Considerations in Digital Literature
Recently, I read a digital version of A Farewell to Arms. Having read Hemingway’s magnum opus several times, I was absolutely familiar with the novel. Interestingly though, to my surprise, reading the PDF version of A Farewell to Arms was such a novel experience. Unlike my experience of reading the paperback of the novel, during which I would stop every couple paragraphs to visualize the nihilistic scenes that depict harsh realities of war and the end of humanity, the pages that turned at the tip of my fingers did not give me the same connection and relatability. Not only could I not grasp the experience of vicariously processing and reflecting on the immense fear and loss amidst the war, but also, I struggled to concentrate. Call me old school.
The digitization of literature has transformed the landscape of our education. From students carrying 300-page history textbooks in their backpacks to doodling symbols on the pages when not paying attention to class, textbooks have always been a crucial part to learning. Times are changing, however, as the world continues to go digital. Online books, websites, games, and e-books are replacing traditional textbooks. While from a glance, online books seem like such an obvious upgrade - they’re cheaper, more interactive, easier to use, and environment friendly, textbooks fading into obscurity and getting replaced by digital media will deprive the students of engaging and experiential learning experience, in which sky's the limit, allowing the learners to use critical thinking and imagination to connect the dots.
As a student in a school where both textbooks and digital media are used as teaching tools, I see the first-hand disadvantages and advantages of both forms of teaching every day. Sure, carrying around textbooks may be costly, unnecessarily heavy and tedious to flip through pages, but being able to physically interact and read a physical textbook often has led me to understand the material for the class better, and be less distracted than using my computer to do all my work. With about half my day being spent online at school, scrolling through assignments, documents and files of homework, reading through a textbook and answering problems through paper has always been able to make me remember and process information much better than its digital counterpart. This doesn’t apply only to textbooks as well - I much rather prefer books over e-books, live lectures and experiments over video demonstrations and paper notes over outlines posted through a doc.
At the end of the day, what makes reading such an enjoyable and valuable activity is the immense power we are offered to be creative, imaginative, and critical thinkers. As we flip through the pages, we are in control of our own growth and empowerment. Let us not let technology take this unique experience from us.
