Teachers Say No to “LOL” and “YOLO” in Student Writing

Technology is not necessarily helping students become better writers, a new study has found. Although technology in the classroom has made students better collaborators, a Pew Research Center study has found that teachers are worried about students using informal texting language and improper citations, the Washington Post reports. While tools like tablets, Google Docs, and blogs have allowed students to more easily work together, nearly 70 percent of teachers think digital tools also make students more likely to “take shortcuts and put less effort into their writing.”

Technology is not necessarily helping students become better writers, a new study has found.

Although technology in the classroom has made students better collaborators, a Pew Research Center study has found that teachers are worried about students using informal texting language and improper citations, the Washington Post reports. While tools like tablets, Google Docs, and blogs have allowed students to more easily work together, nearly 70 percent of teachers think digital tools also make students more likely to “take shortcuts and put less effort into their writing.” Many recent articles, including a Time magazine cover story, have highlighted Millennials’ obsession with smartphones and social media, where abbreviations dominate the conversation.

But even with all those BRBs and TTYLs—and confusion over online intellectual property—50 percent of teachers think that technology has actually eased the process of teaching writing. This is partly because the Internet makes it simpler for students to incorporate multiple viewpoints into their writing, and the ability to self-publish for a large audience means that students are more cognizant of what they write. Next up: the 140-character book report.