Week 9: Assignment 1

The article “The Impact of Using Blogs on College Students’ Reading Comprehension and Learning Motivation” explores the lack of reading amongst students and their readiness for collegiate curriculum. With the popularity of technology, students are slowly but surely moving away from the reading and focusing their interests on social media and socializing. In the past, there was limited technology available to interrupt students from the classroom. According to the article, “Sanoff (2006) surveyed approximately 1,100 U.S. college faculty members, and about 40% of them stated that college freshmen are not well prepared for college-level reading and writing tasks” (Hsu and Wang 2011). From my experience, I had a couple of roommates in college who took a writing course to get them up to speed with the institution’s expectation. On another hand, the article also highlights the benefits of using new literacies within the classroom, “studies indicate that the new-literacies practices (e.g., digital video production, online composing) engaged and motivated students more so than did traditional literacy practices (Barone & Wright, 2008; Chandler-Olcott & Mahar, 2003; Merchant, 2009; O’Brien, Beach, & Scharber, 2007; Ranker, 2008). As an instructor, it is up to us to keep students engaged by implementing familiar technology tools that will hold their attention spans as well as encourage them to sharpen their writing and encourage them to read. Tools such as blogging, bridges the gap significantly “the use of blogs enhances social interaction, providing a channel to build a sense of community, to strengthen communication skills, and to write for a real audience” (Hsu and Wang 2011).