OMG! Technology-based Formats Increase Enjoyment of Writing

A recent study out of the UK suggests that students who write regularly, even if that writing occurs on blogs or through texting, enjoy writing more and are more confident in their writing ability than their less tech-savvy peers.

The National Literary Trust, a charitable organization dedicated to improving literacy rates in the UK, recently released the findings from their study titled Young People’s Writing: Attitudes, behaviour and the role of technology. In May, 2009 3001 pupils aged 9-16 from England and Scotland completed an online survey 3001 pupils aged 9-16 from England and Scotland completed an online survey that asked about their writing activities. The goal of the survey was threefold:

• To explore how much young people enjoy writing
• To determine what type of writing they engage in
• To find out how good at writing they think they are and what they think about writing

According to the study, instead of “dumbing down” young people’s writing, technology offers a wider variety of ways students can express themselves through the written word, leading to greater enjoyment of writing and higher (self-reported) writing ability.

While blogging and texting is not replacing pen to paper (77% of students surveyed hand write notes in class or do their homework offline) this research indicates that the proliferation of opportunities for writing presented by new technologies may be benefiting the next generation of Shakespeares, Brontës, and Dickenses.

Do you use new technology to get students excited about writing? Are writing skills on the decline, or could status updates and texts lead to future literary achievement? Share your ideas to use new technology in writing instruction.

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