I recently shared this article about a study published by the British Psychological Society with my PLC team. The study came to the conclusion that the children in the study " who regularly text have better reading skills despite the use of txt abbreviations", according to Bill Ray the author. Many of the people on my team were skeptical about whether or not this could be true.
I see the obvious limitations of this particular study, as the sample size was extremely small (88 children) and the opportunity for extraneous variables (income, family background, etc). But, it seems that texting could be a great way to learn. It's like my days in Latin. We were presented with an ancient text in Latin and our job was to translate it into English magna cum studio, which is a time-honored way of learning . Isn't it the same as this study? When I present my students with information (in a book) on Totalitarian Dictators and they have to turn that wordy information into bulleted points on a chart, they are essentially translating-less endings and declensions than Latin, but it's translation. If I gave my kids new information or asked them to use what they've learned in a class and then told them to text some main points to a friend (really or on paper) it seems pretty similar to me. They still have to read the information, internalize it and transform it into something else.
So, every time your students are texting, they are using their language skills and turning their thoughts (which are words) into something else. Without knowing it, they are accessing level six (Creating) of Bloom's taxonomy by Compiling information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions. Level six is pretty hard core. I have a hard time developing level six lessons when I think about it and my students (and I) do it every time txt language is used. Perhaps maligning students for utilizing this 'new language' isn't the way to go...maybe we can use it to engage students in higher-level thinking and learning.
How could you use this in the classroom?
I see the obvious limitations of this particular study, as the sample size was extremely small (88 children) and the opportunity for extraneous variables (income, family background, etc). But, it seems that texting could be a great way to learn. It's like my days in Latin. We were presented with an ancient text in Latin and our job was to translate it into English magna cum studio, which is a time-honored way of learning . Isn't it the same as this study? When I present my students with information (in a book) on Totalitarian Dictators and they have to turn that wordy information into bulleted points on a chart, they are essentially translating-less endings and declensions than Latin, but it's translation. If I gave my kids new information or asked them to use what they've learned in a class and then told them to text some main points to a friend (really or on paper) it seems pretty similar to me. They still have to read the information, internalize it and transform it into something else.
So, every time your students are texting, they are using their language skills and turning their thoughts (which are words) into something else. Without knowing it, they are accessing level six (Creating) of Bloom's taxonomy by Compiling information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions. Level six is pretty hard core. I have a hard time developing level six lessons when I think about it and my students (and I) do it every time txt language is used. Perhaps maligning students for utilizing this 'new language' isn't the way to go...maybe we can use it to engage students in higher-level thinking and learning.
How could you use this in the classroom?
- Ask students to have txt conversations about a topic you're studying in pairs.
- Rather than writing a paragraph, mix it up once in awhile, have them txt a couple of lines about the same thing.
- Have them text a friend (on paper) about the steps in solving a problem, the life cycle of plants, the timeline of events in World War II, vocabulary words or the plot of a story.
If we can think of ways to meet the student where they are instead of fighting them, won't they be more inclined to learn? Who knows...but, it's worth a try. It might even be fun.
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