Schoolchildren have become accustomed to digital communication but haven’t necessarily learned to switch off the habits formed in casual communication when using digital media for academic purposes, Brigham Young University (BYU) Media Relations Manager Andrea Christensen writes in BYU News.
Christensen’s article summarizes the results of a study by a team of BYU researchers recently published in Computers and Composition.
“We need to help our students develop the ability to think and write formally in certain contexts,” said Royce Kimmons, a BYU assistant professor of instructional psychology and technology.
In the study, Kimmons and co-authors had several hundred eighth-graders write two essays: one handwritten and the other typed on a computer. According to Christensen, although the computer essays did have higher rates of capitalization errors and text speak, they had fewer spelling errors and were generally written at a higher grade level than the handwritten essays.
“Some of the common mistakes (in the handwritten essays) we saw were capitalization errors, not capitalizing the beginning of sentences, not using punctuation and using run on sentences,” Kimmons explained. “I think a lot of teachers experience this. As they have students write, they start to see things creep in that maybe they wouldn’t have expected 20 years ago.”
Previous research on the benefits and drawbacks of digital composition for school-age children is divided, Kimmons noted.
Among the pros of using a computer are typing speed and the fact students are generally more willing to edit and revise their work. One surprising finding of this study, according to Christensen, was that handwritten essays were generally longer than computer essays. And though they couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason why, researchers said one possibility was that some students in this study may not have been familiar or comfortable with the computers.
Academically, Kimmons added, the expectations for formal writing are the same whether an essay is handwritten or composed on a computer.
So giving students laptops and “expecting good writing to just happen isn’t reasonable. The writing process is still an essential thing that needs to be taught.”
Ultimately, educators who embrace the reality of the technology and tailor their teaching accordingly will be giving students their best shot, Kimmons said.
“It’s here, our kids are using it and now we just have to take what they’re doing that’s good and make it into something better.”
The study wasn't all bad news. Kimmons said kids are writing more now than any other generation. Parents and teachers just need to let students know how to “code switch” what is appropriate for text and what is acceptable at school.