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The National Literacy Trust found that social networking sites and blogs help students to develop more positive attitudes toward writing and to become more confident in their writing abilities.

According to one of the studies, 49 per cent of young people believe that writing is “boring.” However, students who use technology-based texts such as blogs have more positive attitudes toward writing. Whereas 60 per cent of bloggers say that they enjoy writing, only 40 per cent of non-bloggers find writing enjoyable.

The study also showed that students who write blogs or maintain a profile on a social networking site tend to be more confident about their writing ability. More than 60 per cent of students who blog and 56 per cent of students who have a profile on a social networking site claim to be “good” or “very good” writers, compared with only 47 per cent of those who don’t use online formats. Having a blog also affects writing behaviour. Students who are active online are significantly more likely to keep a journal or write short stories, letters or song lyrics than those without a social networking presence.

The project involved the use of computer technology to improve the reading skills of several thousand students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 2. Approximately 80% of those students were from homes in which Spanish was the first language. Students were provided with the opportunity to learn to read with a program which used a balanced literacy approach, enhanced with technology.

Texting and it’s impact on reading and writing “It turns out that the best texters, are the best spellers.” “The more you text, the better your literacy scores.” “The earlier you get your mobile phone, the better your literacy scores.” “What is texting?  Texting is writing and reading.” “The more practice you get in writing and reading, the better writer and reader you will be.”

“Twitter changed it’s prompt from “What are you doing?” to “What’s happening?” People are now looking more outwards instead of inwards.” “If you want to find out about an event, you are most likely to find out on Twitter before any other medium.”

Children who are fluent at text messaging have better literacy skills than youngsters who do not use mobile phones, it was claimed today.Scientists discovered that rather than destroying their use of English, texting improves children's ability to recognise rhymes and speech patterns.The findings fly in the face of long-held views of parents and teachers who believe text messaging damages children's ability to write properly.

Researchers found children as young as five who used mobile phones are better at understanding rhymes and syllables in speech.

The study also showed that children were subconsciously practising their spelling by regularly sending text messages.

Oberving the data throughout this essay, the best solution is to use both educational television and close captioning. First of all, educational television has been shown to increase literacy and cultural knowledge thus should be integrated into the classroom. Teachers should used educational television as a learning tool and to spur interest in academics. Secondly, parents should use close captioning in order to reverse the effects of non education television. Since television has been shown to displace reading, close captioning integrates both television and reading into one activity. Close captioning would allow the child to view television but at the same time read the captioning, thus increase literacy. These two factors are capable of reversing the negative effects of television and allow a new generation of children to increase literacy with the aid of technology.

Let's define literacy. It was once known simply as the ability to read and write. Today it's about being able to make sense of and engage in advanced reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

The objective has to be learning, not just getting the technology out there,” said Muir. “We are paying attention to app selection and focused on continuous improvement — we aren’t just handing equipment to teachers.”

The study randomly assigned half of the 16 kindergarten classes in the district iPads to use for 9 weeks. Each of the 266 students, were tested before and after the iPad introduction. According to the results, every class that had iPads outperformed the non-iPad classrooms in every literacy measure.

Preschool children who watched a few hours a week of educational programming perform better on achievement tests over time than their peers who watch more general entertainment shows, according to researchers at the University of Texas in Austin.Dr. Aletha C. Huston, of the University of Texas in Austin.

Each year, the children's reading, math and vocabulary skills were assessed. The researchers found that younger children, especially those aged 2 and 3, who watched a few hours a week of educational programs had higher scoring on academic tests 3 years later than children who did not watch the programs

The benefits of reading to children are well established, but did you know that with a little guidance, children can get similar benefits from watching television? That may seem like a lot to ask from TV viewing, but when children are stimulated to think, as opposed to watching passively, their minds are very busy. According to children's television researcher Dr. Edward Palmer, watching television is "a remarkable intellectual act. All the while kids are watching, they are making hypotheses, anticipating, generalizing, remembering, and actively relating what they see to their own lives."