writing tables...dry erase board...palm pilots!! Hmmmmmm I see a trend here...

This week’s reading wasn’t as enthralling as I had expected, but it was interesting nonetheless. I actually found myself, inadvertently, really into the reading about table-writing. I must admit, my first reaction wasn’t too pleasing…the 41 pages kind of threw me off…luckily it was a fairly easy read. Anywho, the idea of a book of erasable leaves sounds kind of cool. In reading this article, the first thing that came to mind was a dry erase board; you write on it, erase it, write on it again, and so on. I happen to really like dry erase boards. They come in handy during study time, well….not necessarily for English students, but when studying science and those notorious chemical equations, a dry erase board is IDEAL!

Getting back to the article…

There was a point in the article about exercises that induce memory. Referencing Francis Goyet’s argument,

“Accumulation of commonplaces is pointless without selection and analysis. Recopying induces thought. The same sentence or anecdote can be classified under various headings, or the heading itself can be made more precise and explicit…the task of recopying, seemingly so rudimentary, is an intellectual exercise.

Oh how much I concur! Although this argument is directed towards the use of writing tables during that time, it also confirms how effective this “rudimentary” tactic is. Being that we’re students, pretty much finishing up the last bit of our curriculum, we all know that rewriting/recopying useful information is still a recommended study method. While writing tables are no longer used, this speck of overt awareness brings me to my beloved topic, the use of electronics. I will just shorten what could become a long, dragged out articulation of my thoughts and ideas by just simply stating that…computers took the place of writing tables. :-)

Now…as far as topics for the research paper, I am still a bit dense…more than likely do to my inevitable ability to…well I just didn’t give it too much thought. Nonetheless, seeing that I have this weird obsession with electronics, my research paper {of course} will display this verity.

Here are some ideas…

1. The internet vs. the library and how its effects on the current generation foretells what will come of the forthcoming generation

2. Does technology comprise some kind of inevitable dumbing down effect?

3. Will books lose their credibility: are they losing their credibility?

My thoughts on all three topics are pretty much equal so I’m kind of deadlocked…I {obviously} have some more thinking to do!!