Researched and written for a graduate level course, CURRINS 545 Content in the Reading Areas, at UW - Milwaukee, this research paper outlines the phenomenal, beneficial uses of technology in today's classrooms.
Note: There are embedded, active hyperlinks to articles and videos.
Note: There are embedded, active hyperlinks to articles and videos.
Writing to Learn Through the Use of Digital Literacies
By: Carolyn P. Frick
University of
Wisconsin - Milwaukee
May 13, 2014
Our lives in the 21st century
are rapidly changing due to the ever-present availability and prevalence of
technology. Looking inside our homes and around our neighborhoods, we witness
both children and adults talking on cell phones, reaching out to friends and
family through social media, and playing games on a multitude of various
platforms. Looking out into the corporate and scientific world, we see
technology utilized to communicate around the globe to close business deals, to
collaborate on life-saving innovative ideas, and to build and design
life-changing apparatuses. Leading humanity into the future, technology and its
ensuing, pervasive usage is the way of life, innovation, and communication in
the 21st century. According to the video, Congressional Briefing Highlights (2009), “new media are bringing
about profound transformational changes in ways students learn.” Within the
classroom setting, technology has a plethora of educational possibilities. As
noted in the embedded video in Edutopia’s
website, “Technology Integration
in Education,” technologies are “fundamentally transforming what the
classroom is and what you can do in the classroom” (Edutopia Staff, 2012). Further evidenced in recently
published journals and articles, technology is readily being utilized in the 21st
century classroom in a multitude of effective and educational ways. Throughout
this paper, I will discuss how writing to learn through the use of technology,
more specifically, digital literacies, can effectively engage learners of all
ages as well as improve their quality of understanding. Due to the scope of
this paper, I will introduce writing to learn; however, I will focus my
writings more thoroughly on the use of technology to engage the learner and
ultimately to acquire understanding through digital literacies.
To understand why writing is important, we
need to recognize that the processes of reading, writing, and thinking are all
inter-related processes (Zinsser, 1988 p. 45). In essence, “writing is thinking
on paper” according to Zinsser (1988, p. 11). Writing provides an opportunity
to logically clarify and organize thoughts, create comprehension, and assimilate
newly synthesized knowledge to improve understanding of collective texts,
ideas, and concepts. “Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make
it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know - and what we don’t
know - about whatever we are trying to learn” (Zinsser,1988, inside cover).
Therefore, providing a wealth of informal and formal writing opportunities for
students enables both the teacher and the students to effectively discern understanding
of material as well as to activate prior knowledge of a topic. According to
Daniels, Zemelman, & Steineke,
authors of Content-Area Writing (2007), additional benefits of writing
include the ability to get “students actively engaged in subject matter,
understand information and concepts more deeply, make connections and raise
questions more fluently, remember ideas longer, and apply learning in new
situations” (p. 5). Furthermore, Daniels, Zemelman, & Steineke (2007) state
“reading helps us take in knowledge,
with writing we make it our own”
(p.5). By taking time to synthesize thoughts and ideas on paper, students will
assimilate the new information and accommodate it more thoroughly. For we know that memory retention improves as
much as a dramatic 70% -90% (Daniels, Zemelman, & Steineke, 2007, p. 31),
when people talk about their writings.
Thus, writing to learn is a key element
in acquisition of knowledge comprehension and writing development. With writing
to learn, students are provided with opportunities to write about what they
know. “Students focus on content rather
than communication through writing without worrying about the end product” (Designing Engaging Writing Assignments-Writing to Learn, 2012). This
can take many different forms as characterized throughout the text, Content-Area
Writing by H. Daniels, S. Zemelman, and N. Steineke (2007). First, the
audience and purpose for the writing must be determined. Is the writing for
personal use, for impersonal use, for evaluation by the teacher, or for public
consumption? These answers dictate the type of writing that will be completed.
For example, a quick write that is for personal understanding and clarification
of thoughts will not be graded and does not need to be written with proper
grammar and punctuation. Examples of this type of writing include Daniels,
Zemelman & Steineke’s (2007) exit and admit slips, nonstop writing,
mapping, taxonomies, lists, and double-entry journals. Conversely, a public
writing may be evaluated by a teacher and viewed by others; therefore, the
writing will inevitably be written with proper grammar, editing, and conventions.
