E-mail, literacy, and learning: lessons from Carl.

Abstract

Although the school curriculum has been traditionally confined to print and text-based practices, young people are becoming increasingly involved with digital technologies. It is incumbent upon educators to consider the role that these technologies play on literacy and learning both in and out of the classroom. This case study examines an out-of-school e-mail partnership which gradually evolves from informal discussions of online game playing into more of a school-based discourse. Transcripts of conversations reveal ways in which e-mail can be a useful pedagogical practice.

Introduction

I met Angela through an online game. Shortly after I met her, I found out she was a teacher, which flashed bright red warning signs. After high school, I had no reason to write or read--no will to make myself better--until I met Angela. Carl, age 23

The story of Angela and Carl and their unique online relationship comes from an inquiry project I assigned to graduate students in an introductory course on literacy studies. It is a story that demonstrates the important role that e-mail can play in literacy and learning. While much of the curriculum in schools continues to be dominated by traditional print and text-based practices, young people's engagements with reading and writing are increasingly screen-based (Alvermann, 2002; Turkle, 1995). Students like Carl--for whom schooling was not always a positive experience--often benefit from digital forms of communication such as e-mail which invite more active engagement in reading and writing and new kinds of social relationships (Borsheim, 2004; McKeon, 1999; Merchant, 2003). Nevertheless, e-mail as a pedagogical practice remains limited in its use and deserves further investigation.

The Context of the Story

Most of the students in my graduate classes are novice teachers. Both they and-the students they work with regularly e-mail friends and relatives, download music, participate in online chat rooms and games, and search the web for new sites of interest. I wanted these young teachers to begin thinking about the impact of these digital technologies on literacy and learning so that they would be better prepared to teach the next generation of students. I asked my graduate students to investigate one of several topics: distance learning, hypertext, instant messaging, and e-mail. Angela, an elementary school teacher, decided to do a case study focusing on e-mail. She had already amassed an extensive collection of e-mail correspondence as the result of a chance encounter while playing the game SIMS Online. Angela and another player--a young man we'll call Carl to ensure his anonymity--had been communicating online for more than a year.

As their e-mail exchanges became more frequent, Angela and Carl developed a close rapport, and their conversations about game playing gradually evolved into more of a school-based discourse that focused on self-reflection and reading--writing practices. What Angela discovered was that she had inadvertently become a change agent in this Carl's life as she assumed the role of an unofficial teacher/mentor. According to Kress (2003), there has been a "revolution in the landscape of communication" where people are increasingly forming social alliances which are not dependent upon geographical proximity (p.9). Communities, traditionally defined by the physical space that people occupy, are quickly being replaced by relationship building in cyberspace. Individuals from diverse backgrounds often find themselves as partners in digital "communities of practice" united by common interests (Wenger, 1998). This was evident in the connection that Angela and Carl forged in their online relationship. In the transcripts and analyses that follow, you will see the insights that Angela and I acquired about the benefits of e-mail for literacy and learning.

Partners in Writing

During their first year amid discussions about playing SIMS Online, Carl and Angela exchanged information about their personal lives. His e-mails became lengthier and more detailed as he became more comfortable using online writing as a means of communication. When Carl discovered that Angela was a teacher, he revealed his feelings about school:

   Growing up I thought I was smart well at first ... but I had
   teachers laugh at me and call me stupid. I had teachers tell me
   I would never amount to anything they told me I would get lost when
   I get to HS and never graduated the list goes on. I had one teacher
   tell me my looks wouldn't get me through her class LOL. I brushed it
   off or thats what I wanted them to think but it sticks with me even
   to this day.

It's clear from this e-mail that Carl writes with little regard to grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Although his errors are commonplace in e-mail conversations, they are problematic in classrooms where students are expected to adhere to certain written language standards. Angela realized that Carl was comfortable writing online because he had greater latitude in expressing himself. He disregarded many standard print conventions and frequently utilized common online abbreviations like HS (High School) and expressions such as LOL (laughing out loud). In his early school years, however, Carl received a great deal of criticism for his writing errors:

Carl: I told you b4 I'm not good in spelling so the teacher would have other student's give me different spelling test lol Made me feel real smart lol

Angela: Were you the only one?

Carl: yes

Angela: I'm sorry a teacher would do that to you.

