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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)."

2 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
  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!