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The Impact of Technological Advancement on Writing Skills

Introduction:

The advancements in technology have substituted writing skills with typing and texting skills. Texting a message has substituted writing letters among friends. Similarly, smart phones have become a common device among students. Students are handing in typed papers for assignments rather than hand written assignments. This has a great impact on the development of writing skills among scholars and students. This leaves the question: Has technology hindered the development of writing skills among scholars and students?

Research problem and purpose statement:

Advancements in technology are reflective in that when students are doing assignments, they have a spell checker and a synonym finder. The same luxury is not afforded if I am to write the paper rather than type, in writing I have to know or use a dictionary for the spelling, meaning and any synonyms. Texting has made messaging quicker and easier. The efficiency with which communication is done nowadays has led to reluctance in the development of writing skills (Ferris 1). Many children are introduced to texting and typing at a very young age. Combining this with the fact that; in learning institutions, assignments have taken a technological perspective, there has been a deterioration of writing skills. Purcell, Buchannan and Friedrich (1) observe that the use of digital materials has created a hard ground for the development of writing skills among the students. There is the need thus to look deeply into the negative impact of technological advancement on the development of writing skills. In lieu of this, this research paper aims at establishing the negative impacts of technological development on the development of writing skills. A number of materials concerning the topic will be reviewed and analyzed.

Conclusion:

The research aims to find a definitive or conclusive answer to the question. It will be based on experiences and academic scholarly material. The duration of the research will be 3 days in which materials will be reviewed and analyzed to provide a solution to the research question.

Annotated Bibliography:

Purcell Kristen, Buchannan Judy, Friedrich Linda. The impact of digital tools on student writing and how writing is taught in schools. Pew Research Internet Project, 16th July. 2013. Web. 18th Feb, 2014.

This article addresses the impact of digital technology on the development of writing skills. The authors agree that the digital age has come up with benefits in the teaching of languages and writing skills. At the same time, many challenges have come up in the teaching of formal writing skills, as a result of digital advancement. The authors argue that the digital technology favors informal writing style rather than formal. However, many teachers of languages still emphasize formal style, and it poses a challenge for them. The authors surveyed a total of 2462 teachers, a good number, thus raising the credibility index of this article. The authors have written several articles on this area, so they don’t raise any doubts on the credibility of data. It is a resourceful article for any student of this subject.

Ferris, Sharmila, P. Writing electronically: The effects of computers on traditional writing. The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 8.1 (2002). Print.

The article by Ferris addresses the effect of the growth of the use of computer on writing. Ferris examines the history of literary writing and addresses the transition from literary to orality. The author argues that computers have their roots in print, and this has made people all over the world to adopt the notion that in the present day, writing should be through a computer. This has greatly impacted on the traditional form of writing. The author addresses both the elite and the laymen in this article. The article has referenced many other articles in the same field, raising its credibility index. It is a very resourceful article on the subject matter, and will be very helpful in this research.

Goldberg Amie, Russell, Michael, Cook Abigael. The effects of computers on student writing: A meta-analysis of studies from 1992 to 2002. Journal of Technology, Language and Assessment, 2.1 (2003). Print

This article is a meta-analysis of twenty six studies that concerned the impact of computers on writing skills. Although the article highlights some negative impacts of using computers, it takes the perspective that computers have contributed greatly to improve writing skills among students. The authors argue that the results of the evaluation of the articles that met their criteria and those that did not, reveal that typing and texting improves writing skills. However, the results ranged around average for negative and positive impacts. Going by this, the article will be very helpful for this research. A different view by this article will help in the testing of the hypothesis. The authors also agree on the challenge that befalls tutors in teaching formal skills to the students. The article has referenced many other researches increasing its credibility index. It addresses the scholars though laymen can also benefit from it. This is a resourceful article and will be very beneficial for this study.