Incorporating Texting/IMing into the Classroom

            While I have not gone a day without texting or IMing in the past few years, I agree it is decreasing the literacy of young adults and affecting the way people act in social situations.  People become so attached to their phones and computers that it becomes difficult to imagine life without them.  When texting and IMing, spelling and grammar are virtually obsolete, which can affect student’s ability to write well.  In addition, using these devices distracts the common student, no matter how intelligent they are.  If you are always attached to your phone, you can never really put all your focus on something.  In social situations, many people completely stop what they’re doing to text somebody, virtually ignoring the other person.

            While I believe the level of literacy is affected, especially within a younger age demographic, the times are also changing.  In my opinion, texting/IMing are both a sign of technology that help us better communicate in faster and easier ways.   While a conversation in person is much more valuable than one in text or IM, sometimes we don’t always have such opportunities.  Without the ability to text or IM we would lose the advantage of connecting with people by the click of a button and not be able to talk to people nearly as much when not with them.

            I believe it would be easier to incorporate IMing into a classroom environment rather than texting.  Furthermore, I think that sitting up different IM accounts and communicating ideas and discussion through them both inside and out of the classroom would be a benefit.  In addition, these chats could be logged and graded on literacy and content.  While texting and IMing have become both an advantage and disadvantage, it is now up to us to use them to the best of our ability.  Instead of prohibiting them, schools could incorporate them and create a much different learning environment.

 

Comments

[Coreysalva]

Rachel, you have an interesting point of view on this epidemic. The argument that children are being effected in their spelling, reading, and writing abilities has a blatant hole however, for look at how we as students are posting on typepad? We all are using proper grammar and spelling, presenting our ideas in a logical way. Even your personal post uses proper grammar, and I would never be able to guess that you text and/or instant message as much as you say that you do. In my opinion, I think this has no negative effect on us, but it simply enhances our ability to read and type faster and more efficiently.
I find it quite compelling on how you see that society is changing because of this new form of communication. The fact that you can admit to this, apparently as an avid text-aholic, is a very good sign. People need to realize that society is changing, and that texting and instant messaging is simply a part of the process. People are still communicating just fine, having happy relationships, and couples are still getting married. The “effect” that many people speak of on our social lives is nothing major. Look at it this way, it is not as if only half of the people in America are changing. Almost everyone is partaking in this new form of communication, so it is just like any other social revolution. If two people change in the same way, it will not negatively effect them, as they are both still the same, though collectively different.
I really like your idea of bringing instant messaging into academics. Having the students share their ideas through instant messaging seems flawless, as they would be seeing the material in new ways, allowing them to understand it better. Only a great intellectual would figure that this is a good plan, and I'm glad you came up with this on your own. Great minds think alike, I suppose.