May 30, 2014
How have these readings changed, confirmed, or complicated your thinking about the effects of digital media on young people's abilities to read and write?
After reading these selected articles, I have to say that my views on the effects of digital media and literacy have changed. Originally I was bent more to the Traditionalist view but now I realize there are more positive effects of texting and other forms of social media and technology on reading and writing. As teachers we should take advantage of the willingness for students to read and write even it we must sacrifice some of our older theories and ways of thinking about reading and writing in the traditional sense.
Students are bombarded with literacy opportunities much more than we were in my generation. From texting to Facebook to Twitter and Instagram, students are writing more and although this new "language" has its downside, students are writing. The amazing thing about this form of writing is that they are adaptable to the given situation and audience they are addressing. Students are practicing the phonetic infrastructure of the English language in texting and amazingly enough they are becoming better readers. Also, I can identify the construction of new words (texting) and its creativity on this younger generation.
How have these readings changed, confirmed, or complicated your thinking about the effects of school-based writing instruction on young peoples abilities to read and write?
These selected articles on the effects of digital media on reading and writing confirmed my thinking about school-based writing instruction on young peoples abilities to read and write. Ironically I did my Action Research Project for my Masters on Cooperative learning and the effects of writing across the mathematical curricula. I did a study to see how writing/explaining mathematical computation would help deepen the level of understanding of math concepts. It was amazing the results I saw when students were utilizing the math vocabulary and constructing sentences to explain their mathematical reasoning. I also found that students that had a deeper understanding and therefore did well in math class could be an essential component for helping others that struggle. I am a firm believer in collaborative techniques and cooperative learning and this was a positive experience for the student learning.
I thought the first article/survey made a great point regarding in school writing, "teens said they are motivated to write when they can select topics that are relevant to their lives and interests, and report greater enjoyment of school writing when they have the opportunity to write creatively " (Lenhart, A., Arfeh, S., Smith, A., & Macgill, A., 2008). Students hesitate less to write when the writing assignment is pertinent to their lives or engages them in critical thinking about their interests. To engage students in effective writing instruction, teachers should choose to build their lessons around writing where students can choose what to write about. By writing creatively students develop relationships, enhance critical thinking and challenges students to develop their own "voice" and confidence in their creative compositions.
What changes do you think educators need to make so that reading and writing in school have a more positive effect on children's abilities to read and write?
As educators we should strive to keep our students engaged in their reading and writing but first we much make certain they are motivated to do so. By providing opportunities for our students to write about topics that interest them we can hope to keep them motivated to write. "Engaged adolescents demonstrate internal motivation, self-efficacy and a desire for mastery" (Adolescent Literacy, 2007).
It is also important for students to collaborate with their peers in the writing process. This is the reason for the volume of texts that students write. I thought it was interesting how one article suggested having students compose a 20 word text to friends and then translate into a composition to send to parents or teachers. In this exercise students have the opportunity to write and then their spelling, syntax and punctuation can be discussed. Teachers can take advantage of these opportunities and use them as "teaching moments". Computers and other technologies have made writing and communication more easily accessible to the younger generation. As educators should capitalize on the resources we have and the eagerness of our students to write utilizing the digital technology.
As educators we should strive to keep our students engaged in their reading and writing but first we much make certain they are motivated to do so. By providing opportunities for our students to write about topics that interest them we can hope to keep them motivated to write. "Engaged adolescents demonstrate internal motivation, self-efficacy and a desire for mastery" (Adolescent Literacy, 2007).
It is also important for students to collaborate with their peers in the writing process. This is the reason for the volume of texts that students write. I thought it was interesting how one article suggested having students compose a 20 word text to friends and then translate into a composition to send to parents or teachers. In this exercise students have the opportunity to write and then their spelling, syntax and punctuation can be discussed. Teachers can take advantage of these opportunities and use them as "teaching moments". Computers and other technologies have made writing and communication more easily accessible to the younger generation. As educators should capitalize on the resources we have and the eagerness of our students to write utilizing the digital technology.
Interesting Article......Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
This article describes the student of today as a digital native, whereas the educator of today as a digital immigrant. If we want to teach effectively in this digital age we MUST alter the way we approach teaching, reading and writing in this digital media age. Today's student processes information much differently than past generation. Their critical thinking and reasoning skills are more inclined to be influenced by their exposure to digital technology. For this reason, teachers must strive to educate students to value and utilize the technology to foster good reading, writing and critical thinking skills.
References
Adolescent Literacy. (2007). Retrieved June 1, 2014, fromhttp://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEfiles/Resources/Magazine/Chron0907AdLitBrief.pdf
Can Texting Help With Spelling? | Scholastic.com. (n.d.). Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/can-texting-help-spelling
Lenhart, A., Arfeh, S., Smith, A., & Macgill, A. (2008). Writing, Technology and Teens. Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2008/04/24/writing-technology-and-teens/
Reading and writing across the curriculum. (2011). Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.ncte.org/library/nctefiles/resources/journals/cc/0203-mar2011/cc0203policy.pdf
Writing now. (2008). Retrieved May 31, 2014, fromhttp://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Magazine/Chron0908Policy_Writing_Now.pdf
Writing outside of school. (2009). Retrieved May 31, 2014, fromhttp://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CC/0191-sep09/Chron0191BriefWriting.pdf
Can Texting Help With Spelling? | Scholastic.com. (n.d.). Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/can-texting-help-spelling
Lenhart, A., Arfeh, S., Smith, A., & Macgill, A. (2008). Writing, Technology and Teens. Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2008/04/24/writing-technology-and-teens/
Reading and writing across the curriculum. (2011). Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.ncte.org/library/nctefiles/resources/journals/cc/0203-mar2011/cc0203policy.pdf
Writing now. (2008). Retrieved May 31, 2014, fromhttp://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Magazine/Chron0908Policy_Writing_Now.pdf
Writing outside of school. (2009). Retrieved May 31, 2014, fromhttp://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CC/0191-sep09/Chron0191BriefWriting.pdf
Cara you make a good point about collaboration. We need to encourage collaboration with writing among our teens in the classroom. The articles suggestion of a 20 word text to a friend and then translating it into a composition for parents is a very interesting strategy to get the students to be engaged while also being able to teach them the skills of structure written communication.
ReplyDeleteCara - I think that we were along the same lines before reading these articles; I, too, was more of a traditionalist, but the readings have me leaning more towards the center. Maybe students aren't writing in the "old" way, but they *are* writing. As educators, we should take advantage of digital media opportunities and meet our students where they are already willing to be. That seems like at least half the battle is won is we're not trying to get them to change their comfort methods as well as get them to focus on the finer points that we *need* to teach them (information gathering, evaluation, synthesis, citations, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI agree that, as educators, we need to not only encourage our students to write (in every facet of the curriculum) but that we also need to develop units that will pique our students' curiosity so that they *want* to investigate deeply into that topic. Of course, this is not always possible; however, we can find ways to support this type of creative writing as much as possible so that, as you said, we can "enhance critical thinking and challenges students to develop their own "voice" and confidence in their creative compositions..."
Collaboration is a great idea (not only for us as teachers, but for the students as well). In the workforce, our students will need to be able to collaborate with co-workers on so many levels, so encouraging them to do so... facilitating those types of working relationships is critical to their future success.
Nice post!