How Downloading Music Motivates Teen Readers.
Module 4 ~ Mini-expert Paper ~ Pop Culture
Karen P. Loenser ~ Clear Lake, WI
There has been much controversy regarding how often
and how long teens listen to music. Wherever you see teens:
around the mall, outdoor activities, walking down the hallway in a High
School, or even at home sitting on the couch, many teens are listening
to their MP3 players, their i-Pods, or DS’s. For many teens,
listening to music is one of the most important and valued
pass-time. According to Furnham, music helps people
concentrate more, music fills you up with energy, music helps relieve
stress, and for most teens, music is a way of life. Music has a major
impact on people all over the world, including our teens.
The internet age is wonderful in many ways, and many
teens are downloading music on a regular basis. Teens are even texting
each other asking how to download music onto their Nooks. They get a
spectacular appreciation of the wide array of music available through
digital music, while their reading and writing skills may be suffering
(Berr, 2008).
When Linda Braun, a professor for Simmons College in
Boston, asked her graduate students to survey teens to find out what
kind of books young adolescents are reading, she was shocked when
reading the results. The number one response on the survey was
reading text messages, followed by e-mail, Facebook, then listening to
music and their own personal iTunes. In this study (2007, p. 44)
actually reading books was at the bottom of the list. Teens mentioned
that book-reading was almost always related to school
assignments. The reading assignments listed included textbook
reading as well as fiction reading assigned for a particular class.
Young adolescents who are really interested in
communicating through technology and downloading music may say that
they are not reading too often, when in fact they are. They are
actually reading via technology in order to find information,
communicate with others, improve skills and learn how to do something,
such as downloading music if they do not know how. When
teens search for music under the iTunes website, they are finding and
downloading music that requires research skills. Using iTunes
also gives teens the chance to read about the music and musicians in
which they are interested. They are actually reading more biography and
history reading by doing this.
Reading does not always have to take place within
the traditional book or magazine format. When we think about the
technology-based reading in which teens are currently involved, we will
see in most cases the connections between that reading and the more
traditional forms of reading that we see in classrooms on a regular
basis as similar. Teens are reading for enjoyment, entertainment,
to gain further information and understanding.
More teens are opting out of reading hard or soft covered texts or
books since they are more interested in downloading music and listening
to music throughout their day than reading books for information and
understanding. Therefore, fostering the love and enjoyment for reading
is crucial in our technology era. Helping youth understand that reading
is important goes a long way towards them developing absolutely
critical literacy skills. Such skills will go a long way towards
helping them in their journey into young adulthood and beyond as a
literate person.
References:
Berr, Bruce., (2008). iSwoons Over iTunes. American Music Teacher, 58 (3), 72. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete.
Braun, Linda, W., (2007). Listen Up: Podcasting for Schools & Libraries. Information Today. 23(2), 44. Retrieved from ESBCOhost Academic Search Complete.
Furnham, Alan., (1999). The influence of musical distraction of varying
complexity on the cognitive performance of extroverts and introverts. European Journal of Personality. 13(1), 27. Retrieved from EBSCOhost ERIC.
Harlan, Mary., Loertscher, Davin., & McElmeel, Sharron. (2010). Young Adult Literature and Multimedia: a Quick Guide. Salt Lake City, UT. Hi Willow Research and Publishing.
Khou, Ardeshir. (2007).Testing the Effects of Music on Reading Comprehension Skills Under Different Music Environments. The Music Industry, 29 (8), 18-19. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete.
Resources for classroom or library:
Allman, Toney. (2007). Downloading Music Ripped from the Headlines. New York, NY: Erickson Press. This book contains subjects of downloading music: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9).
Levine, Steve. (2004). The Art of Downloading Music. London, United Kingdom: Sanctuary Publishing.Written by renowned record producer Steve Levine The Art of Downloading Music,
explains every aspect of downloading: getting started online; equipment
needed (with price guide); using programs like Garage Band; dealing
with bugs; copyright issues; creating and listening to music; buying
tunes online; and much more.
Steinberg, Scott. (2011). Music Games Rock-Rhythm Gamings’ Greatest Hits of All Time. New York, NY: Power Play Publishing. Chronicling the meteoric rise and fall of music video games, Music Games Rock: Rhythm Gaming's Greatest Hits of All Time is the first book to explore the field's history, origins and most spectacular hits and flops. Great for grades 5-10.