A number of academics believe that writing on the Internet, in all its varied
forms, can improve student prose. Mark Bauerlein is not one of them. The
professor of English at Emory University noted in his Brainstorm blog post on
Saturday that "we don't see any gains in reading comprehension for
17-year-olds on NAEP exams, the SAT, or the ACT," referring to the battery of
standardized tests taken by teenagers. If Twittering, texting, and the like
really improved writing, Mr. Bauerlein argues, surely the tests would show some
evidence.
Bryan Kopp on 02 Sep 09The Embodied Literacies Project is a two-part study of college writing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In year one (Y1), EL investigated FYC students' transfer of rhetorical knowledge across print, digital, and oral media. In Year 2 (Y2), EL examined the same students' transfer of rhetorical knowledge across media, time, and both in-class and out-of-class writing situations.