Instant Messaging: A Literacy Event

 

 In Instant Messaging: A Literacy Event, the author shares the following:

"This kind of technology is referred by many as "invisible technology". When technology becomes "normal" in this way, it is no longer complicated nor is it notable to users. It is a fact of life, a being in the world, a producer of social subjects that find it unremarkable-so unremarkable that it seems everybody does it."

 

It concerns me that something that is such common practice outside of the classroom has no place in the classroom. Our students are instant messaging (or texting) each other, their coaches, club leaders and ultimately their parents to receive or share information. The quote from the article goes so far as to call it "a being in the world". I tend to believe some parents may receive more communication from their children behind the veil of instant messaging than they do face to face. Parents work: children have activities. I think instant messaging provides an outlet for children (and adults for that matter) to freely ask questions or share ideas. Given the proper planning and expectations, I think it would be feasible for educators to allow students to take advantage of instant messaging to work on projects, research information and even interview subjects. For instance, a recent social studies project on the United State Secret Service created by three 4th grade girls would have given the girls immediate answers to questions as they interviewed a former agent. Email slowed the process and the chance to ask immediate questions and get immediate answers.

 

In the article Tapping Instant Messaging, there's mention of a Canadian instructor answering instant messaged questions outside of class time. While I think that would be convenient for students, I can see issues with liability (a student-instructor relationship is and must be different from a guardian-child relationship) and children tending to wait until after instruction time to inquire about anything. 

 

However, the article also references the site www.readwritethink.org. 

Within seconds, I found two lesson plans that could incorporate instant (or text) messaging in the curriculum in very different ways.

Audience, Purpose, and Language Use in Electronic Messages

In the lesson plan, students learn that instant messaging can be a valuable source for communication and learning. But, they are also tasked to determine how to properly participate in instant messaging based on the audience (a friend, an employer, a teacher), the purpose (casual chat, requesting a meeting, questioning an assignment) determines the language that should be used.  I think it's a very real application of technology in the classroom. Students are guaranteed to use many tools in communication during school and well after graduation.

If a Body Texts a Body: Texting in The Catcher in the Rye

In the lesson plan, students are forced into critical thinking and predicting. Sometimes sparking discussion on a reading is not easy among a classroom. It seems students tend to worry about their response because they aren't sure if they are giving the "expected" answer. I think an assignment like this that has them re-writing a text with today's technologies forces them to recall what they've read. It also instigates easier discussion.