Mobiles, computers making UK teens ‘dumb’

London, September 10 (ANI): Teenagers’ obsession with mobile phones and computers is taking a toll on their education, suggests a new research.

Andrew Kakabadse, professor of international management development, Cranfield School of Management, found that almost 60 per cent of teenagers were submitting coursework downloaded from the web without reading, rewriting, or understanding it.

The survey also found that the students’ addiction to text messaging was also affecting the standard of English, reports Times Online.

Three in ten respondents used text-message abbreviations, such as l8 (late) or RU (are you) in their coursework, with more than half of the 260 pupils saying they were either quite or very addicted to their mobile phone.

Kakabadse said the study “showed that technology obsession hinders spelling skills, implicitly encourages plagiarism and disrupts classroom learning”.

He added: “Despite school policies restricting mobile phone usage, students use the phone frequently with the majority making calls from the toilets.” (ANI)

Two-thirds of Oz adults can’t spell ‘embarrass’

Melbourne, June 29 (ANI): Almost two-thirds of the Australian adults have difficulty spelling the word ‘embarrass’, finds a new survey.

The Galaxy survey commissioned by Westpac was conducted on 400 people, aged over 16 years, from Sydney and Melbourne.

It showed about 70 per cent could not spell the world “accommodation”.

One in two people wrongly spelt “accessory”, and a quarter had trouble with “February”.

Other words which the participants had trouble spelling included “guarantee”, “opportunity”, “eighth”, and “receipt”.

The survey also found that Aussie women were better spellers than men.

And only seven per cent of participants in Sydney and Melbourne received 100 per cent.

The survey found people aged 25 to 34 were among the worst spellers.

Children’s author Deborah Abela said that spell check and text message abbreviations were harming people’s spelling skills.

“It can impact on how people perceive general intelligence and can even affect one’s ability to get and keep a job,” News.com.au quoted Abela as saying. (ANI)