Examples of this type of writing to learn include a research paper, a newspaper
article, editorials, speeches, or even a web page. Ultimately, writing to learn
activities “focus on the production of nontraditional writing to develop
student understanding” (McDermott, 2010, p. 33). Writing to learn can also
provide simple, personal checks for understanding by the student to more
comprehensive quick checks for understanding by the teacher before, during, and
after the learning process as well as to evaluate summative or cumulative
knowledge.
A dedicated belief in writing to learn
has led Columbia State Community College in Tennessee to enact a
university-wide quality enhancement program entitled, “Writing to Learn Matters.”
This nationally recognized academic initiative requires professors to utilize
informal writing to learn activities across the curriculum to improve students’
abilities to “think, organize thoughts, remember, connect, and reflect on course
material” (Writing to Learn Matters, 2012). The university acknowledges that
through the act of informal writing activities, where the focus is on learning
content, not on grammar and punctuation, students are able to focus on
thinking, summarizing and processing concepts and ideas leading towards better
comprehension. “Current research aimed at viewing writing as a process that can
help students develop and generate knowledge is leading to more widespread use
of writing to learn tasks”(McDermott, 2010 p. 33).
In addressing writing to learn through
digital literacies, it is important to clarify the meaning of literacies. While
the term literacy, the ability to read and write, remains the same, literacies in
the 21st century have taken on an additional dimension as
exemplified in the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) definition of
the 21st century literacies.
This statement states, “technology has increased the intensity and
complexity of literate environments, the 21st century demands that a
literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many
literacies. These literacies are multiple, dynamic, and malleable…successful
participants in the 21st century global society must be able to develop proficiency and fluency with the
tools of technology, create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia
texts….”(NCTE 2014). Consequently, with the advancement in technology, the
definition of literacies has evolved reflecting a broader, more technologically
inclusive definition. Because Digital Writing Matters states “new
literacies are more ‘participatory,’ ‘collaborative,’ and ‘distributed’ in
nature than conventional literacies. That is, they are less ‘individuated’ and
‘author-centric’ than conventional literacies.” (2010, p. 92) Consequently, technology
is changing the way we interact with our world and with each other.
New technologies provide teachers with endless
opportunities to provide highly engaging and diverse digital writing activities
limited only by their imaginations. As noted in Because Digital Writing
Matters, digital tools allow for “purposeful, audience-oriented writing”
and that digital tools allow such writing to happen more efficiently and more
powerfully than ever before and in a variety of new media” (2010, p.45).
Students are inherently drawn to and curious about using technology. Thus,
motivation to learn is inherently piqued.
The benefits of digital writing include, but are not limited to, the production of lengthier pieces of writing, higher quality writing, greater motivation and satisfaction by the author, and a better understanding of audience. The benefit of collaborating and working together on digital writing projects yields higher quality results. As noted by Kittle and Hicks, “the synergy of the group produces a new text that no one could have produced alone” (2009, p. 527). Providing opportunities for students to link up globally with students from around the world creates a whole new audience and a new potential for collaboration on digital writing projects. Practices of collaboration, on a global platform, broaden students’ understanding and knowledge of the greater world around them. Various platforms include, but are not limited to, Google Docs, Power point, Illustrator, MultiMedia Builder, HyperStudio, MovieMaker, VoiceThread, MySpace, YouTube, Wikispaces, WordPress, PBWorks, Blogger, Flickr, Tumblr, and Wikipedia, to name a few (Hicks, 2013, p. 29). With documents worked on and saved to the world wide web, students have access to their documents virtually anywhere they choose; excuses about lost homework and writing assignments left at home are no longer relevant. Additionally, some of these platforms such as Google Docs have the advantage that multiple users may actively be working on the document simultaneously increasing the productivity for the group writing assignment. Acquisition of digital writing skills, the ability to collaborate on a global platform, and the understanding of traditional writing skills will enable students to use their digital literacies to be high performing and high functioning in the world of the 21st century. According to the National Writing Project’s Because Digital Writing Matters, digital writing technologies
