Lesskilningur mætti vera betri : hefur snjallsímanotkun áhrif á lestur og lesskilning unglinga?

Abstract

Flestir unglingar eiga snjallsíma um þessar mundir og notkun þeirra hefur aukist til muna í grunnskólum landsins. Margir halda því fram að tækin hafi truflandi áhrif á einbeitingu nemenda og þar með einnig á kennslu í skólastofunni. Að viðhalda góðum lesskilningi skiptir ekki eingöngu máli fyrir íslenska tungu, heldur er góður lesskilningur undirstaða menntunar.Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að athuga hvort tenging væri milli slaks lesskilnings og aukinnar snjallsímanotkunar nemenda í unglingadeild. Skoðað var hvað nemendur lásu og hvort lestrarvenjur hefðu breyst með tilkomu snjallsíma. Eigindleg aðferð var notuð við öflun gagna í rannsóknina. Einstaklingsviðtöl voru tekin við sex kennara, þrjá úr sama skóla og þrjá úr jafnmörgum skólum á höfuðborgarsvæðinu. Einnig voru viðtöl tekin við sex nemendur í unglingadeild í sama skóla og fjóra foreldra sem eiga börn sem hafa útskrifast úr grunnskóla sem og eiga börn um þessar mundir í grunnskóla. Hver hópur fékk viðtalsramma sem innihélt spurningar sem sneru almennt að snjallsímanotkun unglinga og hvort hún hefði áhrif á lestur, lestraráhuga og lesskilning. Spurningarnar sneru einnig að hvort snjallsímanotkun hefði áhrif á einbeitingu, félagslega hæfni unglinga og beðið var um álit á hvort snjallsímar ættu yfir höfuð heima í skólastofunni.Helstu niðurstöður þessarar rannsóknar eru þær að snjallsímar hafa neikvæð áhrif á lestur, lestraráhuga og lesskilning unglinga. Einnig má lesa úr niðurstöðunum að snjallsímanotkun hafi áhrif á félagsleg tengsl og ýti undir félagslega einangrun. Foreldrar, kennarar og nemendur töluðu um hve mikil enska væri í íslensku umhverfi og lýstu áhyggjum sínum á almennum málskilningi barna og unglinga. Þeir sögðu að samfélagsmiðlar væru meginlesefni unglinga í dag og þar væru textar sem innihéldu óvandaðan orðaforða. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar sem og annarra rannsókna sem styðja þessar niðurstöður ættu að vera öllum víti til varnaðar. Grunnskólar á Íslandi, sem og allir sem koma að menntun barna og unglinga á Íslandi, ættu að snúa vörn í sókn og setja sameiginlegar reglur sem lúta að snjallsímanotkun í grunnskólum landsins.

Most teenagers own cell phones now a days and its usage has increased considerable in Icelandic elementary schools. Many share the opinion that access to cell phones in the classroom has created a problem as its usage can have interfering effects on students’ studies as well as their concentration within the classroom wall. It has been pointed out that it is not only good for the Icelandic language that students attain good reading comprehension, but it is also the basis for all education.The main goal of this research is to explore if there is a connection between decrease in reading comprehension and increase in cell phone usage on eight through tenth grade in Icelandic elementary schools. The main focus of this research paper was to look at some of the materials students are reading and if reading habits have changed due to increase in cell phone usage over the last few years. Qualitative research methods in the form of interviews with different individuals was applied to obtain data. Six teachers, three from the same elementary school and three from different ones in the Reykjavik area were interviewed as well as six students in eight through tenth grade. Four sets of parents were also interviewed that still have and have had students at the elementary level. Each group got a set of questions that focused on cell phone usage among teenagers. Questions concentrated on exploring the connection between cell phone usage, reading, interest in reading and reading comprehension. The main goal was to find out if the increase in cell phone usage has affected the focus and social skills of the children, and if cell phones really belong in the classroom.The main conclusion of this research is that cell phones do have negative effects on reading, interest in reading and reading comprehension in eight through tenth grade. It also yielded the result that cell phones contribute to social isolation. Parents, teachers and students who participated in this research all expressed great concern on how English is increasingly being used by students in Icelandic elementary schools. They were worried about this recent development as this can affect Icelandic language use among youth and teens. Most teenagers today get their reading fix through social media which is concerning because it does not provide vocabulary that includes deep academic language since it stays mostly in the social context. The main results of this research as well as others that have been focused on similar subjects and support the results of this one is that we should be careful about this development we are seeing with increased cell phone usage among teenagers in relation to the increase of poorer vocabulary and literacy skills. Everyone who works in the Icelandic elementary system should be able to take what has come out of this and similar researches to come up with rules about the use of cell phones in elementary schools so that we may help prevent decline in literacy among our teens.