Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

Study headed by SU professor and doctoral student explores how adolescents use their reading and writing skills outside the classroom

Saturday, March 3, 2001, By News Staff
Share

Study headed by SU professor and doctoral student explores how adolescents use their reading and writing skills outside the classroomMarch 03, 2001Stephanie Hanzizasilis

Kelly Chandler-Olcott, assistant professor of reading and language arts in Syracuse University’s School of Education, wants to know how adolescents use reading and writing outside of the classroom as well as in it. Chandler-Olcott and her co-researcher, Donna Mahar, a doctoral student in reading education who is also a seventh-grade English teacher, are exploring how adolescent girls use various electronic technologies in and out of school. The research subjects are Mahar’s female students at West Genesee Middle School. The project is supported by a $5,000 Elva Knight Research Grant from the International Reading Association. A study done last year by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) indicated that a gender gap exists between girls’ and boys’ interest in and access to technology. Girls tend to take fewer technology courses in their schooling and express less interest in careers using technology. The research in Chandler-Olcott and Mahar’s study, “Adolescent Girls’ Use of Electronic Technologies in Their Literacy Practices,” is focusing on seventh-grade girls who exhibit knowledge of the Internet, digital cameras, video editing, HyperStudio and other technologies. The girls in the study are surveyed, observed and interviewed both at their homes and at West Genesee Middle School by Chandler-Olcott and Mahar. “It is important to look at children in their home settings in order to learn more about them and make the classroom experience more responsive to their strengths, needs and interests,” [THERE IS NO ATTRIBUTION HERE.] Chandler-Olcott and Mahar hope the study will help teachers and researchers understand adolescent cultures in a more sophisticated way and help them develop more efficient instructional strategies. The research is also intended to inform educators on the impact of various technologies on society and on girls. Mahar was drawn to the research because of a myth she wanted to disprove. “A lot of literature states that girls are not as tech savvy as boys,” Mahar says. “The truth is that girls just may not be as willing to openly demonstrate that talent as boys.” Chandler-Olcott applied for the Elva Knight Research Grant because of her interest in children’s out-of-school literacy. She has previously researched adolescents’ reading habits of popular fiction. She sees this study as an extension of her earlier work that attends to changing trends in society.

“Literacy and technology have become and are going to become more increasingly linked,”Chandler-Olcott says. “There is a definite need to explore the literacy demands of that trend.” The research is scheduled to take place over the next year-and-a-half.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Wellness Initiative Celebrates National Nutrition Month With Faculty and Staff Programs
    Wednesday, March 3, 2021, By News Staff
  • Syracuse University/SUNY-ESF Team Wins ‘JUMP into STEM’ Competition
    Tuesday, March 2, 2021, By Julie Sharkey
  • US Army Awards Meritorious Civilian Service Medal to Professor Mark Glauser
    Tuesday, March 2, 2021, By Alex Dunbar
  • ‘Is Election Disinformation Free Speech or Defamation? Courts Will Decide’
    Tuesday, March 2, 2021, By Lily Datz
  • University to Guarantee Admission to Eligible Area High School Graduates After Completing Initial Enlistment in US Military
    Tuesday, March 2, 2021, By Brandon Dyer

More In Uncategorized

Jennifer Grygiel writes “Facebook’s news blockade in Australia shows how tech giants are swallowing the web.”

Jennifer Grygiel, assistant professor of communications in the Newhouse School, authored an op-ed for The Conversation titled “Facebook’s news blockade in Australia shows how tech giants are swallowing the web.” Grygiel, an expert on social media, comments on Facebook’s response…

“Australia Passes Law Making Google and Facebook Pay for News.”

Jennifer Grygiel, assistant professor of communications in the Newhouse School, was quoted by Variety for the story “Australia Passes Law Making Google and Facebook Pay for News.” Australia recently passed a law requiring major tech firms to pay publishers for…

“Alarm Over Chip Shortage Prompts White House Action.”

Patrick Penfield, professor of supply chain practice and director of executive education in the Whitman School, was interviewed by the International Business Times for the article “Alarm Over Chip Shortage Prompts White House Action.” Recently there was a shortage in…

Nina Kohn writes “Netflix’s ‘I Care a Lot’ should worry you.”

Nina Kohn, the David M. Levy Professor of Law and faculty director of online education in the College of Law, co-authored an op-ed for The Hill titled “Netflix’s ‘I Care a Lot’ should worry you.” Kohn, an expert on elder…

“Britney Spears Doc Sparks Re-Examination of Celebrity: ‘The World Has Finally Woken Up'”

Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of television, radio and film and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture in the Newhouse School, was interviewed by The Wrap for the story “Britney Spears Doc Sparks Re-Examination of Celebrity: ‘The…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.