1.
Writing, Technology & Teens: Findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the National Commission on Writing Amanda Lenhart Education Writers Association April 25, 2008 Chicago, IL

2.
Methodology <ul><li>Nationally representative RDD telephone survey of 700 parent – child pairs </li></ul><ul><li>Teens ages 12-17 </li></ul><ul><li>Eight focus groups with teens 12-17 in four U.S. cities in the Summer of 2007 </li></ul>

3.
Main findings <ul><li>Writing in school is ubiquitous, and nearly so out side of school. </li></ul><ul><li>Teens are embedded in a tech-rich world, but do not think that the writing they do via electronic communication (IM, txt, email, SNS) is “writing.” </li></ul><ul><li>Teens also tell us that the informal style and short cuts from e-communication creeps into school work. </li></ul><ul><li>Parents and teens agree that writing is important to teens’ futures. </li></ul><ul><li>And teens believe that writing instruction in school could be improved through more class time and the use of technology to enhance instruction. </li></ul>

4.
Teens and writing <ul><li>All teens write for school; 93% write out side of school. </li></ul><ul><li>Half of teens write daily for school; 13% write daily outside of school. </li></ul><ul><li>Majority of writing assignments are short – a paragraph to a page in length, on average. </li></ul><ul><li>Teens report that they enjoy writing, both for school and outside of school. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>67% say they enjoy writing for school “some” or “a great deal” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>90% of teens who write outside of school say they enjoy it some or a great deal </li></ul></ul>

5.
Teens, writing and electronic communication <ul><li>Of teens who send text messages, email, IM and social networking messages, 60% think that those messages are NOT writing. </li></ul><ul><li>Most teens do not believe that electronic communication has any influence on their writing, for good or for bad. </li></ul><ul><li>However, 64% of teens report that the informal styles often found in electronic communication do bleed into their school work. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>50% have used informal capitalization </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>38% have used text short cuts like “LOL” or “ur” </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>25% have used emoticons </li></ul></ul>

6.
Writing and technology <ul><li>Most teens think that using a computer to write does not make them better writers – most believe technology is relatively neutral. </li></ul><ul><li>But they do think that they edit and revise more when they use a computer to write. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>57% edit and revise more </li></ul></ul><ul><li>More teens also think that writing with computers makes them more likely to take short cuts and not put effort into writing. </li></ul>

7.
Parent & teen attitudes toward technology & writing <ul><li>Parents believe that there is a greater need for good writing skills today than 20 years ago. </li></ul><ul><li>86% of teens believe that good writing is important to success in life. </li></ul><ul><li>About half of parents believe their children are writing more than they did at the same age. </li></ul><ul><li>The largest % of parents (40%) think that email, IM, and texting make no difference in their child’s writing skills. </li></ul><ul><li>Parents are more likely than teens to say that teens using computers for writing has positive effects. </li></ul>

8.
Final Thoughts <ul><li>Informal styles in formal school work becomes another element of teaching teens the difference between formal and informal writing – like slang. </li></ul><ul><li>Parents and teens think writing is important and teens see places for improvement in classroom teaching. </li></ul><ul><li>Teens suggest that instructional improvements could come from more class time dedicated to instruction, and from the use of technology and applications to enhance that instruction. </li></ul>

9.
Questions? <ul><li>Amanda Lenhart </li></ul><ul><li>http://www.pewinternet.org </li></ul><ul><li>Richard Sterling </li></ul><ul><li>http://www.collegeboard.com </li></ul>