The benefits of digital writing include, but are not limited to, the production of lengthier pieces of writing, higher quality writing, greater motivation and satisfaction by the author, and a better understanding of audience. The benefit of collaborating and working together on digital writing projects yields higher quality results. As noted by Kittle and Hicks, “the synergy of the group produces a new text that no one could have produced alone” (2009, p. 527). Providing opportunities for students to link up globally with students from around the world creates a whole new audience and a new potential for collaboration on digital writing projects. Practices of collaboration, on a global platform, broaden students’ understanding and knowledge of the greater world around them. Various platforms include, but are not limited to, Google Docs, Power point, Illustrator, MultiMedia Builder, HyperStudio, MovieMaker, VoiceThread, MySpace, YouTube, Wikispaces, WordPress, PBWorks, Blogger, Flickr, Tumblr, and Wikipedia, to name a few (Hicks, 2013, p. 29). With documents worked on and saved to the world wide web, students have access to their documents virtually anywhere they choose; excuses about lost homework and writing assignments left at home are no longer relevant. Additionally, some of these platforms such as Google Docs have the advantage that multiple users may actively be working on the document simultaneously increasing the productivity for the group writing assignment. Acquisition of digital writing skills, the ability to collaborate on a global platform, and the understanding of traditional writing skills will enable students to use their digital literacies to be high performing and high functioning in the world of the 21st century. According to the National Writing Project’s Because Digital Writing Matters, digital writing technologies
create a set of dispositions, habits of mind,
ways of being in the world, ways of collaborating, ways of working together,
ways of linking information, ways of building knowledge. Those are the things that are going to be
really important in the careers and the futures of our students. (2010, p. 99)
Prevalence and availability of
technology lends itself to utilizing technology in its multitude of forms in
our classrooms. Thus, the opportunity for digital literacy abounds. According to Hicks and Turner (2013), digital
literacies are critically important for teachers to embrace and to teach today.
Unfortunately, classroom practices are not keeping pace with the demands
outside the classroom. Teachers and school districts are hesitant to learn and
implement new technology in their teaching. Yet, students are coming from home
environments where they are immersed in technology and meeting the cultural
clash upon arrival at school where the technological evolution has not arrived
100 percent. Students are ready to embrace the use of technology in school and
collaborate with their peers in their classrooms and around the world as they
are doing in their technological lives at home with email, gaming, YouTube,
texting, and more. Technology and “social media is transforming the ways people
interact, create meaning, and the way they learn. Unfortunately, in most
classrooms kids power down” (Congressional
Briefing Highlights, 2009).
However, away from the classroom, through the luxury of these vast and
plentiful mediums, people are producing more written material than ever before (Hicks,
Young, Kajder, and Hunt, 2012, p. 72). More specifically, students are becoming
adept at using a variety of digital platforms to create digital texts through
remix, blogging, and smart phones, for example, as detailed in the successive
paragraphs.
A relatively new term, Remix is a “creative
process that draws upon prior knowledge and textual understandings” (Gainer
& Lapp, 2010, p. 58) to create new understanding and new texts from
existing texts. Remix allows the author to utilize existing text of any type,
from audio to film to digitized text, to creatively integrate the collective
mediums into a uniquely blended and relevant new text. Gainer & Lapp
suggest “literacy as remix positions readers as active meaning-makers who blend
understandings based in prior knowledge and experience with new information as
they construct new understandings from textual transactions” (2010, p. 58). Drawing upon textual works from any number of
authors, remixes can take the form of visual montages created in the medium of
film or video to “create or provoke new thinking for the viewer” (Gainer &
Lapp, 2010, p. 59). The quality of the remix is closely linked to the author’s
level of interest in the self-selected topic. Comic Life is another platform
that allows the user to remix information and ideas by inserting selected
photographs and dialogue with coordinating speech bubbles. Through remix,
“readers are active constructors of meaning and draw on all that they know when
they process and make sense of what they have read” (Gainer & Lapp, 2010,
p.63).
Similarly, blogging and the use of smart
phones are prime examples of today’s students effortlessly creating written
material at their leisure outside of school. Blogging, “an act of connective
writing,” allows participants to “publish in a variety of media with the
intention of connecting and sharing it with others who have an interest (or
passion) in the topic” (Hicks & Turner, 2013, p. 60). Blogging between
teachers and students or between students and their peers on sites such as
Edublog and Kidblog enable productive ongoing conversations. Blogging instantly
provides the author with the opportunity for a potentially interactive audience
who may choose to comment and/or collaborate on the writing. This “real” audience creates the desire for
students to improve their communications, to delve deeper into their topic, and
to really connect with their audience. Unequivocally, motivation, engagement,
active participation, interest, and desire to learn are all prominent products
of learning through digital literacies.
