Texting Creating A Learing Disability
How do you help students whose writing skills have been diminished because of using texting symbols in their papers and written responses to exams?
I think this may be more a an issue of laziness for some. I have seen students that can text faster than professional stenographers, yet they struggle to learn (or choose not to, I'm not sure) the basic acronyms and symbols used in our field. I tell them all that every area of expertise has acronyms, slang terminology, and other jargon that they must master if they are to be successful.
Great question...this generation of kids can't spell or write. Not sure I havae the answer though.
I have this happen frequently myself in class, especially with the students who are just out of high school. They write the same as they text. I had to tell my young daughter that I would take her phone off of her unless she typed out the whole word. She thinks it's cool to use texting lingo but it was affecting the way she would write after only a short period of having her phone. The students either think it's no big deal or in some cases forget how the word is really spelled because they are so used to texting it in a shortened version.
I relate real world application and let them know that a common text shortcut may be misinterpreted and cost them a deal, job or bid of some sort.
