Digital Literacy Team A

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According to new research the use of “textisms” can improve literacy among pupils by giving them extra exposure to word composition outside the school day, it was claimed.

However academics from Coventry University said there was “no evidence” that access to mobile phones harmed children’s literacy skills and could even have a positive impact on spelling.

According to the report, the association between spelling and text messaging may be explained by the highly phonetic nature of the abbreviations used by children and the alphabetic awareness required for successfully decoding the words. The report, funded by Becta, the government's education technology agency stated: “It is also possible that textism use adds value because of the indirect way in which mobile phone use may be increasing children’s exposure to print outside of school.” Prof Clare Wood, senior lecturer in the university’s psychology department, said: “We are now starting to see consistent evidence that children’s use of text message abbreviations has a positive impact on their spelling skills. “There is no evidence that children’s language play when using mobile phones is damaging literacy development.”

The long-held belief that television is detrimental to child development, emotional health and overall literacy has been a stubborn one in North America. The opinion, largely fuelled by anecdotal evidence, and poorly constructed studies has, however, proven not only unfounded, but the bulk of research has actually demonstrated the opposite.

"Moderate amounts of television viewing were found to be beneficial for reading," states Annie Moses in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, further stating that "programs that aim to promote literacy in young children have been found to positively impact specific early literacy skills".

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Facebook and Bebo should be used in the classroom to boost pupils' literacy skills, according to a Government-backed report.

t added: "Using sites to communicate, collaborate and create means learners use and can develop a wide range of literacy skills."

he study also said students should be allowed to use sites to "collaborate on homework projects or discuss lessons" with other pupils.