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Research by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) into young people's writing habits backs the broader use of new technologies in the classroom to help reduce the gap between young people's reading and writing skills.
NLT director Jonathan Douglas said: "The last 10 years have seen a huge focus on literacy but while reading skills have gone up, writing skills haven't. This research shows that we need to reconsider what happens in the classroom and how children are taught to write."
The research involved 3,001 pupils aged nine to 16 years. Among the key findings were that 56% of young people said they had a profile on a social networking site and 24% have their own blog. These young people were more prolific writers than their counterparts, held more positive attitudes
towards writing and computer use and viewed writers more favourably.
While the research does not suggest that using online technologies improves a young person's writing skills, NLT head of research Dr Christina Clark said: "People tend to view young people's online activities as a waste of time but the research suggests that we need to validate different ways of writing, just as we needed to validate different forms of reading. Writing skills and experience should not be confined to report or essay writing."
The NLT is conducting further research to ascertain the link between enjoyment of reading and writing and academic attainment. It will also introduce a new post in the spring to help teachers become better story-tellers as children who hear stories are more confident about writing their own, said Douglas.