October 24, 2008

Online Reading Habits Formed by Textbooks

To the Editor:

Mark Bauerlein ("Online Literacy Is a Lesser Kind," The Chronicle Review, September 19) writes that when reading Web pages, students' eyes jump "around chasing keywords, bullet points, visuals, and color and typeface variations." This, he claims, is the result of reading skills shaped by the Internet.

I would argue that the Internet was shaped by reading skills formed by textbooks. Bauerlein may have missed this because he teaches literature and uses actual books.