Crafting Digital Writing

Apr 25, 2013

—

by

in Assessment, Best Practice, Books, Composition, Crafting Digital Writing, Digital Mentor Texts, Genre Study, News and Notes, NWP, Teaching, Writing

So pleased to announce that Crafting Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres was officially released today by Heinemann. Here is the text from the back cover: “We have an opportunity to help this generation define itself on its own terms. The question is no longer whether or not we should use technology to teach writing;…

Out Like a Lamb, On to the Showers

Mar 31, 2013

—

by

Troy Hicks

in Assessment, Books, CMU, Crafting Digital Writing, NCTE, Writing

Well, March certainly treated me like a lion would — full of travel, committee obligations, teaching, and lots of writing for some upcoming chapters — and I’m happy to say that this final weekend was much more lamb-like. That said, tomorrow I jump into the April showers, and when it rains it pours. Here are…

Examining Digital Learning Day

Feb 3, 2013

—

by

Troy Hicks

in CCSS, Education Reform, Hybrid Learning, NCTE, New Literacies, New Media, News and Notes, NWP, Online Learning, Social Networking

As with all educational initiatives and fads, I strongly encourage everyone participating in the Digital Learning Day celebrations this week to do some homework about the history of the day itself, as well as some of its corporate, foundation, and “core” partners (which, for the record, include the two professional organizations I call home: NWP…

Citelighter Releases New Features

Jan 17, 2013

—

by

Troy Hicks

in Citation and Plagiarism, Curation, Internet Research, News and Notes

As I have stated before, I generally don’t do product endorsements, but once in a great while there is something that comes along that I think has great value for teachers and students as digital writers. Citelighter is one of those tools. I found out about Citelighter last summer, and used it as a tool…

Social Network “Fail” Leads to A Renewed Approach to ENG 315

Jan 12, 2013

—

by

Troy Hicks

in CMU, ENG 315, English Education, Methods, News and Notes, Professional Development, Teaching, Wiki

Another semester began this week, and I have been updating my syllabus and wiki site for ENG 315. Last semester, I was quite surprised and delighted by the number of you who asked me about my Wikispaces to Edmodo shift. Well, we learn from our failures, right? This is one that taught me a great…

Making a Change: From Wikis to Social Networking in ENG 315

Sep 17, 2012

—

by

Troy Hicks

in CMU, ENG 315, Professional Development, Social Networking, Teaching, Wiki

For the first time in five years, I am starting an ENG 315 course without using a wiki and, instead, will be relying on Edmodo as the primary space for communicating with my students. This is a big pedagogical shift for me, one that (to be honest) invoked a little bit of healthy anxiety when…

Teaching Participatory Media and Democracy (AERA, Part 4)

May 6, 2012

—

by

Troy Hicks

in AERA, Educational Research, Media and Pop Culture, Notes from Other Presentations, Online Identity, Professional Development, Reflections, Social Networking

Let’s begin with the critique of this panel’s main premise, that social media is transforming civic education and participatory democracy. That critique was the what discussant Joel Westheimer (University of Ottawa) offered. From his perspective, the technologies that allow us to use social media — the mobile web with apps, the ability to find, share, and…

The “Tweet Aloud” as a Tool for Comprehending Digital Texts

Apr 25, 2012

—

by

Troy Hicks

in Documentary, Genre Study, Hybrid Learning, New Literacies, Online Learning, Online Reading, Parody, Professional Development, Reflections, Social Networking, Teaching

Thanks to Tracy Mercier (@vr2ltch) for capturing my unfolding thought process as I responded to The Majestic Plastic Bag — and invited others to do the same — during an #engchat conversation about digital mentor texts on April 23rd. I think I may have coined a new phrase, at least in the pedagogical sense, mashing…

Reflections on Co-Facilitating a Digital Writing Workshop

Mar 4, 2012

—

by

Troy Hicks

in Collaboration, Digital Storytelling, Digital Writing Workshop, Presentations, Professional Development, PSA, Reflections, Teaching, Writing

As a part of my day at the “Write to Learn: New World, New Literacies” conference yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to lead a keynote, do a breakout session on using mobile devices for digital composition (see this Google Doc for many links), and then do a three-hour writing workshop with fellow teacher/author Penny…

School Reform, Digital Learning, Online Privacy, and Food Waste

Feb 26, 2012

—

by

Troy Hicks

in Curation, Fair Use, Media and Pop Culture, NWP, Online Identity, P2PU, Presentations, Professional Development, Social Networking, Teachers Teaching Teachers

Here we are with another month having passed us by and it seems like I’m struggling with a number of issues related to digital learning, in some senses, but more broadly on issues of school reform and how we will ever be able to set the ship of education sailing in the right direction again.…

Category: Crafting Digital Writing