Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
messaging (IMing); such papers jump all over, lack transitions, express incom-
plete thoughts, and are unedited. One social science educator further comments
that she notices the effects of texting and IMing on language: sentences tend to
be incomplete, devoid of color, and lacking in embellishment.
Others that we spoke with, however, find that academic writing has improved.
This reported trend may have to do more with particular schools and with these stu-
dents' prior academic backgrounds which, as a history educator surmises, trains
them to be more linear thinkers, “at home with the printed page
and written
word.” He explains that he is more likely to flag imprecise word choices today than
structural problems.
Nearly all the educators who reference changes in writing habits mention a reduc-
tion in student vocabulary. They also often comment that students who read more
have more robust vocabularies upon which to draw. Comparing the writing skills
of non-readers and readers, one art and media specialist explains that non-readers
would rather ingest a story via media (e.g. television, movies) than via text, fre-
quently employ colloquialisms and slang, and consider writing more difficult than
do their peers who read more.
...
Changes in Student Research Practices
The proliferation of NDM has overhauled traditional, research practices; virtually
all changes relating to older iterations of research relate in some capacity to how
these new technologies have transformed access to information. In the words of
one history educator, students still write “old-fashioned” research papers but rely on
“new-fangled” Internet sources, including blogs and wikis; in addition they also
have greater access to primary materials such as historical documents or origi-
nal recordings. Our educator participants characterize this new means of acquiring
information as a mixed blessing.
The speed and facility of the Internet are a big attraction for youth. One educator
describes students as generally resistant to doing something the “slow way,” such
as a trip to the library or other institution; instead, today's pupils look for quicker
ways to research papers and to accrue information in general. Some educators report
requiring that their students find, read, and cite a minimum number of offline sources
such as topics or periodicals. One educator reports that when she asked her students
to look at some paintings for a class assignment, most of them elected to complete
the assignment by locating an online museum site versus viewing the actual works
of art in the physical museum space.
This relative speed of information retrieval may both facilitate task completion
and unintentionally conflict with the acquisition of a more impactful understanding
of the material; students, able to obtain material quickly, tend to move on to the
next task with limited reflection. Several educators attribute changes in information
processing in part to the increased pace of information and the increased pressures
of student time. “It's a radical thing to have them slow down and just absorb things,”
claims a visual arts educator. In the final analysis, many of our educator participants
find that their students may be easily and quickly obtain various sources, but they
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