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| Accessibility of Technology |
Moreover, with the advent of smart phones,
students have become highly adept at the use of texting, sending instant
messages and sending and receiving email. Each of these communication platforms
are instantaneous. Along with this, readily available information on google can
be accessed at any time by any one holding a smart phone. Add to that the
quickness of communication via social media such as Facebook and Twitter, for
example, and it becomes apparent that instantaneous communications are critical
to the 21st century student. Again, to be effective teachers, we
must meet them in their environment. Texting, emailing, and Facebooking, for example, all incorporate
texting language. Hicks and Turner (2013) refer to this form of digital writing
as digitalk. Digitalk incorporates abbreviations, acronyms, and logograms, such
as “educ8tor” or “2th doc”, into the digital text. Surprisingly, research
reveals that “digitalk actually improves students’ linguistic competence and
that adolescents develop an understanding of audience, purpose, and voice in
their digital writing communities” (2013, p. 60). Therefore, a teacher who is
consciously attempting to implement digital literacies in the classroom will
wisely allow a few text messages to be sent by students during this discussion
about digitalk as a springboard for teaching about audience, purpose, voice,
and the proper selection of digital medias to match the purpose of the
communication.
All the many platforms previously
mentioned, lend themselves well to the art of digital storytelling, a prime
example of multimodal digital writing that can also blend remix into its fabric.
Digital storytelling, reinforces the higher order thinking skills such as
creating, summarizing, problem solving, analyzing, evaluating, and
synthesizing. Additionally, digital storytelling “can improve students’ level
of learning in reading, writing, speaking, and listening” (Sadik, 2008, p. 490).
It offers students a highly motivating, engaging, and user-friendly platform to
communicate their research to an authentic audience. Digital storytelling also
“represents developments in the way humans relate to each other and their surroundings.
They represent new performance spaces and possibilities for mediated action” (Lundby, K., 2009, p. 37). Once the author’s creative
story is written through traditional means (research, outlining, composing, and
editing), the next step is to add any combination of various multimedia such as
videos, photos, audio, music, voice-overs, and graphics. Done effectively,
these elements add depth and personality to a story or research paper allowing
visual and auditory learners an additional outlet through which to creatively
express their story. “Integrating visual images with written text both enhances
and accelerates student comprehension, and digital storytelling is an
especially good technology tool for collecting, creating, analyzing, and combining
visual images with written text” (Robin, 2008, p. 222). Another benefit to
digital storytelling is the affordability of the technical tools allowing
schools to provide the necessary skills development programs that students
“will need to thrive in increasingly media-varied environments” (Robin, 2008,
p. 222).
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| Technology for Researching |
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| Technology in the Classroom |
“Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st
Century Classroom” by Bernard Robin, offers a highly compelling argument for
choosing to implement digital storytelling as a powerful means to succinctly promote learning across
the curriculum. Digital storytelling
according to Robin
promotes 21st century skills
including cultural literacy, information literacy, visual literacy, media
literacy, technology literacy, and more. It engages students and teachers
through personally meaningful writing, allowing individuals to construct their
own meaning, and it encompasses multiple literacy skills including researching,
writing, organizing, presenting, problem solving, and assessment. (2008, p.
223)
Furthermore,
digital storytelling facilitates the collective understanding of “a previously
nebulous aspect of writing: cultivating voice” (National
Writing Project, DeVoss, Eidman-Aadahl & Hicks, 2010, p. 37). With a learning platform so comprehensive,
flexible, compelling, and customizable for students of all ages and across all
subject areas, digital storytelling is a prime fit for motivating and
facilitating student learning in the 21st century.
Similarly, Alaa Sadik’s research study
on “Digital Storytelling: A Meaningful Technology-Integrated Approach for
Engaged Student Learning” (2008), found that “digital storytelling projects
could increase students’ understanding of curricular content” (2008, p. 487)
provided that the assignments were meaningful and authentic allowing students
to create and synthesize their own meaning through their research. Sadik found
that active participation in construction of knowledge achieves greater success
than “knowledge passively received by students” (2008, p.488). Furthermore, digital
writing can be a collaborative experience involving any number of students. For
“today’s digital spaces and networks are ‘linking people…people sharing,
trading, and collaborating” according to the National Writing Project (2010, p.
