The Pew Internet & American Life Project along with the National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools and Colleges recently released findings from a study entitled “Writing,Technology, and Teens,” which involved 700 students aged 12 to 17 and their parents.

Among its most interesting discoveries, the study suggests that students see a distinction between the writing they do in school and the writing they do in their personal lives. While the vast majority of 12 to 17 year-olds (85 percent) engage in some form of electronic writing—IM, e-mail, blog posts, text messages, etc.—most (60 percent) don’t consider this actual writing.

Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew and co-author of the report, asserts that “there is a raging national debate about the state of writing and how high-tech communication by teens might be affecting their ability to think and write. Those on both sides of the issue will see supporting data here. There is clearly a big gap in the minds of teenagers between the ‘real’ writing they do for school and the texts they compose for their friends. Yet, it is also clear that writing holds a central place in the lives of teens and in their vision about the skills they need for the future.”

Speaking of the significance of the report for educators, Richard Sterling, chair of the advisory board for the National Commission on Writing, states: “We think these findings point to a critical strategy question for all educators: How can we connect the enthusiasm of young people for informal, technology-based writing with classroom experiences that illuminate the power of [well organized], [well reasoned] writing?”

To learn more about the study and its implications or to download a PDF of the final report, be sure to check out T.H.E Journal’s full article.