Will hypertext kill off narratives?
The traditional view of narrative–a beginning, middle and end–is something we’ve been growing beyond. Instead what we have is a constellated, fragmented–but emergent–way of seeing things. It’s almost like a kaleidoscope: you shake it up and there’s another set of patterns.
What does this mean for kids?
With hypertext, they can lay out ideas like LEGOs or blocks–a set of concepts–and make connections among them as the connections themselves start to come to mind. And that kind of learning comes quite naturally to children.
Will they stop reading books?
I would mourn if that meant the end of the theater, or the novel, but I don’t see evidence of that among my students. They’re not fragment junkies.
So you think hypertext is a good thing?
Absolutely. We’re seeing a more amenable learning environment for children.
