Online Writing Is/Isn’t Making Students Better Writers
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently wrote about a number of studies attempting to determine if online writing (blogs, Twitter, etc.) are helping students become better writers.
The experts are divided, many saying that the short, abbreviated style of online writing is preventing students from learning the skills to construct more complex academic arguments.
Other experts say that the benefit of online writing is that it gives writers the opportunity to write with an immediate audience in mind, and help them think about how to be clear and efficient, and connect with those they’re writing for.
Its the last sentence of the article, quoting Professor Deborah Brandt, that interested me most:
But that view [that students' reading levels will decline because they write more than they read] … is being challenged by the literacy of young people, which is being developed primarily by their writing. They’re going to be reading, but they’re going to be reading to write, and not to be shaped by what they read.
I wonder what effects this shift in learning is already having on the Church. How often are we processing what we’re learning through the lens of “how am I going to communicate this to others?” Personally, I know I find myself reading articles online, or listening to lectures thinking about whether or not it would make for a good blog post.
Is this a good thing? On one hand, studies have shown that we retain information at a much higher rate if we are actively teaching that information to others. On the other hand, when do our personal learning experiences (specifically about spiritual things) need to be just that – personal?
If we’re always wondering what it means for somebody else, are we spending enough time thinking about what it means for us?
(via Grown Up Digital)
06/24/2009 at 11:21 am
When I was growing up the main mode of communication for tweens and teens was the telephone, which had absolutely no benefit to their literacy. Whether the internet will help them develop higher reasoning skills and a good, college worthy writing style depends a lot on what they choose to read — but at least, for the first time, wonderful content is available in huge quantities at their fingertips. Meanwhile, Twitter and Facebook can hardly make them less intelligent when the alternatives for most kids are probably the tv, video games, or the cellphone. (Not to sound like a grumpy old fart.)
I think Professor Brandt’s warning that “They’re going to be reading, but they’re going to be reading to write, and not to be shaped by what they read.” is unnecessary. In my experience there are things that can prevent me from really taking to heart what I have read, but they have more to do with my biases and assumptions than anything else. In fact, reading with the intention of being able to effectively communicate what we have read is an essential skill for all good students and writers.
Where it comes to spiritual content, again, I think it is our biases and assumptions that we need to watch out for. If we are listening to a sermon with the intention to pass the ideas along and the ASSUMPTION that we’ve got this thing down pat, we are likely to miss something. But if we are listening, intending to share, and aware that we could quite possibly learn something new, I think we are where we need to be.
06/25/2009 at 3:34 pm
To educate, we need to focus on basic principles of the topic. Schools tend to stress how-to. Writing must clarify the principles, and this is what we need to get across. See “Teaching and Helping Students Think and Do Better” on amazon.