Are We Forgetting How To Read?

I am an early adopter. I am a huge fan of technology and champion the integration of tech and learning in my school and all schools. I love my iPad. But I am concerned it is changing the way I read....

You have probably seen the study making the rounds about how Google is changing the way we think. If not you can read it HERE. In a similar way, my iPad, along with programs like Zite, Flipboard, and services like Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs, seems to be changing the way I read.

My usual time for reading is before I go to sleep at night. I have establish a bit of a routine, and until the last few days, I haven't thought much about it. It goes a little something like this:

• Check Facebook
• Check Twitter
• Browse Zite articles, share interesting ones on Twitter
• Check out the News (Des Moines Register, Drudge Report (lets not get political), local news sites

All of this takes place within 20 minutes or so. If I am still awake after that time I will often catch yet another rerun of The Office on Netflix.

When I got my iPad, one of the first programs I put on it was Kindle. I have built up a decent collection of books on Kindle on subjects like educational leadership, tech integration, and Christian living. I have read (parts) of some marvelous books since I got the Kindle App including

• The Element, by Sir Ken Robinson
• Drive, by Daniel Pink
• Spiritual Leadership, by J, Oswald Sanders
• Crazy Love, by Francis Chan
• and I am currently reading 21st Century Skills, by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel

I LOVE the instant access to a variety of texts that the iPad and my Kindle App give me. My only concern is that I rarely take the time to read them. Silent, sustained reading, has become more and more rare for me. Certainly part of this can be credited to the fact that I have 4 children 6 and under. However, I also believe the instant gratification and immediacy of information I get from short blog posts, Zite articles, and constant 140 character status updates has made it more difficult for me to focus on a singular text for an extended period of time.

Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? As I said before, I am a self admitted techno-geek and gadget nut and LOVE to see schools across the country integrating technology to prepare their students for the world of the present and future. I just worry that if I, as someone who has always had a knack, if not always a passion, for reading, feel my reading habits changing, how is it affecting our students?