Does Digital Media Make Us
Bad Writers?
I was surprised when I read
Karp’s (2010) statement, “But maybe the most surprising thing to the gotcha
gang is that while the type of error changed, the ratio of errors to words has
held steady for more than 100 years” (para. 3). I have been under the assumption that grammatical
errors in writing have increased since the development of texting and social
media sites. In my own classroom, I have
seen an increase of abbreviations (b/c, lol, bff, k, etc.) and misspellings in
my students’ formal writings. However, I
had not taken into consideration that maybe grammatical errors haven’t
increased but merely changed as stated in this article.
Literacy Debate: Online, R U
Really Reading?
It is very difficult for me
to stay objective on this topic because I am such an avid reader. Unlike television, I agree that “spending
time on the Web, whether it is looking up something on Google or even
brittneyspears.org, entails some engagement with text” (Rich, 2008, para. 8). Some reading is better than no reading at
all. However, I believe reading novels
is the best way to build reading comprehension and written language skills.
Web Evangelist or
Traditionalist?
- I believe I fall somewhere in the middle of the Web Evangelist and Traditionalist continuum. While I strongly endorse the reading of novels, I do realize that education (as well as literacy) is transforming into something completely new. By 2020, the research firm, CompTIA, projects that the total number of IT jobs in the United States will jump by 22 percent (Sampson, 2013). Digital literacy, the ability to use technology, communication tools or networks, to locate, evaluate, use, and create information (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008), will be an essential skill our students need. However, I do not believe it should come in expense to deep, reflective reading skills developed by novel reading.
- The article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid” supports my belief that reading novels is still an important reading skill. In this article, Nicolas Carr states that his mind is changing. He use to find reading books or lengthy articles easy and would spend many hours thinking about the writing style. Now after reading only a few pages, he can no longer concentrate. He contributes this to the availability of instant research through digital means. While he acknowledges that this instant flow of information has its advantages, Carr believes it has also come at a price. Rather than delving into information, the internet has encouraged “skimming” techniques. Digital media offers a different kind of reading and therefore requires a different type of thinking. With digital media, “Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged” (Carr, 2008, para. 8). This is why I believe I fall into the middle spectrum of the Web Evangelist-Traditionalist debate. I think we should take a balanced approach to teaching literacy. Our students need the best of both worlds in order to succeed in the new digital world.
References
Carr, N. (2008, July 1). Is google making us
stupid? [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/
Karp, J. (2010, Jan. 26). Does digital media make
us bad writers? [Blog]. Retrieved from http://spotlight.macfound.org/featured-stories/entry/does-digital-media-make-us-bad-writers
Rich, M. (2008). Literacy debate: Online, r u
really reading? New York Times.
Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Sampson, T. (2013). Software developers expected
to see the highest IT job growth come 2020. [Blog]. Retrieved from
http://www.infoworld.com/t/it-jobs/software-developers-expected-see-the-highest-it-job-growth-come-2020-212709
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
(2008). What is digital literacy? Retrieved from
http://www.library.illinois.edu/diglit/definition.html
Good discussion of the concerns we have as technologies for reading and writing changing.
ReplyDeleteI think it is helpful to not think in terms of dichotomies(good or bad; right or wrong). But in terms of genre. Advancements in ICTs have brought about new genres of writing.
We also need to think in terms of the purpose of context and audience for writing.
For example, your students may be using text messaging lingo because they are not recognizing the purpose for a writing assignment as academic. As teachers, we need to make the purpose of writing clear for students and help them to learn to move between different purposes and grammars for writing.
I agree with your points, there are important skills to be gained or understood in completing a novel. That is, one that you really get and like.
ReplyDeleteI have a skewed perspective and I think your blog just made me discover the reason behind it. Our ten year old seems to understand how to write a report when asked without using sloppy, shortened texting language. But, when she chats with me through facebook, she changes her delivery. I didn't realize it until now. But, in our home, she has been subjected to many forms of literacy. Together we've read The Help and The Hunger Games. But, clearly, we also stay connected through technology.
ReplyDelete