Technology may be overstepping its boundaries when it comes to reading and writing. Okay, so take this blog post for what it’s worth to you — meditate on the stuff you can jive with and chuck out the rest. Seriously. Because I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on the points I’m about to bring out today. And I’m really not trying to persuade anyone to agree on my arguments. I’m simply going to make my arguments, because why not? I find blogging to be therapeutic and sometimes I just need to get things off my chest. Frustrations, even. And I figure — my blog . . . my thoughts.
Furthermore, please know that I’m NOT trying to come against anyone’s viewpoint in reference to technology and how great it is, because I think technology has a lot of wonderful aspects to it. It helps us accomplish many things that lead to life betterment, and I’m so appreciative of it for that reason. As a matter of fact, amid COVID, technology has been one of the heroes that’s come to my household’s rescue by allowing us to continue to visit loved ones, work, and school from the safety of our homes. But, technology will ALWAYS have some down sides, too. And in observing Little Man, my 11-year-old, I’m witnessing how technology is taking over certain developmental skills in reading and writing that I’d rather my son experience the old school way.
I also want to preface this discussion by stating that I realize that technology has made a way for many young learners (such as those who have learning disabilities and visual and motor skill impairments) to be able to have excellent educational experiences when traditional schooling methods have failed them. And I want you to be clear that my references in today’s post are not directed to students who face these challenges or similar ones and who need technology to provide them with the most optimal learning tools.
Now, here’s where I’m at in my technology stance, regarding reading and writing in virtual schooling.
It’s somewhat of an enabler. Yes, I said it. I mean it does allow the children to perfect their typing skills (which is AWESOME!) because they have to. Actual writing down things on a piece of paper is very limited though. Well, at least in middle school, anyway. The elementary grades do have to focus on letter formation basics in early child educational development. But, my son doesn’t get the opportunity to fine-tune his handwriting, spelling, and grammar skills enough because he can go to the computer that will fix ALMOST all of his errors for him.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen him misspell a word as he was typing and then use the autocorrect to go back and fix it for him. Because, why not? Why strain the brain when the computer is right there, waiting to pop in the correctly-spelled version of the word you meant to type out? No need to go back and retype it. Just right click and choose the option that’s presented to you. And, there you go.
But to me, such instances aren’t really teaching the children to spell words correctly for themselves, because they know they can go to autocorrect which will do it for them ALMOST every time. And believe me when I say, middle schoolers still need to learn how to spell.
Oh, and what ABSOLUTELY blew my mind the other day is when I saw Little Man use his dictation helper to literally voice-to-text his sentence right there on his computer screen. WHAT! I know I have that capability on my phone and computer, but I never think to use them.
In my mind, I’m like . . . how in the world did you even know to use that — who told you that you even have that capability on your computer? And then, I remember that I’m OLD SCHOOL and that my son’s growing up in technologically-advanced times among COVID. So, what did I expect him to be doing? He’s doing what all the children are doing as virtual learners — fully optimizing the technology “helpers” that provide them the shortcuts and quick fixes that I absolutely DO NOT LIKE. At least not in ALL cases.
Some shortcuts are okay. But when I feel those shortcuts are shortcutting my child’s full development of reading and writing skills sets, I’m not okay with that.
Here’s another example. My son has access to getting his books online through a program called Bookshare. Great! I love it! It makes it easy for children to have access to books when they aren’t able to physically get ahold of them. And I’m all about encouraging my child to read. And if you’ve read any of my past posts about my reading routine with my son, then you know that we have a night time routine of reading together on most days. (We’ve kind of dropped the ball lately, but anyway . . .) We take turns reading out loud, which has proved very beneficial for Little Man. Alternating reading passages allows him to get to hear another person’s storytelling skills and gives him a reading break, while it allows him to practice his verbal reading skills and gives me the opportunity to observe what aspects of verbal reading he needs to work on.
But get this . . .
Bookshare has an option for the book to be read by an online reader and you can choose the voice option you’d like for your reader. WHAT!
Okay, so you’re telling me that technology will write for your children and read for them too?
WOW! So, with technology in the at-a-click reach from our children’s fingertips, how in the world do we expect them to really (I mean REALLY) learn to read and write on the level in which we were forced to as children coming up? Now, I’m in my late 40s, so I mean old school when I say I had to learn the old-fashioned way to read and write. And I appreciate (now) every minute of being “forced” to learn how to formulate words on a page, being required to write out reports by hand and then going to a typewriter and then a computer waaaaaaaay after my formative years, and having the opportunity to hold a book in my hand and read its pages for myself. But, that’s just me.
