Parents, have you ever received a text message from your child who spelled a word such as “necessary” correctly but used the improper form of “too” or “there”? And teachers, have you experienced a similar problem with papers or reports that students have handed in?
These are just a few effects of the present generation’s reliance on spell-checking devices and autocorrect. And these seemingly minor technical slip-ups can have greater implications on a child’s professional future than we realize: “Spelling errors in written communications inevitably diminish the forcefulness of your ideas and tarnish your stature in the eyes of your readers. It’s human nature. We stop reading for a few seconds and shake our heads when we hit that misspelling, and later it’s likely we’ll remember you made that error in your message just as well as we remember the content of the message.” (Halverson) And this is just bad news if we want our kids to be successful!
But to recognize the dangers of spelling and grammar-checking devices is not to condemn technology as a whole. Technology, like laptops, can encourage children to write more (Zheng), which can be beneficial if they already have the linguistic foundations to write with proper spelling and grammar.
So what can we do to develop such foundations? It is a task that must begin in the same stages of educational development as reading and writing. And it is a task that involves strictly human attention. For younger children, this means emphasizing correct spelling. It can almost seem like an exhaustive assignment to give children homework with the instructions to “Write your spelling words 10 times each,” but it is this requirement of repetition for perfection and the physical writing of words that can equip children with the skills they will need throughout life. As students begin to incorporate technology into their schoolwork, or even just start texting on a smartphone, dependence on autocorrect or autofill could be diminished by simply turning off such tools.
Finally, we must place precedence on the art of proofreading. It is too easy to assume, especially among the younger generations who grew up with proofreading technologies, that just because no red squiggly lines show up on our document that there must not be any mistakes.
For a tutorial on proofreading without the use of spellcheck, check out the video below!
“One of the biggest myths about proofreading is that you need a superior brain and a superhuman attention to detail,” Rob Ashton of the Business Writing Channel shares. “Well, guess what? You don’t!” Ashton instructs viewers on how to become good proofreaders, beginning with printing out any typed work.
Bibliography
Halverson, Jim. “Overcome Autocorrect.” inbusinessmag. Sept. 2013. Web
Zheng, Binbin, Mark Warschauer, and George Farkas. "Digital Writing And Diversity: The Effects Of School Laptop Programs On Literacy Processes And Outcomes." Journal Of Educational Computing Research 48.3 (2013): 267-299. Professional Development Collection. Web. 19 Oct. 2016.
Hi Spellcheckers,
ReplyDeleteYou do a great job of creating catchy titles to each of your posts! This post does a good job of incorporating resources and staying on topic.
The video does a good job showing methods of proofreading. I'd like to see a clearer connection to the audience though. Although the video gives proofreading methods anyone can use, this video is aimed at adults in the workplace. Because your blog post addresses teachers and parents. A better video would do the same.