Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Kids Improve Writing Online

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the home-skuling dept.

aelfric35 writes "Ben Franklin advised his son not to allow schooling to interfere with his education. Even though many have disparaged the effects of IM on schoolchildrens' prose, some kids are actually becoming better writers by participating in online communities. Henry Jenkins writes in MIT's Technology Review about how some kids are gaining writing and editorial experience far beyond what their schools can offer by participating in Harry Potter fan fiction forums (sorry about the alliteration)."

5 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. Schooling interfere with education? by Dlugar · · Score: 5, Informative
    Ben Franklin advised his son not to allow schooling to interfere with his education.
    Um, wasn't that Mark Twain?

    On a more serious note, if you want some highly interesting reads on how "schooling interferes with your education," read some stuff by John Taylor Gatto. It's scary 'cos it's true.

    Dlugar
    --
    Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
    1. Re:Schooling interfere with education? by TheWanderingHermit · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, Sam Clemens/Mark Twain said, "I never let my schoolin' interfere with my eduction."

      It was a statement of his own life, not advice to his son.

  2. Re:Writing better? by MightyPez · · Score: 5, Informative

    I can't agree more with what you said. I dabbled in Spanish and German in high school. Both classes made me appreciate the intricacies and nuances of language. I had a better appreciation for not only other languages, but my own as well.

    And I am most definitely a part of that backlash. When I see "loose" being used in place of "lose", my blood starts boiling.

    Of course, none of this excuses my notoriously poor typing skills. Typo-s aplenty!

  3. Re:I'm a kid in a similar situation, and I agree - by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    No offense but the writing you've demonstrated in your comment needs significant improvements. I understand that you may not have proofread it but here are some pointers:

    s/and senior/and a senior editor/ or s/and senior/and the senior/

    s/writing lots/writing a lot/

    s/would of ever/would have ever/

    s/15,000/13,000/ s/15000/13,000/

    s/commentary's/commentaries/

    s/english/English/

    s/columbia/Columbia/

    s/tandom/tandem/

    s/kids/kid's/

    s/now only/now not only/

    s/infinitly/infinitely/

    s/thise/these/

    s/opportinities/opportunities/

    Try joining your school newspaper. Simply writing for a website doesn't get you nearly the same amount of constructive criticism that the school newspaper editors and faculty advisors can provide.

  4. Re:Graduation by odin53 · · Score: 3, Informative

    As Winston Churchill said, "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put."

    You might want to pick up a copy of Strunk and White: "Not only is the preposition acceptable at the end, sometimes it is more effective in that spot than anywhere else." You won't find a reputable modern English guide that teaches differently.