inside and outside school

Article response
Leading Double Lives: literacy and technology inside and outside of school by Bronwyn T. Williams
"It seems obvious that there is often a gap in how and for what ends technology is used--a gap between some students and their teachers and a gap between different groups of students. What is less obvious is the nature of these gaps in terms of literacy practices. Could we be missing ways to connect with our students and help reinforce and enlarge their literate identities?"
This quote follows the scenario of some technological glitch, which is then fixed by some tech savvy student. We've all been there. Some of us can remember the first occurrence being having to thread the film projector. Thankfully that possibility was passé by the time I had a couple of years in. The question the author is asking is what secret lives are the students living that gives them these skills, and what new literacy skills have they also acquired with the new technology. More importantly, how can the school system recognize, celebrate and tap into the new literacies when teaching students.
I have to say, from my observance of my own kids, that the most popular use of the computer is as a means of communicating with friends, and the content of the messages are not very profound. what is interesting is that you can instantly know which of your friends is seeking contact. That would have taken a dozen phone calls on any given Friday night when I was a teen.
The article states that the instant and text messaging of teenagers makes them as immersed in writing as any teen cohort in years. We are missing an opportunity if we don't tap into it. They also spend a good deal of time reading, although it is on websites and text messages, not on text books and novels. The author again suggests that we need to recognize the fact and exploit it.
I happen to be of two minds, we should use these as bridges to the types of reading and writing that we see as being of value to the students in the long run. I'm not sure that a steady diet of text message reading is the same quality of reading as is a novel or non-fiction book on the library shelves, but if we are to connect with students we should understand the activities, as well as the technologies they are using. Williams states that "Such a disconnect is often more than a mere shift in what skills are being emphasized; it requires some students to move from thinking of themselves as competent and confident writers and readers to thinking of themselves as struggling students confronting literacies that don't seem relevant to their lives."
As librarians, part of our role is to try to find bridges from the competencies they have, to the ones we wish them to develop. At the same time, there are a few things that we should allw them to teach us, and each other about the skills they have built in their other lives.
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy v. 48 no. 8 (May 2005) p. 702-6

I have been doing a great deal of reading and writing about online environments, and have come to the conclusion that there is a lack of research answering the question of whether the online environment improves or impedes comprehension. I read Wayne's blog on the issue, responding to an article in Teacher Librarian, and it seems not to be very definitive. I think that one of the problems is in defining comprehension. I find it interesting to note that the text book can be accessed online. this removes the excuse that students forgot their textbooks at school, but now we have the new excuses that the internet was down and the computer crashed. I'm still a big believer in fiction in book form, although you could make the case that there are certain advantages to non-fiction online, one being the ability to easily search for topics.