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Reading and Writing . . . Why Such a Deficit?

All--

With the increased presence of social media and texting, many students are losing their ability to communicate in full and complete thoughts? How can online professors embrace technology while underscoring the importance of traditional writing and communication norms?

Albert,

I will agree with most of what you said. We must hold students accountable and see instructors talk a good game but allow students to communicate without regards to research and grammar and punctuation.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

First, social media is a culprit. I find many researchers examining spelling errors, grammatical errors, and organization...this evades the issue. Students are beginning their academic careers as a college student do not spend time researching, citing sources, or developing coherent arguments. If an academic program is successful, all students will develop these academic skills; most papers that I read are constructed by students early in their college program.
The ideas, the concepts, and arguments are not developed. The students copy and paste... yes, copy and paste ideas... into an incoherent jigsaw of thoughts. The student who writea in their own words are usually students who do not use social media as their primary correspondence...Note I am referring to students who are in the early part of their college program. I do see a fundamental difference in writing skills between older online students and younger online students.
I use Bloom's taxonomy to remind students that a written response in economics is an application of a student's understanding and memory of related concepts...academic writing is not a simple list of ideas.... (cut and paste)
As far as research is concerned, my daughter's roommate has provided anecdotal evidence that social media text writing encourages the absence of subjects of the statement and the lack of adverbs. I find this more often in my traditional younger student population who over-use pronouns, do not use adverbs and do not use adjectives. That is, I will begin reading a paper on economics by a freshman and subsequently with certainty know that the student is either a communications major or a history major.

Willie ,

I agree with you. I don't think social media is the culprit; the lack of attention to detail is.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

I agree that students are using texting as a major method of their day to day communications, and because they are writing on compact and small keyboards they invented some acronyms to get their ideas across with the least typing time possible. There is nothing wrong with this. However, I do not see a lot of this spilling over into writing for academic purposes. I read a research article once (and for the life of me I cannot locate it when I need it) that suggested that there was no correlation to texting and social media communication to academic writing. I once thought that if a student spelled "through" as "thru," that he/she was a victim of social media. However, thru is defined as an informal spelling of through, and it really has nothing to do with social media. Some periodicals use thru as a standard variant, regardless of context. Just my two cents!! :-)

Jessica,

I think examples of good and bad communications are powerful. I agree I don't allow slang in any email.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

I do emails throughout the quarter reminding students of professionalism with their writing (what that entails) and provide examples based on other topics regarding similar course content that is not discussed during the quarter.

Kimberley,

For the first time, I am texting my students regarding important information. I has been interesting 140 characters just don't allow for many words.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

I agree that social media has made it very hard for online instructors to communicate with students in a professional manner. I try to remind my students of the environment that they are in and to be adaptable. I often tell them that this is a classroom and thus your language should reflect our environment. Students have to learn how to treat situations differently and enhance their communication to fit their situation. It is a constant battle to remove the texting language from my classroom but I try to be aggressive when it does occur.

Leah,

Great idea about the guide of good and bad practice. I am sure that is very popular reading for your students. It is important for students to communicate about Math. I have started talking about the role of numbers in writing. Most students do not think about numbers being an adjective.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

I find if I set expectations early on and hold them to it that can help set the tone for the entire class. I put together a guide with appropriate or inappropriate communication examples. Students can then reference the different and refer to this.
I also take points off for writing (yes even in math class) and find that after week 1-2 the work and communication drastically improves if they know I will be looking at it.

Shannon,

True, reading does affect writing. I think we can use the quick communications as a way to teach concise language. Can they get their message across using good communication skills. It is not that easy. . .

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

The joy of reading is a gift that can contribute greatly to a person's writing abilities. In an age of texting and quick communications, grammatical errors are no longer seen as such a big deal anymore. This can weigh heavily on a student's writing and reading skills for the professional environment.

Marcia,

You make such great points. I do teach "economic use of words" using twitter type exercise; students have to get a point across in 140 characters. It does make a point!

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

Although recent technological developments have created a change in casual writing, applications such as texting are a different register of a language. Generally the register is based on an existing language as a sort of shorthand.

I correct things such as requesting a capital "I," although the capitalization of I is an anomaly. I try to explain to students That readers of their academic and professional work will assume that if they are given something to read that it will make sense. Just as someone might not speak the same way at a funeral and a sports bar, there are different registers of written language.

Tina,

Great point. I have used an exercise where they have to make a point in 140 characters. It is pass or fail and it drives home the point of good communication.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

I agree with you: People don't know how to communicate! They write in "text-speak" and short little blurbs. It is difficult to determine what they truly mean.
I thank the student for their thoughts and ask them to elaborate and give an example. I sometimes ask them to pretend they are talking to me.
Tina Cressman

Mia,

Great point. We were always told to dress for the position you want not the one you have! Professionalism is so important!

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

Great topic!! I think the way I try to stress it is in the same manner that I discuss using professional email addresses on resumes and dressing for success during interviews. I stress the importance of "being the part". The saying "if want to GET the part you've got to BE the part" is about perceptions. Looking good, speaking well, communicating effectively (as opposed to talking to hear yourself talk or merely saying something just to be heard) helps others to perceive you in that manner as well. And, since perception is 9/10 of the law in the workplace, how people perceive you will ultimately affect how they treat you. It is important to represent yourself as someone that can separate personal and professional when it comes to business--not just in terms of overtime and paid days off but in terms of communication, appearance, and attitude.

Quiana,

Great answer! If you want good writing particularly in communications you have to model it and students have to model it with each other.

Dr. Kelly Wilkinson

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