in a book. ( I am a slow reader in either medium, especially when what is read is worth comprehending)
In other words, they didn’t take the ease of engaging with the digital text for granted. Using this select group as a model, students could possibly be taught or directed to fight the tendency to glide through online texts.
But there’s clearly something important that would be lost with print’s demise.
In our academic lives, we have books and articles that we regularly return to. The dog-eared pages of these treasured readings contain lines of text etched with questions or reflections.
It’s difficult to imagine a similar level of engagement with a digital text. There should probably always be a place for print in students’ academic lives – no matter how technologically savvy they become.
Of course, we realize that the march toward online reading will continue unabated. And we don’t want to downplay the many conveniences of online texts, which include breadth and speed of access.
Rather, our goal is simply to remind today’s digital natives – and those who shape their educational experiences – that there are significant costs and consequences to discounting the printed word’s value for learning and academic development.
Note: What of printing what we want to write about? Especially, putting down an idea that crossed our mind? Handwriting medium should be associated with reading medium
How Stephen Hawking supported the Palestinian cause
I support the rights of scientists everywhere to freedom of movement, publication and collaboration,
The renowned scientist, who has passed away, will be remembered not only for his work, but his support for Palestine.
Hawking made headlines in May 2013 when he decided to boycott a high-profile conference in Israel where he was scheduled to speak [File: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]
Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned scientist who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 76, was known not only for his groundbreaking work but also for his support for Palestine.
Hawking, who had motor neurone disease, made headlines in May 2013 when he decided to boycott a high-profile conference in Israelwhere he was scheduled to speak.
The physicist was working at the Cambridge University in the UK at the time.
The Presidential Conference, an academic event held in Jerusalem, was being hosted by the late Israeli President Shimon Peres.
In a letter Hawking sent to the organisers on May 3, he said the “policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster”.
“I accepted the invitation to the Presidential Conference with the intention that this would not only allow me to express my opinion on the prospects for a peace settlement but also because it would allow me to lecture on the West Bank.
“However, I have received a number of emails from Palestinian academics. They are unanimous that I should respect the boycott. In view of this, I must withdraw from the conference.
“Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster,” the letter read.
And, with the approval of Hawking, the British Committee for Universities of Palestine, an organisation of UK-based academics to support the academic boycott of Israel, said in a statement at the time: “This is his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.”
Hawking’s decision was widely celebrated by Palestinian activists and academics.
“Palestinians deeply appreciate Stephen Hawking’s support for an academic boycott of Israel,” Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), said.
“We think this will rekindle the kind of interest among international academics in academic boycotts that was present in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.”
Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American journalist, wrote: “When we look back in a few years, Hawking’s decision to respect BDS may be seen as a turning point – the moment when boycotting Israel as a stance for justice went mainstream”.
Support for Palestinian students
Hawking’s sympathy with the Palestinian cause extended beyond a boycott of Israel.
Last year, he asked his millions of Facebook followers to contribute financially to the Palestinian Advanced Physics School – a physics lecture series for masters students in the occupied West Bank.
“I support the rights of scientists everywhere to freedom of movement, publication and collaboration,” he wrote.
Screenshot from Stephen Hawking’s official Facebook page calling on his followers to raise funds
Hawking also publicly congratulated in a video on his Facebook page Hanan al-Hroub, a Palestinian woman who won the Global Teacher Prize for 2016.
“You are inspiration to people everywhere,” he said.
“In a society torn apart by conflict, where children are regularly exposed to violence, Hanan Al Hroub is building trust and supporting children suffering psychological trauma – from the heart of her classroom.”
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