141)
Through the use of digital literacies,
Hicks and Turner (2013) espouse that students will be able to “critically
consume information, to create and share across time and space, to cocreate and
collaborate to solve problems, to persevere in light of setbacks, and to
maintain flexibility” (p. 59). Undeniably, the aforementioned skills are highly
sought after by employers of graduates of today’s academic institutions. Looking
to our future,
more and more, our students are learning
to think, to read, and to ask questions in networked environments, enabled by
computers, mobile phones, e-book readers, and other technologies. They will encounter information requiring
them to think critically because information travels quickly, in multiple modes,
in many different directions. (National Writing Project, 2010, p. 150)
Responsibility
to move into the 21st century digital literacies lies in the hands
of today’s educators. While not all teachers are equipped and trained to teach
writing through digital literacies, we recognize the importance of moving
forward with academic evolution and meeting the students in their digital
world. “Students today may be ‘born digital,’ but it is our job to help them
become purposeful and creative digital writers” (Hicks, 2013, p. 25). In
keeping current with the demands of new literacies, education must teach the
skills for “developing flexible writing processes and composing in multiple
environments” (Hicks, 2013, p. 26). Therefore, teachers need to change their teaching
paradigm which can be significantly daunting for many teachers causing them to
refuse to implement the new teaching strategies for acquisition of digital
literacies. Changing teaching paradigms effectively alters the historic role of
teachers as dictatorial educators into the modern role of collaborators,
facilitators, mentors, and enablers. Reconceptualization of teaching would also
include utilizing digital literacies across the curriculum and not just “adding”
the use of technology into the process of an assignment. Rather, utilize
digital literacies to create writings that are inquiry-based, student
generated, and allow students the opportunity “to be literate across multiple
forms of media and in a variety of contexts” (Hicks and Turner, 2013, p. 58). Furthermore,
to effectively implement digital literacy into our educational venues, we must
first be cognizant of the participatory culture and support the students and
the teachers in their acquisition of digital literacies.
Tracy Tarasiuk, an English teacher, made
the “leap” into digital literacies and expounds upon her experiences in her
article “Combining Traditional and Contemporary Texts: Moving My English Class
to the Computer Lab” (2010). Due to the palpable frustration of unmotivated
students, low test scores, and a need to connect more creatively with her
students, Tarasiuk researched her students’ interests and discovered their
talents in technology and pervasive, highly-literate, captivating usage of it
outside of school through avatars for online role playing to interactive
blogging to communicating via MySpace and Facebook, for example. Hence,
Tarasuik decided “the technology students are involved with outside of school
provides processes of learning that are deeper and richer than the forms of
learning to which they are exposed in schools” (Tarasiuk, 2010, p. 544). She
further researched and found that their out-of-school experiences with literacy
delved vastly into technology; yet, this contrasted dramatically with their
in-school experiences using traditional texts. This dichotomy must be
bridged: bringing together or expanding
the experiential literacies. Tarasuik states “schools should expand their
notion of literacy instruction and treat it as reading and writing for the
purposes of communicating in many traditional and contemporary modes using
multiple tools and resources” (2010, p. 544).
Noting through her research that her
students were, indeed, motivated readers and writers outside the classroom when
self-selecting topics of interest, Tarasuik decided to meld the traditional and
contemporary texts through designing her curriculum around the information and
communication technology. Rather than
lecturing her students and having them complete traditional worksheets, her
classroom ethos morphed into creative experiences emanating from “online and
digital content based on traditional reading materials” (Tarasuik, 2010, p.
547). The use of wikis were beneficial to maintain content from novels they had
studied while collaborative experiences on PBworks.com allowed for collective
thoughts regarding summaries and characterizations. Throughout the experience,
Tarasuik noted greater motivation and effort put forth by all students as well
as improved collaboration, support of each other, and a greater concern for
improving due to real audiences viewing their works. Creativity and extensions
beyond the scope of the assignments were evident in their prideful work.
Upon completion of novel units in
Tarasuik’s class, digital book talks replaced traditional summative
papers. Incorporating visuals such as
graphics, photos and videos, inserting sound effects and music, and being able
to include interviews and any other personal touches significantly enhanced the
final product as well as student understanding. These authentic purposes gave
rise to students’ improved strategies such as rereading, questioning, and
effectively summarizing characters, plots, and themes to improve their digital
summative product.
