Where do we go now?
Where does the new literacy that technology has afforded us lead us?
The world is changing more rapidly than teachers are able to acknowledge in curriculum. The expectations of print literacy in workplaces and by policy makers still exists. Every time students put writing out into the public sphere it is judged either ‘literate’ or ‘illiterate’. I have a sneaking suspicion that ‘adults’ in the beginning regarded texting as a ‘phase’ or another teenage fad. The abbreviations that teens use not only save them time, but some phones have limited characters per message and it will also save them money depending on the plan they have chosen. Ergo teens are ‘with it’ and frugal! Though I agree with Rita that we need to teach traditional text types so that the students are readily employable. Even in email spelling mistakes makes people look illiterate.We still need the rules of English but need to know where and when certain styles are acceptable. In the same way as know not to wear board shorts to a wedding we need to teach where and when language styles are appropriate and inappropriate.
