Lingo to Word, for those of us that don't speak text

Love this site! Lingo to word will translate either direction (traditional text to txt msg or reverse) and help you improve your texting vocabulary. I love that students could use this site to help with code switching, and teachers could use it to learn what students are saying. I think it is really important that we not discount how digital natives use language.

translated to text speak...
lov dis site! Lingo 2 wrd wl transl8 Itha direction (traditional txt 2 txt msg or reverse) n hlp u improve yr txtN vocab. I lov dat studnts cUd uz dis site 2 hlp W cod switching, n tchaz cUd uz it 2 lern w@ studnts r sAyn. I tnk itz realy impt dat we nt discount hw digital natives uz lang.

4 reasons that new ICT tools and powers change literacy

According to Warschauer (2006) there are four major shifts that new ICT tools allow

1) interactive written communication: "these bridge the historic divide between speech...and writing" p.7) - this statement is certainly supported by Jacob's (2008) findings about IM (see my Dec 24th Post

2) allows for the creation of hypertexts

3) democratizes multimedia creation

4) many to many communication

These changes are massive and certainly classroom practices can now make use of these powerful transformations in helping students build literacy skills, but how do teachers learn and become comfortable with these tools and this new form of knowledge production?

Instant Messaging

Similar to my last post A. O'Connor in her article Instant Messaging Friend or Foe of Student Writing? (2005) suggests that the either/or approach to formal writing or informal communication does little to help students navigate the worlds they live and learn in. Instead perhaps there is opportunity to teach the role of audience in writing and engage students in more learning through this conversation.

She has a great analogy in her piece - about how we dress - we dress differently to do yardwork than we do to go out on a Saturday night. Somehow we learned this difference, and teachers today may need to engage with helping students learn this difference as we all confront the world of multiliteracies.

Repetoire of Writing Practices

In a recent article We Learn What We Do: Developing a Repertoire of Writing Practices in an Instant Messaging World (November 2008) G. Jacobs researched the social practice of IM and engaged in a case study of one young student to learn how the formal writing process of writing and online chatting interacted and impacted each other. She argues that CMC (Computer mediated communication) " is not poor writing but is a response to social needs as mediated by technological constraints" (p.204). At one point in the case study she presents she is talking with the subject of the case who maintains that IM is not writing, "it's talking". I found this distinction fascinating since it makes sense given the slang, interruptions and nature of the communication, but because it was put down with a keyboard - I considered it writing.

Similar to my post on identity I think the key here to better understanding these tools socially and educationally is to begin by talking with those students and people who use them, to better understand the perceptions at play. Jacobs argues" Good writing then, is writing that meets the purpose of the author and fulfills the requirements of the audience as defined by the social and cultural expectations of the community in which the writing is used" (p. 205). In these conversations about perceptions it would also be appropriate to discuss the role of audience with students such that they can be explicitly taught when and why certain forms of communication are appropriate in certain contexts. Instead of just simply correcting or dismissing these conventions Jacobs suggests engaging students in conversation and allow the student to develop a meta-awareness of the context and audience issues.

In addition to engaging in conversation Jacobs also suggests, and I agree that teachers must try new forms of media to better understand the medium before dismissing it as having no place in school. Perhaps students today have the potential to develop more forms of writing than in the past, and we as teachers can help this process.