From Tarsuik’s perspective, she had
to adjust her teaching style from one of a traditional teacher to that of a
guide and mentor. Similarly, students’
roles changed as they were teaching and learning from each other. Tarasuik
states, “They were teaching each other, and I was learning from them” (2010, p.
550). As a facilitator to their learning, she provided the goals of the
projects and continued to monitor and enable as students sought each other for
interactive, in-the-moment learning. Coming full circle, Tarasuik reaped the
benefits of inquisitive, motivated students who were creating high quality,
multi-modal, authentic texts through use of digital technologies all while
learning and incorporating traditional English grammar conventions and skills.
She states, “students’ overall literacy improved, including a sharp increase in
standardized test scores, as they work in traditional text incorporating
contemporary tools” (2010, p. 551).
She further advises that working in
digital literacies necessitates letting projects evolve through the use of
tinkering and “play.” “It is critical
that teachers of adolescents accept the variety of tools that students use as
their literacies to read, write, learn, and communicate.” Tarasuik’s scintillating example of
transitioning her English class into the world of digital literacies is an
ideal model for all teachers to emulate.
Digital literacies, as I have alluded
to, may advantageously be incorporated across the content areas: as reading,
writing, and understanding are key to comprehending texts across the knowledge
spectrum. For example, implementing multimodal writing tasks in McDermott’s high
school science classroom enabled the students to “generate and clarify
understanding of scientific concepts for themselves” (McDermott, 2010, p. 32). Use of digital writing as a tool to view
writing as a process underscores the dramatic effects writing can have upon
comprehension in any field of study. Furthermore, multimodal digital writing
experiences that incorporate a variety of texts such as graphs, charts, Wordles,
taxonomies, mapping, and even hyperlinks to various internet platforms such as
blogs, Voicethreads, and wikis enable students to express their comprehension
in a means that is more conducive to their learning styles. McDermott’s biology
and chemistry students exemplified the positive uses of digital technologies
through multimodal writing tasks. Skeptical of its value in his science classes,
McDermott and his colleagues found multimodal writing tasks promoted
understanding of scientific concepts especially for lower-achieving students in
his class but only when the following criterion were met. First, the digital
modes “must be successfully integrated into the text” (McDermott, 2010, p. 36)
requiring lessons pertaining to strategies for embedding digital writing.
Secondly, “student involvement in all aspects of the process is not only
beneficial, but can serve as a motivating factor” (McDermott, 2010, p. 36).
Involvement includes the identification of appropriate digital platforms for
the scientific topic selected. Lastly, students’ success improved over time
with numerous experiences incorporating digital writings into their scientific
assignments (McDermott, 2010, p. 36). With thoughtful planning, multimodal
digital writing activities can improve comprehension of scientific concepts and
ideas and can be highly motivating especially when they provide an authentic
audience.
To be effective educators in the 21st
century, teachers need to become skilled facilitators of student learning
through vast experiences with multi-modal digital literacy tools. “Teachers
need to become facilitators and collaborators in their students’ increasingly
self-directed learning” (Edutopia
Staff, 2012). We need to allow students the freedom to investigate,
research, and pursue their own interests leading to their own desired knowledge
acquisition “using technology for empowered, self-directed learning” (Edutopia Staff, 2012). The change
in paradigm where the student and teacher relationship is transforming allows the
teacher to “forge a truly democratic, collaborative environment - one in which
learning emanates from various voices and is always in flux” (Hicks, Young, Kajder, & Hunt, 2012, p. 71) ultimately “cultivating
lifelong, active learning” (Hicks, Young, Kajder,
& Hunt, 2012, p. 71). Many students find the new paradigm from that
of “passive audience to active users” (Edutopia Staff, 2012) to be a refreshing and welcome change to
learning. “For many of our students, technology is a savior – putting them in
control, allowing them to do the teaching for a change, and providing them with
unlimited access to a world of information” (Hicks, Young, Kajder, & Hunt, 2012, p. 71). From the user’s
perspective, multimodal writing tools are not only customizable; they are also
a reflection of the author’s personality. They can be used synchronously or
asynchronously making them very appealing for class writing projects. To that
end, digital writing offers creative authors opportunities to explore
alternative means to express ideas, thoughts, and opinions: necessitating that
authors “begin thinking like artists, web designers, recording engineers,
photographers, and filmmakers” (Hicks, 2013, p. 18-19). Consequently, “students
need to understand how these media work for different audiences and in various
contexts and how to layer and juxtapose media to create sophisticated messages”
(National Writing Project, DeVoss, Eidman-Aadahl
& Hicks, 2010, p. 40). Moreover, inviting students to become active,
responsible users and participants in the world wide web, also necessitates
that educational guidelines and understandings will be taught in tandem. For
the acquisition of digital literacies comes with some risks requiring
responsible, wise, and educated usage of the globally connected world (Hicks
& Turner, 2013).
