Write on!

Turns out texting is the new writing -- and your cell phone is the new pen and paper. In a recent study, Michigan State University researcher Jeff Grabill found that first-year college students were most inclined to text message rather than use other forms of writing:

• Of the 91 percent of students who’ve texted in the past, nearly half claimed texting was their preferred method of writing.

• SMS text messaging and emailing, respectively, are the two most common forms of writing among students -- just ahead of such academic writing as note taking and class assignments.

The survey, conducted by MSU’s Writing in Digital Environments Research Center (WIDE), gathered its data from 1,366 freshmen students -- class of 2010 -- from a widespread portfolio of schools that included research universities, master’s colleges and associate’s public two-year institutions under four-year universities.

Facebook is another digital platform students frequently associate with writing, but they don’t place as much value on social networking sites as they do on texting and academic writing. As for Twitter, blogs, Wikis and other pervasive social media networks, not many students were found to use these technologies. Yet those who did used them often.

Because the study found that students write for personal fulfillment nearly as often as for school assignments, many educators are taking an “if you can’t fight it, join ’em” stance, regarding mobile devices as a new, legitimate writing platform for students of the digital age.

Given incredible leaps in technology, don’t discredit the use of digital platforms for many academic purposes. Stuck waiting in line? Whipping out that cell phone to catch up on readings is becoming more and more commonplace within the college crowd.

The question now is, How will technology affect students within the academic sphere as it evolves? It’s unlikely that mobile devices will be welcomed into a classroom setting anytime soon, but we have to wonder if the classic pen and paper will someday be considered archaic.

Sound off below! Let us know how you use your phone in and out of the classroom.