Carl: its life

Interestingly enough, Angela observed that, without any prompting on her part, Carl began to experiment with spelling using her writing as a model. Notice the progression of the spelling of "you're" as Carl tries out different versions:

September: Your not following me

October: Your are crazy

November: I hope your're not expecting a long letter

December: Im sorry you did not have the pleasure of reading one of my lame letters yesterday morning, but you're in luck I made sure you had one today

January: You're right this will be a short letter He also began to interrupt their conversations to ask about spelling words of which he was unsure:

Carl: and no nothing was said which worries me a little lol

Angela: why?

Carl: is that how you spell worries? Lol

Angela: Yes.

It was at this point that Angela began talking with Carl about his writing and the progress she had observed:

Angela: I noticed you always spell words correctly if I use them in our conversation, even if you misspelled it previously. You seem to look at my writing and spelling and apply it to your own. That is the biggest compliment!

Carl: yes your're right I do do that lol

Angela: You write differently than you used to. You are playing with the language and punctuation more. Trying out different things.

Carl: I never knew punctuation b4 I met you LOL

In reading through the transcripts of their written discussions, Angela also realized that she wrote more than he did. She was concerned about monopolizing their conversations until she received this e-mail in which he shared the reasons for his reticence:

   Good morning! I know you are expecting a long letter this morning.
   Easer said then done! Well for me that is. Can't seem to get the
   thoughts which are in my head on paper or I think it wont come out
   right or make sense. And then when I feel like I can express myself
   or my feeling about something or my point of view I think its to
   late, I waited to long. So, I decide not to say it or wait for
   another chance to come along.

Carl's words led Angela to think about students' need for time to think and reflect. She pointed out that with extra time, "Carl will usually come up with ideas or insights that are quite interesting, ideas which would probably not have occurred to him. How many students have I silenced because they didn't have the "right" answer at the "right" time?"

Partners in Reading

Gradually they moved from talking about writing to a discussion of reading and books, and Angela discovered that Carl lacked confidence in his reading abilities just as he had in his writing. He told her, "I'm not a good reader." She asked him to explain:

Angela: what makes you say you aren't a good reader?

Carl: sometimes I get stuck on different words

Angela: what do you do when that happens?

Carl: well if I don't know the word I would look it up

Angela: you would stop right then and there and look it up?

Carl: sometimes I skip it thinking that the book will explain itself

Angela: see you use good strategies. I think you just don't trust yourself.

Based on this and other conversations, Angela invited Carl to join her in reading a book together. They would each read several chapters and then have a follow-up discussion on e-mail. Angela hoped that e-mailing would enable Carl to share his concerns and questions without fear of embarrassment. They agreed that they would begin with the book The Lord of the Flies. Carl did, however, have some anxiety about the process as he explained to Angela:

   I know you think highly of me and a part of me knows that you would
   never judge me or make fun of me, but here is this other part, a
   bigger part that is afraid of that. I know you think I'm intelligent
   and I want to keep it that way. I don't want your perception of me
   change if I say something stupid or don't know something you think
   I should know.

Nevertheless, he took up the challenge. One day when she returned home from work, Angela was pleased to find this message from Carl waiting for her: "As you can see I didn't go to that party last night, instead I stayed home and read chapter one in The Lord of the Flies. Something is wrong with that picture!!" Not only did Carl choose reading over partying, he was beginning to see himself as a reader--a "picture" that was in stark contrast to his previous view of himself.

As the two of them made their way through the book, it was obvious to Angela that Carl was secure enough in their relationship to share his concerns about this "risky business" of reading:

   I feel like I'm missing out on something, like if I don't know this
   certain word it might effect the book in some way. I have to stop
   what I'm doing and look up the word b4 I contuie. I might not
   always know how to say it, but this way I kinda have a better
   understanding and know what the author is trying to say. So its not
   that I get frustrated b/c I can't relate to the book, I get
   frustrate with words and meanings. I don't like looking or feeling
   stupid and will do just about anything not to feel or look that
   way. I think thats why I quit so many times.

Angela responded to Carl by sharing strategies that she used when reading, and a few days later Carl e-mailed back:

   I did some reading tonight, I tried some of the strategies that
   you mentioned the other day, like stopping after a page and asking
   myself, What is happening here?" LOL I think sometimes I am reading
   in to much. Meaning, every little thing I come upon I think it means
   something more. I'm not too good at this book thing, but I'm giving
   it a try and hopefully one day I might, well, you know, be good at
   it.

