Research shows that using blogs, texting and social networking sites improves children’s literacy skills - or does it?
A news item appeared on the BBC website this week with the headline: ‘Children who use technology are “better writers”‘ (see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8392653.stm). The claim is based on a survey of 3,001 children aged 9-16 commissioned by the National Literacy Trust that explored their use of new communication technologies such as: blogs, texting and social network sites. From the news item it appears that the main finding is that: ‘of the children who neither blogged nor used social network sites, 47% rated their writing as "good" or "very good", while 61% of the bloggers and 56% of the social networkers said the same.’
In response to these findings, Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, was quoted as saying: ‘Our research suggests a strong correlation between kids using technology and wider patterns of reading and writing. […] Engagement with online technology drives their enthusiasm for writing short stories, letters, song lyrics or diaries.’ Moreover, and in response to the claim that the use of blogging, texting and social networking sites damages literacy, he went onto state that: ‘Our research results are conclusive - the more forms of communications children use the stronger their core literary skills.’
Now, I’ve not had time to read the full report as yet but there are at least two problems with the conclusions being drawn above:
1. From the news item, it appears that the survey did not actually measure children’s literacy skills. Rather it focused simply on their own self-perceptions of how good their writing is. At the very best, therefore, all that can be claimed here is that the more that children use such communication technologies, the more that they are likely to have positive self-perceptions of their literacy skills.
2. While there may well be a ‘strong correlation’ between these two things, it is impossible without further evidence to make any claims about what may be causing what. It is certainly premature for the Director of the National Literacy Trust to conclude that they have ‘conclusive results’ showing that it is children’s use of such technologies that increases their core literacy skills. While this may be the case, there is also an equally plausible explanation: that children with greater literacy skills (or, in their case, a greater perception of their literacy skills) are more likely to then use literacy-based technologies such as blogging, texting and social network sites more. Moreover, there may not be any direct relationship between the two at all. It may be, for example, that there is some other factor - for example a child’s socio-economic background - that has an influence on both literacy skills and use of technology. Thus, the more affluent a child’s background, the more likely they are to have higher literacy skills and also to have greater access to, and thus make greater use of, such technologies. It is not inconceivable, therefore, that literacy skills and technology use are completely unrelated.
This second point – that correlation does not equal causality – is a fundamental one that students should have learnt from any basic research methodology course. The fact that a well-respected organization such as the National Literacy Trust can be confusing the two in their own research findings is a poor reflection on the state of educational research in the UK. Moreover, the fact that the BBC’s own ‘technology reporter’ can simply report such claims uncritically, as in this news item, does nothing to help improve the situation.
