While this article was written in 2013, it is still valid today. It deals with the use of digital tools in the English/Language Arts classroom. Let's face it, many people, children included use a wide variety of digital tools. Every year the usage increases both with the variety of tools, and also with the variety of applications. How exactly are teachers harnessing these new tools and are they really effective for today's students?
Effectiveness of tools
96% of teachers surveyed agreed that digital technologies allow students to share their work with a wider and more varied audience. 76% agree that the tools encourage greater collaboration and 78% agree that digital technologies encourage student creativity and expression. While most teachers gave high marks to the effectiveness they were concerned with students writing too fast, using poor grammar, poor spelling and generally being more careless. They were also concerned with issues of fair use, copyright and reading and digesting long or complicated texts.
While teachers were concerned with these issues, many also said that they were using class time to correct the problem, 88% for citation and plagiarism and 75% for fair use and copyright. Another way to combat the problem with spelling and grammatical errors was to get them to use pencil and paper over digital forms, at least until they corrected their mistakes.
The article also brought up that the use of digital tools was blurring the lines between formal and informal writing. Most students are used to writing informally (frequent abbreviations, incomplete sentences, misspellings, and informal tone) and were either unknowingly doing these things are didn't care enough to correct it. Teachers also noted that there was a potential decline for vocabulary and grammatical skills exacerbated by an over-reliance on automated grammar, spellcheck and dictionary tools built into the programs. Again, practicing without the tools may be needed in order to correct the problem.
What type of writing is assigned?
I thought this was reasonable and an effective use of technology in the writing class. I couldn't say I was surprised by the findings. What I did learn was there is a program to "catch," plagiarism. It's called Turnitin.com. A full 71% of the teachers surveyed used this program. Apparently when you turn it in digitally, it is able to catch copied and pasted bits on paper and therefore is an aide to a teacher who might otherwise never know if something was copied or not. I also liked the discussion that research papers brought up. Many teachers are now questioning its value. Some see tremendous value in longer writing assignments
that require students to organize their thoughts and fully develop complex
ideas. They see it juxtaposed to the
more informal and truncated styles in which they regularly use for texting and commenting on social media sites. Others question the idea of "longer makes it better." Length in some way equated in most
teachers’ minds that it was evident of deeper thinking. I personally think that it is good to assign these sorts of assignments, but only on a limited basis. Again, I think students need the experience and practice of longer writing. This is something that they would not normally do on their own.
The Benefits of the Tools
Perhaps you can't have your cake and eat it to as they say? Many of the teachers surveyed said that they do not remember writing as much as students are today. What they excel at nowadays is quantity, but in doing so suffer in quality. Because students have so many avenues in which to explore and use, students are truncating messages and skimming the surface of many thoughts. Teachers have to now work to get students to slow down, process their thinking, write it down, revise it and edit it. Students have to be taught the benefits of a well-thought out piece of writing. Perhaps a stronger, more carefully constructed message can make a deeper impact than several tweets, FB posts and texts combined?
Because digital technologies offer so many ways to revise and edit, it's important students understand its value. Many teachers said that online tools give students more time to think through their message and not waste as much time and effort through pen and paper. Whats more is through some of the tools like, Googledocs other students can upload comments and ideas which you can then take into consideration when writing your final document, plus a teacher can "see," a student's current progress. This is something that has never been able to be done before.
Which teachers are using these tools?
Half of the teachers surveyed said that today's technologies have made their jobs easier, while 18% have said that it has become more difficult. Younger teachers are more likely to say it's easier. The only striking difference is in the subjects being taught. English/LA teachers are more likely than other teachers to say that it has made teaching easier (64%), while 32% for math, 38% for science and 45% for history have said so. A full 94% of teachers still encourage their students to write by hand. The reasons vary, but most comes down to having to do it for standardized tests. Most teachers agreed that when
they write by hand they are able to do more active thinking, synthesizing and
editing when writing by hand. It also
helps eliminate the temptation to copy and paste and use some of those online
tools. Some teachers said that there are
some students who do better with pencil and paper and are more effective.
While it makes sense to use online tools as much as possible, it is also important to consider that the teachers surveyed were from well-equipped districts whose students were the higher achievers. Teachers from lower income neighborhoods report that their students do not have access to these things at home and so come unprepared. They have to do some basic training to ensure that all students are on the same page. They must do this before they can even begin to do some of the more innovative lessons.
There are many unsurveyed teachers out there and nobody can be quite sure how much of the education system is using and to what degree digital tools. Many teachers from this survey agree that there needs to be structured guidelines to go by. They want a comprehensive approach to the use of digital technologies. Expense to purchase the hardware, experienced personnel to train others all requires money. Unfortunately there are those that think technology is only widening the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged, and in this case I would have to agree with them. Until guidelines are established there are going to be schools that are not keeping up with the technological pace of the world. In addition to that without guidelines how do we know that we are using digital tools to the best of our ability?
Final Thoughts
I added a piktochart to illustrate some of the highs and lows of digital tools and writing. Teachers said that students did best on organizing and structuring and considering multiple points of view (which they do do through digital tools), but did the worst on citing sources and reading/digesting longer texts (which most people do not do through digital tools). The use of proper tone was also poor with students.
I think it's also important to note that digital tools are great resources, but must be considered carefully before used in the classroom. How is this going to help students, what are the pitfalls, can my students use these resources, can they use them responsibly, what am I aiming for in this assignment, and last but not least do I have the resources I need?
Using technology for the sake of using technology is not what it should be about, it should be about using it effectively. Start small, beef up your skills through trainings and practice and most importantly don't give up. These resources have proven to be beneficial and will certainly prepare students for the real world. If you lack the resources check out Donors Choose (a free grant writing website) or other grants through your district.
article length: 63 pages
