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A British study published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning found a positive correlation between texting and literacy, concluding that texting was “actually driving the development of phonological awareness and reading skill in children.” In other words, contrary to what you might think when faced with “creative” usages such as ur for your, 2 for to, and w8 for wait, kids who text may be stronger readers and writers than those who don’t.

If you’re worried about grading a pile of The Catcher in the Rye essays written in text speak, fear not. In research conducted for a dissertation at the City University in London, graduate student Veenal Raval found that most students avoid text­isms in their schoolwork. “They are able to ‘code-switch’ the same way that I would...use slang when speaking to my friends and adopt a more formal means when talking to colleagues,” Raval told the Telegraph. In other words, students change how they spell according to the circumstances and the audience. They know to spell out the word tomorrow in a paper, but when making plans with friends, they go with tom.

Tostan’s "Community Empowerment Program" is an award-winning, three-year nonformal education program that provides community wide trainings to help villagers lead social change projects within their communities. As part of the CEP program, Tostan offers a 150-hour cellphone literacy course--called Mobile Phone for Literacy and Empowerment--in which participants in 20 villages received 16 lessons on how to use cell phones, build literacy and numeracy skills, and use text messaging as a means to practice and learn.

Cell phone use rose to a nearly universal level (98%), from 58% at the baseline. In addition, there was a drastic improvement across the reading ability of all participants--women, men, girls, and boys (65 percent compared to 8 percent before the program).

Girls and women participating in the program greatly improved literacy and numeracy skills. Before the program, nearly 42 percent of women and 44 percent of girls reported having no literacy or numeracy skills, compared to 21 percent and 17 percent, respectively, after. More than 30 percent of girls and women rated their skills as high after the program compared to only 12 percent of women and 8 percent of girls before.

Television viewing plays an important role in the lives of many young children and has received a great deal of attention in the public as well as in research. This review examined research on television and literacy development in early childhood, including studies of messages about literacy in children's programs as well as the impact of specific programs on young viewers' literacy development. Results indicate: (1) moderate amounts of television viewing were found to be beneficial for reading; (2) the content of programs viewed by children matters; (3) programs that aim to promote literacy in young children have been found to positively impact specific early literacy skills; and finally, (4) there are limitations to the existing literature. Suggestions for addressing these limitations were included, and future studies should focus on methodological, theoretical, and measurement issues in this area, in addition to exploring a wider variety of programs watched by young viewers.