On a writing note, Scribner’s piece, while warned, was painful to read. I understand why academic writing is important and being factual and technical are all parts of a great essay or article….but COME ON lady! Get to the point! And pick three or four not twenty! I hate when I can go through an article and cross out 2-3 lines per point or paragraph that don’t add anything to the point being made. Scribner’s writing makes me picture her as a 60-70 something old librarian.
Moving on, I agree more with Carr and Hedges when it comes to the articles and the points they make. While Hedges may have embellished our true “literacy” condition I think the point made is nonetheless valid. I think students and adults alike today place more importance on electronics and technology. And I think the issue of skimming without comprehension is a problem on the rise. For a Stanford professor to take STANFORD student’s work and say that the internet has had a positive influence on their work is great. But for that STANFORD professor to then say that this tells us something about students, kids, teenagers nation wide I can’t accept. Its freaking Stanford of course the essays they turn in as academic writing are great. Doesn’t mean the kids down at University of Nebraska-Lincoln aren’t throwing “text speak” into their papers. I think the study done at Stanford is a cool idea and an interesting take on literacy but I don’t feel it is representative of a nation.
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