Autocurekt shud spel out ur futur
Shud we rite r txts lyk dis n let da fone correkt r speling erurs?
Primary school spelling lessons of “look, cover, write, check” should become “look, type, don’t check, text”, according to a Newcastle University professor.
Sugata Mitra, who teaches educational technology at the university, believes smartphones spell out a predictable future.
Mitra believes SMS is a better way of expressing emotions…
Mitra, who won a prestigious TED prize this year, says technology provides the education for us, “My phone corrects my spelling so I don’t really need to think about it.”
Despite educational ministers launching an exam in May to test 10 and 11 year olds on their spelling, grammar and punctuation, the professor believes we should rely on the generation “who believe that SMS language is a better way of expressing emotion.”
Mitra says that such exams are old fashioned, as spelling and grammar skills were “very essential maybe 100 years ago but they are not right now.”
Joe Walsh, co-director of the National Association for the Teaching of English, says that future generations shouldn’t rely on technology to spell out their ignorance.
“Electronic devices can suggest alternatives but they cannot think for you.
“The skills of using grammar effectively in the context of writing and spelling accurately are just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago.”