The Changing Power of Readers in a Time of New Technology

Abstract

Today's young people are used to moving in a world of multiple media and formats; they take the ability to move from one platform to another completely for granted A qualitative study enlisted a small number of students in fifth and eighth grades (all with a background of domestic computer ownership and use) for intensive work with texts in different media. This report on part of that study demonstrates that those who have grown up with domestic access to video, computers, and the Internet are often relatively neutral when it comes to platform, preferring to judge texts by issues of personal salience and fluency of access.