Mapping the Writing Lives of First-Year College

A group of researchers surveyed a set of 2110 first year college students (of which, 1366 completed the survey) about their most frequently used writing genres and studied the factors that influenced them.

From the start, it was found that SMS text messaging, emails, and lecture note taking were the most frequently used types of writing. Forty-six percent indicated that texting was the most prominent for of writing for them. Only nine percent chose email as their most frequently used.

A list was compiled of what was determined to be the most frequently used writing genres. Of the top ten, half were of a digital form. Another was created based on how each genre was valued. Texting still ranked number one. However academic papers and other school/career papers were ranked just below, unlike the previous list. The genres that were practiced less frequently were ranked higher in value.

Although text messaging was ranked number one in both lists, it was valued considerable less than it was used, forty-seven percent and seventy-eight percent respectively. Of the genres associated with school, ninety-seven percent were done as an assignment.

Students seemed to associate word processing with their most valuable writing. However, Twitter and other social media platforms were used the most frequently. Participants also preferred to write alone; an interesting statistic consider how open many students are through social media. Also, students rarely sought help from available writing consultants or tutors, even for their higher value genres.

The end of the article explains in great detail, the researchers' methods throughout the survey process. They even present possible biases that may have skewed the results.

This was a well thought research article. It presented its findings clearly throughout the paper. I found it to be an appropriate read for the assignment at hand.

Word Count: 300

Cullington

Michaela Cullington poses the question, "does texting affect a student's writing skills?" She compares both sides of the argument and hypothesizes that textspeak has little to no effect on writing. Her findings do well to back this up. She interviewed seven high school students about their writing and found that, in formal writing assignments, each student understood that textspeak was inappropriate for the classroom. In fact, most of the students interviewed rarely used textspeak in day to day texting communication. Cullington found similar results when she approached teachers on the subject. Some of the studies in Cullington's article even suggest that texting might indeed be beneficial to students. Texting is now their preferred method of communication, meaning they are writing more than they would otherwise. Her conclusion was essentially the same as her hypothesis; texting has no effect on formal writing.

In reading this article, I asked myself if I have ever used textspeak in my own writing. Looking back, I can't recall ever using texting lingo when writing or texting. And why would I? With auto-correct and suggested text, it's more of a hassle to use shortened words than to type it all out. Besides that, I always found the shorten textspeak silly and childish.

I took a step back and thought about the writing of my peers throughout high school as well. Not once could I recall reading any form of textspeak in anyone's writing. Even the students with poor grammar and spelling skills understood what was appropriate for a paper and what wasn't.

Based on what was given in the article and my own experiences, I have to agree with Cullington's conclusion. Through my own experience, I can safely say that texting had no negative effect on someone's ability to write in school.

Word Count: 297

Baron

Most of the articles we have read throughout this semester haven't quite held my attention. They've been just sort of, "meh." For some reason, perhaps due to Baron's explanation of the pencil as an engineering marvel, "From Pencil to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" has been my favorite article so far. All in all, Baron's paper is a fantastic example of a well made research paper. That being said, I'm not entirely sure it's the best choice to read for our upcoming research assignment. Reason being: Baron's paper was a culmination of information that was already available, whereas, the assignment asks students to gather their own information without looking for it online. The assignment is meant to be a case study or survey, similar to that of "Fanfiction, Poetry, Blogs, and Journals: A Case Study of the Connection between Extracurricular and Academic Writings."

The point of Baron's paper is to explain to readers that the technologies we take for granted today were once something to be in awe of. For example, he spends a couple pages explaining how much work goes into the making of a pencil. In the past, the pencil making process was a mystery to the masses. Finding an inexpensive, quality pencil was to do. Some were even imports of European design because of the high quality lead they had available to them. Today, if you borrow a pencil, it will probably feel like every other pencil and write just as dark with the same amount of pressure. We wouldn't thunk anything of it.

Baron goes on to explain the technologies of the past and how they were perceived by the people. His finding date back to ancient times when the idea of writing was just that, an idea. Plato felt writing would ruin our memories, as we wouldn't need them anymore. Others believed to be the product of evil. Far gone are the days of chiseling on stone tablets. There were negative thoughts about the pencil, the telegraph, telephone, and even today, there are some who believe computers shouldn't be used for word processing. Computers aside, society today has affordable access to pens, pencils, and paper. All three of which would be almost impossible for someone to make at home. Yet we still use them everyday without batting an eyelash.

Baron's article proves that writing technologies have changed, are changing, and will change in ways we can't yet imagine.