Journal Study Review #2

Dan Solecki

EDU 6210

Journal Entry #2

Citation:

Wood, C.; Jackson, E.; Hart, L.; Plester, B.; L.Wilde. The effect of text messaging on 9- and 10-year-old children's reading, spelling, and phonological processing skills.  Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. Feb2011, Vol. 27 Issue 1, p28-36. Retrieved from EBSCO Host Database: Professional Development Collection.  DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00398.x.

REVIEW OF THE EFFECT OF TEXT MESSAGING ON 9- AND 10-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN’S READING, SPELLING AND PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSING SKILLS

Summary:

The purpose of this study was to see if text messaging by children had a positive or a negative influence on their literacy skills.  The study begins by citing a previous study in the United Kingdom that determined that the use of text messaging abbreviations actually led to positive performance on reading and spelling standardized tests by preteens (Plester et al 2008).  An additional study performed in 2009 suggested that the use of text messaging language, in this case when used on a mobile device, was able to “account for a significant variance in reading ability” (Plester et al 2009).  Wood, Jackson, Hart, Plester, and Wilde choose to perform an additional study in order to confirm or disprove the 2008 Plester study. 

The research group studied 114 children in the United Kingdom between the ages of nine and ten years old who did not already own a cell phone.  Participants were split into two groups:  a control group who did not receive phones and an experiment group who received mobile phones.  All participants had to take several assessments to measure their literacy abilities.  Then, students in the experiment group were given mobile phones and asked to text regularly every weekend for ten weeks.  At the end of each weekend, phones were collected, text messages were logged and examined, and all participants were assessed again (though on a smaller scale, the study points out).  At the end of the ten weeks, participants were given the same assessments that they were given at the beginning of the study in order to measure any growth or regression of literacy skills.

Results of the study conflicted with Plester’s previous studies.  Based on the results, it was shown that children who have access to mobile phones for text messaging do not have a significant advantage over those who do not such devices (Wood 2011).  It was, however, proven through the study that “textism use during texting was linked to spelling development, and the number of messages sent and received was linked to lexical retrieval skills” (Wood 2011). 

Reflection/Application:

This study has some pretty big implications for education.  The results should encourage educators to seek out technology, such as laptops, tablets, or even mobile devices, and use it regularly in the classroom regardless of students’ age levels.   The findings of the study support the claim that utilizing such forms of technology regularly with a focus on reading and writing can have a positive effect on students’ literacy skills (Wood 2011).  If I were a teacher of anything related to literacy, I would strongly consider seeking out such tools and incorporating them into my curriculum.   

Personally, I found the results of this study very surprising.  As an educator, I have seen literacy skills, such as spelling and grammar, deteriorate dramatically over the past eight years.  I believe that is a direct result of things such as texting, autoword, autocorrect, and spellcheck.  People simply to not bother to review anything they type or write in order to catch and fix mistakes because they are used to the software or app they are using doing it automatically for them.  I have seen some absolutely atrocious spelling and grammar that I firmly believe would be much better if it was not for society’s reliance on the aforementioned “convenience” programs that automatically correct our mistakes.  I also think the study fell short by only exposing those studied to texting on the weekends.  I feel that a longer, more in-depth study which allows participants to text on the mobile phones daily for a much longer span of time, like over several years, would show that text messaging actually negatively impacts adolescents’ literacy skills.

Journal Study Review #1

Dan Solecki

EDU 6210

Journal Entry #1

Citation:

Karlis, John V.  (2013). That’s News To Me:  An exploratory study of the uses and gratifications of current events on social media of 18-24 year-olds. UMI Dissertations Publishing.  Retrieved from ProQuest.  DOI: 3593104

REVIEW OF THAT’S NEWS TO ME:  AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS OF CURRENT EVENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA OF 18-24 YEAR-OLDS

Summary:

The study I reviewed focused on the use of social media to obtain information on news and current events.  The study, published in 2013, was intended to get to the root reasons why 18-24 year-olds used social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, as a source of current events and information.  896 college students who were avid users of social media were surveyed.  The survey found that there were five main reasons why respondents chose a social media outlet as their source of information:  to seek information, guidance, social interaction, voyeurism, and entertainment (Karlis, 2013).    The study then went on to define exactly what would be categorized as news and current events at length.  It is pointed out, “As more news outlets and sources of information become available in the era of social media, the terms current events or news become more obtuse and difficult to define” (Karlis, 2013).  Karlis goes on to cite prior research from Goldberg (2002) and Alterman (2003) regarding media bias in order to support his claim. 

This study sheds light on a major trend of information seeking.  More and more, it seems as though people are turning to Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites for their information.  I-Reporters flood CNN with personal, eyewitness stories of world happenings.  Sports fanatics turn to Twitter to find out the latest news about their favorite teams and athletes.  People scour YouTube for video of pretty much anything.  I even follow several community pages on Facebook in order to stay informed about local news and weather.  These are just a few examples of social media and how it is used as a source of information, but they really do provide a window into how people utilize it to stay informed.

Reflection/Application: 

In my opinion, there are three reasons why people turn to social media over more traditional outlets for their information.  First, the use of these media outlets is conveniently accessible, especially if one has a smartphone.  One can simply open an app or webpage and have whatever one wants at his or her fingertips.  Second, social media is updated much more instantaneously than traditional outlets, such as anchored television news.  For instance, if a major event occurs, the first thing many people do is whip out their phones and either take a video of the event and post it online or go right to Twitter or Facebook and post an update about it.  One just has to think about how quickly things go “viral” to understand this phenomenon.  Third, and again this is just my opinion, social media seems much less biased and uncensored than traditional media.  Those who post truly seem to take advantage of their freedoms of speech and press to inform whoever accesses their information.  In many cases, a simple Facebook post about an event will spur spirited debate or outcry. 

From an education standpoint, the use of social media as a source of current events is a great tool.  Students can be encouraged to turn to Facebook, Twitter, or other sources to find out the latest happenings from around the world 24/7.  As a History teacher, I would encourage my students to search these venues for information and bring what they find back to class for discussion.  Activities, such as current event journaling or argumentative writing, could be designed around the news that they find through the use of social media.  Most importantly, encouraging or requiring students to use social media as a news source will keep them informed about what is going on in the world because they like using things like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter; without them, students may be oblivious to what is going on in the world around them.