When they finally finished The Lord of the Flies, Angela received this message from Carl:

   I finished the book last night, so that should give you something to
   talk about in the letter you're about to write lol I actually enjoy
   reading the book, it keep my attention. It was confusing at times
   and I didn't catch the total deepness of the book, but hey, it was
   my first book can't expect much, right? I'm trying to think when
   the last time was when I sat down and read a book. What have you
   done to me?

New Insights

Carl's question is an important one to consider. Although Angela was a significant influence on Carl's transition from reluctant learner to eager student, e-mail played a role as well. In determining the benefits of e-mail as a pedagogical practice, the findings in this study and the related research point to several factors:

A More Collaborative Learning Environment

For Gutierrez, Baquedano-Lopez, Alvarez, & Chiu (1999), e-mail communication provides an opportunity to develop a "'third space"--a new and valuable context for learning--in which participants from diverse backgrounds can more easily collaborate and communicate across cultures and languages. It was in this "third space" that Angela and Carl were able to establish a personal relationship, one that would have been unlikely to occur in another setting. As students take on a more active role, teachers begin to function more as facilitators (Bober & Dennen, 2001), and more traditional-hegemonic teaching practices diminish.

Increased Opportunities Jot Identity Construction

According to Snyder (1998), participation in e-mail and other online conversations allows individuals "to construct any number of many possible selves--to role-play on a virtual stage, to an audience, without the risks of a live performance" (p. 92). The anonymity of their particular situation clearly provided a safe haven for Carl, a setting in which he could take risks and expose himself in ways he could not or would not do within the confines of a traditional classroom. With the freedom to construct new identities and pursue topics of personal interest, students become "engaged, independent knowledge seekers when they perceive what they are learning to be personally meaningful and relevant to who they are and who they want to be" (Hinchman, Alvermann, Boyd, Brozo & Vacca, 2004, p. 306).

A Friendlier Form of Discourse

Many researchers consider e-mail as a hybrid discourse that relies on characteristics common to both written and spoken language (Garner & Gillingham, 1996; Weinstock, 2004). In Carl's e-mails to Angela, he consistently used elements of oral language--sentence fragments, informal syntax and vocabulary, and abrupt shifts of meaning. It may be that the hybrid nature of online discourse enables students to become more actively engaged in their learning and more comfortable taking risks, asking questions, and sharing opinions.

Freedom from Time Constraints

Research findings about the distinctions between synchronous and asynchronous discussion, in particular, offer important insights about how time constraints affect student participation and learning (Bober & Dennen, 2001; Snyder, 1998; Wade & Fauske, 2004). Synchronous discussion, the most common form of communication in classrooms, occurs in real-time and is characterized by fast-paced conversation and spontaneity. This can often be a disadvantage for those students like Carl who lack the confidence or facility with language to respond freely. Asynchronous discussion which is typical of e-mail exchanges, on the other hand, is not constrained by time limits and can accommodate learners who need to reflect and organize their thoughts. With extended time on task, Carl was able to actively engage on a schedule determined by his own needs and not by the "bell."

Can it Work in the Classroom?

As e-mail becomes an increasingly popular means of communication for people in their private lives, I believe that it offers new possibilities as a means of mentoring students in the schools. Since Angela's e-mail relationship with Carl took place outside the sphere of school and was the result of serendipity rather than purposeful study, the question remains as to whether or not we can apply what we've learned from this case study to more formal classroom instruction.

Although there has been limited scholarship related to e-mail as a site for mentoring, I found two interesting studies that addressed this topic. In one study, Kirkley, Savery, & Grabner-Hagen (1998), investigated e-mail collaboration between students and teachers in three graduate-level instructional systems technology courses at a Midwestern university. The students in each course were required to participate in e-mail conversations with their instructors to discuss class readings, report on assigned individual or group projects, or deal with other school-related concerns. After analyzing the role that e-mail played in each of the classes, the researchers summarized their findings:

   Not only did E-mail provide the opportunity for instructors to give
   individualized feedback and to extend classroom conversations, but
   it also enabled interactions that could never occur in the
   classroom because of time, conversation flow, interpersonal
   dynamics, cultural influences, and language barriers ... This
   extension of classroom dialogue offered new opportunities for
   students to think through issues that the instructor, or a large
   majority of the class members, might have deemed less important
   to the group but that were, nonetheless, important to a subset of
   the class. E-mail also enables a more diverse set of content topics
   to be discussed in depth (p. 230).

