We’ve talked about the future of reading here in the past. But what about the future of writing? Or more specifically, the future of writing abilities?
The Pew Internet & American Life Project released a new report today that demonstrates what it calls an “interesting paradox” in teen writing habits:
Teens are utilitarian in their approach to technology and writing, using both computers and longhand depending on circumstances. Their use of computers for school and personal writing is often tied to the convenience of being able to edit easily. And while they do not think their use of computers or their text-based communications with friends influences their formal writing, many do admit that the informal styles that characterize their e-communications do occasionally bleed into their schoolwork.
The study goes on to cite several interesting statistics gleaned from a phone survey last November of 700 teens and their parents. Again, from the press release
:
87% of youth ages 12-17 engage at least occasionally in some form of electronic personal communication, which includes text messaging, sending email or instant messages, or posting comments on social networking sites. 60% of teens do not think of these electronic texts as “writing.” 57% of teens say they revise and edit more when they write using a computer. 63% of teens say using computers to write makes no difference in the quality of the writing they produce. 73% of teens say their personal electronic communications (email, IM, text messaging) have no impact on the writing they do for school, and 77% said they have no impact on the writing they do for themselves. 64% of teens admit that they incorporate, often accidentally, at least some informal writing styles used in personal electronic communication into their writing for school. (Some 25% have used emoticons in their school writing; 50% have used informal punctuation and grammar; 38% have used text shortcuts such as “LOL” meaning “laugh out loud.”)
Richard Sterling, chair of the advisory board for the National Commission on Writing that co-sponsored the report, asks an interesting question: “How can we connect the enthusiasm of young people for informal, technology-based writing with classroom experiences that illuminate the power of well-organized, well-reasoned writing?”
My answer? Blogging.
As opposed to text messaging or writing on someone’s Facebook Wall, blogging “done right” encourages research, focus, critical thought, and developed writing skills. Why not have history students contribute to a class blog, where they are required to write a weekly post about a historical subject of their choice that falls in the material being studied in class? Teachers can require students to link to all their sources, so that they can provide young writers with feedback about what to trust and what not to trust, how to quote/cite and how not to quote/cite, etc. Students could also be required to comment on their classmates entries, and the resulting conversations could form a basis for classroom discussion. The same idea could be applied to English, science, and maybe even foreign language courses.
One of my religion professors at Davidson embraced this idea. We were required to answer a series of thought-provoking questions about sections or passages from the Bible on an internal message board each week. We were required to read everyone’s entries and — if so inclined — comment on them. The professor would also comment from time to time, and he’d use the ideas we discussed to jump start discussion in class the next day. I loved it, namely because it provided a good balance of interaction and reflection.
Formal papers and handwritten assignments are still very much necessary for the successful student. And bringing blogging into the classroom won’t really combat the intrusion of ”LOLs” and emoticons into formal writing. But I think blogging answers the question of how to get students excited about, as Sterling puts it, “well-organized, well-reasoned writing.” Do you?
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user MarkHaertl.
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I also took that religion class, and I felt that it was the first time that writing actually came “easy” to me. For some reason it did not seem as stressful as writing a paper that would be turned in and that helped me to write more freely. I think it is ridiculous that people would use “LOL” in a paper, but I do understand that writing something in a blog or message board format makes it seem a little less stressful and more fun.
I think blogs would work very well for some courses and very poorly for others. If a professor’s goal is to create a passion for inquiry and an interest in an exchange of ideas within the group, I imagine blogging could be quite effective. So an introductory ethics class, for example, could use blogging to great effect. But the more rigorous the courses, the more difficult it will be to distill anything of very much significance into a blog post.* And let’s face it: Even at the most competitive schools, there will be a daunting number of students who really aren’t too interested in sharing ideas or sharpening their opinions so much as they are in identifying and following the recipe required to get a good grade. There’s no obvious reason to think blogging will rouse these students unless the blogging is tied to making a good grade, and even then these students wouldn’t really be participating with the inquisitive spirit I think we’d all like to see more of.
*I had a professor who suggested that all philosophy journals have appendices that present the arguments in the journals in premise-conclusion form so as to maximize clarity and discourage obfuscation. The next time you read a blog post, imagine what its argument would look like in premise-conclusion form. I think this exercise will neatly illustrate the limitations of blogging.
@ Ashish:
“The next time you read a blog post, imagine what its argument would look like in premise-conclusion form. I think this exercise will neatly illustrate the limitations of blogging.”
like this?
PREMISE: “How can we connect the enthusiasm of young people for informal, technology-based writing with classroom experiences that illuminate the power of well-organized, well-reasoned writing?”
My answer? Blogging.
CONCLUSION: Blogging “done right” encourages research, focus, critical thought, and developed writing skills. Formal papers and handwritten assignments are still very much necessary for the successful student. And bringing blogging into the classroom won’t really combat the intrusion of ”LOLs” and emoticons into formal writing. But I think blogging answers the question of how to get students excited about, as Sterling puts it, “well-organized, well-reasoned writing.”
doesn’t seem so limiting to me (might even help our style, eh Jarred?)
mmmmmmgive me pwnage
[high five]
…and just like that, our style was gone.
On a more serious, less snarky note, I think my hesitancy with integrating blogging into the academic curriculum concern the OPPOSITE issue: students being too long-winded and formal. If student participation on a class blog is encouraged by grades, the distinction between a blog post and a research paper can disappear: the only advantages are public commenting and (maybe) hypertext. I find blogging to be a helpful exercise in terms of my own writing because the best blog posts ARE concise, to the point, personal, and provocative. I worry that blogging in an academic environment, with professors who (let’s be realistic) are likely not bloggers or blog readers, suffers. One of my professors in a media class required posts on our class blog: those of us who had experience blogging or read blogs posted often. Others without that experience or exposure contributed their required entries (no more) and wrote in the same style as they would to answer a final exam essay. I don’t want to read exam essays online.
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