Teens write a lot, but they do not think of their emails, instant and text messages as writing. This disconnect matters because teens believe good writing is an essential skill for success and that more writing instruction at school would help them.

Family, Friends & Community: Writing, Technology, and Teens

The perennial cliche in computers and writing is that ‘the kids’ know more about technology than we do. I always thought that was a little odd, coming from professionals who spent their lives studying technology.

In any case, what is more true is that the kids have a different sense of technology, and often different technologies, than their professors, at least if there is a great enough age difference….

Surprisingly, and unfortunately, the second and third largest growth rates in higher education personnel are in the categories of full- and part-time non-tenure-track faculty—both of which increased by over 200 percent. These two categories comprise the contingent faculty. Contingent faculty are ostensibly hired to provide universities with a flexible labor pool that can be expanded or reduced when enrollments in particular programs fluctuate, but the enormous growth in contingent faculty relative to full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty and relative to the growth in student enrollments is far greater than might be justified by an argument for flexibility. Other factors are driving this trend.

AAUP Annual Report on Faculty Salaries

I’ve know about these numbers all of my professional life,…