Part 1

After reading articles such as We Are All Writers Now by Anne Trubek and This
Embarrasses You and I by Sue Shellenbarger in one of our textbooks, I started to become very
interested in technology and grammar. This is the reason why I decided to make my original
question What effect does social media have on grammar for my MEIP. My beginning
research for this question suggested that often nowadays the shorthand used in social media and
texting can be carried over into the classroom, which can be a problem for formal writing
assignments (Freeze). The first article that I read suggested that in order to keep students
engaged in learning grammar, teachers must make the subject relatable (Freeze). This led me
to consider all of the different ways that teachers could accomplish this. The most obvious
answer to me was to find a way to incorporate technology. This caused me to wonder if
technology, such as apps, be used as a tool to help students with their writing skills. This became
my next question.
I went back and researched my original question more so that I may explore as many
different avenues of this topic as I could. The next article I read stated similar ideas to the first
article, but it gave more real life examples of cyber slang. I began to wonder why some students
are able to switch back and forth between social media slang and formal writing skills while
other students struggle with this, as was evident by the examples in the article. When I tried to
research this new question, I had trouble finding helpful research on it, so this branch of my topic
did not expand anymore.
Before I went back to my new question from the first article, I found one more article on
my original topic. This article was very informative. According to their survey, many teenagers
do not believe that communication over the internet or text messaging is writing and for this

reason they typically think that it does not negatively affect their writing (Lenhart et al.). On the
other hand, parents think that their children are writing more. Almost half (48%) of the parents
surveyed felt this way and only 31% thought that their child was writing less (Lenhart et al.). The
rest believe that the amount their child writes is about the same as what they wrote. Both parents
and the teenagers thought that they need to have good writing skills if they want to succeed in the
future. I wanted to know more about this idea, so my next question was about why they feel this
way. Not all careers require you to be an excellent writer to excel. In addition to this, the article
also discussed how many teens believe that the writing instruction they receive in school could
be improved (Lenhart et al.). When I read this section, I immediately went back to thinking
about my question from the first article. For this reason, I abandoned this branch of my topic.
At this point, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to continue with the branch of my
topic that explored using technology to assist with learning. When I first started reading my next
article, I thought it was going to be focused more on the writing aspect of learning than it really
did. This article was more about the different ways schools and students can use technology to
assist the learning experience overall. I also learned from this article some of the different
problems that are occurring while trying to integrate technology into the classroom. This led me
to wonder how technology can be more effectively incorporated into the classroom.
At this point, I found two new articles about how technology can be used in the
classroom. I did not realize how much of a positive impact technology can have on learning
until I read this article. Most schools are finally starting to accept the fact that the process of
technology coming into the classroom [is] inevitable (Lytle). The biggest issue schools face
with this integration though is a budget restraint. It can be very expensive to purchase and
operate technology and some people believe that instead of spending the money on the

technology, schools with a limited budget should be spending the money on training teachers
(Lytle). This made me begin to wonder if the benefits of technology in the classroom are great
enough to outweigh budget issues. If this is not the case, how can schools overcome the cost
restriction of it?
The second article I read about how technology in the classroom explained specific
benefits of blended learning. Some of these benefits, such as that it will help prepare [the]
students for the elaborate world they will face going forward, did not surprise me, but others,
for example that it can potentially keep students focused for longer periods of time, I was
shocked by (Huneycutt). After I thought about this supposed benefit for a while, it began to make
sense. If a student has to research something using only books, it will take them longer to find
the information they need because they will get distracted and bored easier since it is harder to
do. If the student uses technology, it speeds up the process and makes it more interesting. Once I
read the benefits in this article, I became curious if the benefits of using technology in the
classroom change based on the age group that is using it. I have not yet had a chance to research
into this question yet, but I hope to do so next or to try to answer it with my primary research.

Part 2
After reviewing the research I have completed so far, I plan to continue looking into the
use of technology in the classroom. When I write my MEIP, I think I will start towards the end
of my branch on this focus and work backwards. The articles I found about the benefits and
positive impacts of using technology in the classroom will most likely come first because this is
the main point of my new research. From there, I will bring in any research from my new
questions and any research that fits from earlier in the branch. If I can find a way to do it well, I

would like to include some of my original research about the effects of technology and social
media on writing. This would connect different parts of my topic well.
I still need to look into the whole issue of budget restraints on using technology in the
classroom. This information is an important part of my topic. I would like to also find some more
examples of technology being used in the classroom and the benefits of this. I am most likely to
use the research I have found from the Pew Research Internet Project, the National Math +
Science Initiative Blog, and U.S. News and World Report. All of these websites provided me
with helpful, factual information that also included some good examples of technology in the
classroom. In order to further my research, I may need to conduct some focused research on
school budgets and the cost of technology in the classroom. It would be helpful to have this
information when composing my MEIP. Furthermore, I need to complete some focused research
on how the number of schools utilizing technology in the classroom has changed in recent years.
Once I complete these few research ideas, I believe that I will have enough information on my
topic to compose my MEIP successfully.

Works Cited

1. Arafeh, Sousan., et al. "The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savy
students and their schools." PewResearch Internet Project. Pew Research Central, 14
Aug. 2002. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
2. Freeze, Alix."Grammar in the Age of Social Media." Association of American Educators.
Association of American Educators, 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.
3. Huneycutt, Timothy. "Technology in the Classroom: The Benefits of Blended Learning."
National Math + Science Initiative Blog. National Math + Science Initiative, 8 Oct. 2013.
Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
4. Lenhart, Amanda., et al. "Writing, Technology and Teens." PewResearch Internet
Project. Pew Research Center, 24 Apr. 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
5. Lytle, Ryan. "Study: Emerging Technology Has Positive Impact in Classroom." U.S.
News and World Report. U.S. News and World Report, 14 Jul. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
6. Tomaszewski, Jason."Do Texting and 'Cyber Slang' Harm Students' Writing Skills?"
Education World. Education World Inc, 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.