And don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming the educational system by any means. The educational system just like every other system has to move with technology to stay relevant. And our children’s use of the shortcuts in technology to get by in their schooling is not for the virtual school teachers to manage. It’s absolutely not. There’s no possible way they could. They can’t control what a student does in the home. But, us parents absolutely CAN and we MUST. Shortcuts are okay to an extent, but they have to be managed and used wisely.
As adults, we might have the luxury of taking the shortcuts to do the things we do (although we need to be careful too and make sure we’re using those shortcuts in the appropriate ways and at the appropriate times). But our children are in the developmental phases of their lives and need to learn the detailed versions before they start using the outlines of life lessons. As parents, WE have to fill in the blanks where technology is failing our children. We have to teach them how to use a hand-held dictionary, how to use the resources in a physical library, how to spell for themselves, how to write complete words out on a piece of paper instead of by shorthand or texting version or the latest catchy acronym that all young people on social media know. We have to do something about it if we don’t want our children to be so reliant upon technology that their lives would crumble if they suddenly had to go without it.
Yes, I realize that our dependency on technology is so much bigger than its use in the educational realm within the reading and writing ranks. It’s actually kind of scary to think how dependent we are. But wonder . . . just wonder if the plug is pulled? Wonder if you’re totally unplugged from technology for even a day. What would that look like for you? How would you fare? How would our children fare when technology is all that they’ve ever known? I mean they’re growing up with it.
Well, here’s the way I see it for now. Technology will always have its place in our lives. That’s inevitable. But the more that we can unplug from certain things and learn to do them for ourselves (at least be prepared to do them without technology’s help in the off chance we would be forced to), then the better equipped we will be to keep it moving in times when we’re forced to go old school. Old school ain’t always so bad. Let technology do its thing, but let’s make sure our children know their core skills for themselves. And if that means making sure they know how to do things the longhand way, so be it. Give them options so that, when plan A fails (or is stripped right out from under them), they’ll have plan B to fall back on.
degreesofmaternity.com 
Yes, that comprehension thing is so important. Do you understand what you’re reading? Do you comprehend the steps you’re doing for that problem — like truly know why you’re doing those steps so the formulas you’re using will make sense for how you are to use them in the future? It makes me think of what I was saying about reading a book for yourself versus having it read to you. I think you lose a lot of the comprehension factor when you don’t read the words for yourself whether silently or out loud. Listening to someone else read can allow you to tune out whereas you’re a more active participant of the reading process when you have to read for yourself. You’re probably absorbing more information by your more active participation. I so appreciate hearing your experiences as an educator because it puts things into real-life perspective for what educators and students are experiencing these days. Thanks for being willing to share with me and my audience. I truly learn from you every time.
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You have posted here an interesting blog that certainly is relevant to what I am doing at the moment. As I may have mentioned, I volunteer at our local school three days a week, where I assist children in various classroom at 4 different age levels, and I can honestly say that what you say is certainly correct. I teach kids from age 10 to 15, and what I am about to say applies to every age group. As we all know, there are some kids who spend virtually all their spare time on electronic devices. This obsession with such devices severely limits their ability to comprehend much else in the real world. Using a computer to compose something constructive is just plain boring to them, as it does not stimulate them like violent video games do. I see this every day I am at school.
My school has enough computers for about half the classes, and they borrow them when necessary. While poetry may seem somewhat old school these days, but I was going through some with 10/11 year old’s today. They were able to read the poetry out-loud reasonably well, but most had no real idea what the verses were telling them. They did not comprehend what it was all about, even though the poem was about Australia, their home country.
Another class was with 12/13 year old’s, who were working on a math assignment. This required them to set up a spread sheet and add the necessary numbers and formulas. They also had to research the necessary information, and there is no spell-check in a spread-sheet.
This is a real challenge for this age group, but then nothing else in their life is anywhere close to this. What both of these have proven to me once again, is that reading, and writing for that matter, is all about comprehension. Fully understanding what you are reading will always be a worthwhile skill. I use the written driving test as an example. Get more than 18 wrong out of 20 and back to the studying – you have to fully understand what you are reading.to pass this test. This really resonates with teenagers!
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to comment on this very important subject.
Regards, Phil at http://knowledge-data.net
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