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?
These readings have confirmed my beliefs about the effects of digital media on young people's abilities to read and write. Students want to be engaged in the classroom. If students lack engagement, they lack motivation to achieve success. In order for adolescent literacy instruction to be effective, the lesson must foster critical thinking, student decision-making, address the diverse needs of the students, allow students to be creative and collaborative, as well as provide ample feedback for the students (Adolescent Literacy, 2007). Digital media holds all of these qualities which will help promote more effect literacy within the classroom. The one article entitled, "Writing Now" made an excellent point and got me thinking. The jobs/careers that these students choose require students to write for many different purposes. Job requirements involve individuals writing for many different purposes and if classrooms do not teach to all of these purposes, then we are not preparing our students (2008). Also, I never thought about how simplifying/abbreviating words in texts allows students to display their knowledge of phonics. I do not necessarily agree that texting does not distract students. Being inside the classroom, students do become distracted with texts due to the fact that they are easily accessible. The are able to be accessed easier than a note being passed (Scholastic, 2014).
used with permission from http://www.flickr.com/photos/wfryer/7842702898/
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?
After the reading, I feel that school-based writing instruction needs to incorporate more contexts that the students use outside of school. When students write using media, the students are actively engaged. The students still have to develop and understanding of their audience as well as learn how to use conventions pertaining to a specific genre. Also, many teachers want to stress that students just aren't engaged, however, it is our fault that they are not engaged. Many students don't want to write a research paper on a topic given to them. They want to write using methods that they enjoy using outside of school (Writing Outside of School, 2009). It's not necessarily the students receiving worse grades in an English class due to their lack of skills, it is the student not being engaged inside the classroom and therefore appearing to not care.
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?
In order for reading and writing in school to have a more positive effect, the teachers need to incorporate ways of including extracurricular writing into the curriculum. Teachers need to allow students to create multimedia presentations as well as write blogs. When students are engaged, the students are more apt to learn the content material. However, the media used needs to fit the assignment. If the incorrect media is used, the whole idea/concept can be ineffective and worthless (Writing Outside of School, 2009). Also, in order for reading and writing to be effective, all teachers across all content areas must support reading and writing inside their classroom. Teachers of all content areas need professional development on how to incorporate effective reading and writing assignments using media into their classroom (Reading across the Curriculum, 2011).
Check out this article:"The Digital World of Young Children-Emergent Literacy" Article
In this article, it summarizes how digital media is positively affecting students inside the classroom if use properly. Also, it explain how students are increasingly using digital media outside of school and thus the need for increasing the use of digital media in the classroom.
References:
Adolescent Literacy. National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from www.ncte.org
Can Texting Help With Spelling? | Scholastic.com. (n.d.). Scholastic Teachers. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/can-texting-help-spelling
“The Digital World of Young Children: Emergent Literacy”. (n.d.). Pearson Foundation. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from http://www.pearsonfoundation.org/literacy/research-surveys-and-reports/the-digital-world-of-young-children-emergent-literacy.html
Reading and Writing across the Curriculum. National
Council of Teachers of English, 15-18.
Writing Now. National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from www.ncte.org
Writing Outside of School. National Council of Teachers of English. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from www.ncte.org