In another study, Warschauer (1999) researched how student-teacher e-mail communications benefited culturally and linguistically diverse students in college writing classes, in a class titled Writing for Foreign Graduate Students at the University of Hawaii, the course instructor, Luz Santos, required students to participate in online dialogue journals to encourage reflective learning. Although the communications were initially designed to focus on course content, Luz discovered that some students began to contact her via e-mail to discuss more personal concerns.

For a male Chinese student named Zhong, for example, Luz provided assistance with difficulties he faced writing in English, difficulties which were not directly addressed in class. For Miyako, a female Japanese student, who was quite shy and reluctant to talk in class, access to the instructor over e-mail was especially helpful. According to Miyako:

   I like the most is, when I write something, and I have a question,
   I'd like to ask many questions, and then I send journal or I send
   my questions over e-mail to Luz, she replies to me immediately,
   it's very helpful. Whenever I took an English class it was like
   that, but I couldn't use e-mail so I have to make an appointment
   and I have to find the professor first, sometimes it takes time to
   ask question, but now I can type and sent it and I just wait the
   reply and it's easier (p. 53).

Overall, Luz found that responding promptly to student-initiated e-mails resulted in extended student-teacher contact time and enabled her to individualize her instruction and establish closer relationships with her students.

In my own work as a university professor, I have had experiences similar to those discussed in the two preceding studies. Despite limited opportunities to communicate with my students before, during, and after classes, e-mail enables me to speak with students more often and have more in-depth conversations. Each semester I encourage students in all the classes I teach to contact me via e-mail, although there are usually only a few in each class who take me up on my invitation. My interaction with those few, however, has consistently proven to be a worthwhile experience. Students comment that they feel more comfortable asking questions and seeking my assistance with assignments because of the private nature of our communication and, interestingly enough, the rapport we develop in these one-to-one conversations encourages those who might otherwise not do so to participate more freely and openly during class.

As the dissertation chair for one of my doctoral students, e-mail has been more than an extension of the classroom--it has become the classroom. My student, Robin, works as a principal in an elementary school, and her long hours and distance from the university make it difficult for us to schedule meetings in person. As a result, we have relied on email for the last two years during which she has been writing her dissertation. We communicate on a regular basis, sometimes once or twice a week and, on occasion, several times in a single day. When I asked Robin her thoughts on our e-mail communications, she responded as follows:

   I think I may be less defensive about the editing process, when I
   read it, rather than hear you say it. It gives me time to mull
   things over at my own pace when I read emails ... Fortunately we are
   both email junkies and I appreciate your quick responses. Also,
   having explanations and questions in writing is very helpful to me.
   I print out all your emails and refer to them so I can make sure I
   address your questions. I like having a running record and I like
   the immediate responses you provide. If I had to wait for
   face-to-face meetings, I would have given up already. Honest!

Conclusion

This paper has focused on ways in which e-mail can facilitate literacy and learning in today's increasingly digital environment. The lessons we learned from Carl, who worked with a supportive mentor outside of school, demonstrate the advantages of email communication over face-to-face interactions. As a hybrid discourse, which combines aspects of written and spoken language, and an asynchronous form of discussion, unaffected by time constraints, e-mail offers a friendlier and more accessible mode of communication. It also allows for active engagement and identity construction by providing increased opportunities for collaboration without the risks associated with a more public space.

In looking at the impact of student-teacher e-mail communications in a school setting, my own experiences in the college classroom and related research have shown that email is a viable pedagogical tool. In terms of academics, e-mail access can provide students with individualized instruction, more immediate feedback on assignments, and additional opportunities to discuss classroom content and topics of interest. On a personal level, the private nature of e-mail enables teachers to develop closer working relationships with students who may be uncomfortable speaking out in a classroom setting. For students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, this can be especially helpful.

It is incumbent upon those of us in education to keep abreast of new technologies that can support the work we do in the classroom. As this paper has demonstrated, e-mail is a technology that can do just that.

References

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Barbara Cohen, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Angela daSilva, Levittown School District, NY

Barbara Cohen, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Studies, and Angela daSilva, M.S., is an elementary school teacher