Advancements in technology have clearly
made the processes of digital writing through multimodal platforms exciting,
compelling, and motivating for authors of all ages. In today’s digital world, authorship abounds;
we are writing more than ever before on a variety of platforms, in a variety of
modalities, and for a variety of audiences. Through smartphones, authorship via
texting is prevalent across the nation and around the globe. Through computers
and tablets, authors are creating texts at their leisure. Through the world
wide web’s plethora of social media websites, synchronous and asynchronous authorship
has proliferated around the globe. 21st century literacies are
therefore transforming with the advent of the aforementioned technologies while
simultaneously maintaining traditional literacies. With that transformation,
educators are tasked with the responsibility of keeping pace with technology
and creating curriculum that accommodates and integrates digital literacies
into daily classroom rigor. Evidential
research exposes the discrepancies between the prevalent use of digital
writings at home and the lack of integration of digital literacies in our
schools; however, research reveals that both students and teachers benefit from
practicing multimodal, digital literacies in the classroom and at home. By embracing
and cultivating the use of digital written technologies and “involving students
in the inquiry process with us as we shape more dynamic and engaging learning
experiences” (Hicks, Young, Kajder & Hunt, 2012,
p.73), our teachings will more effectively align with the needs of our
students and our collaborative, technologically advanced society. Digital
literacies are an integral part of our lives and a transformational force in
how we need to educate our students and change our teaching pedagogy to one of
facilitators of information and knowledge comprehension. As stated in Because
Digital Writing Matters (2010, p.146), digital writing “is not additive;
this is transformative pedagogy.” Writing
to learn through the use of digital literacies is an essential skill critical to
success in the 21st century.
Annotated Bibliography
This video of a congressional briefing
by the National Writing Project, the Consortium for School Networking, and
Common Sense Media, along with the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation addresses
the need to promote “digital media in improving lifelong learning.” This video
is embedded in the article, “New Digital Media in the Lives of Our Children at
Home and School.” Throughout the video congressional members hear the cry for
support of professional development for teachers working with digital
media. Without the support, our students
will not keep up with the transformational changes presented by the digital
media revolution. By melding the old
with the new, literacies can keep up with the ways social media is transforming
how humanity interacts, creates meaning, and learns. However, we are faced with
the reality that classrooms today are asking students to “power down” upon
entrance into the classrooms. This is in direct contrast to how we are living
and learning outside of the classroom. Education must stay abreast of this
transformation.
Daniels, H., Zemelman, S., & Steineke, N. (2007). Content-Area
Writing: Every Teacher’s Guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Daniels’ text is
essential reading for all teachers regardless of their discipline. Guiding teachers into effectively
implementing a variety of writing strategies, Daniels clearly delineates writing
to learn and public writing. Moreover, he emphasizes the promising effects and
results of writing in all curricular areas:
enabling students to assimilate and accommodate a rich knowledge of
understanding regardless of the discipline. The book is packed with valuable
resources for promoting writing in all content areas.
Designing
Engaging Writing Assignments-Writing to Learn. (2012). Retrieved
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr-buiFYLtU&feature=youtube_gdata_player
This fabulous, introductory video
(adapted from a symposium by Dr. Margaret Marshall, Director of Auburn
University’s Office of University Writing) promotes the value of engaged
learning through written assignments. An informative and comparative assessment
of writing to learn is contrasted with learning to write. Exploration of the
benefits and value of writing to learn is shared in numerous graphics
ultimately detailing ways to incorporate the teaching strategies. This is a wonderful
multi-media resource to use when introducing writing to learn.
Edutopia Staff. (2012, December 12). Technology Integration
in Education. Edutopia.org.
Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration
This highly informative website, is a
collection of articles written by a variety of Edutopia staff discussing the
history of, the reasons for, what experts say, and research reviews regarding
integrating technology into classrooms. A fabulous, five minute, introductory
video, “Integrating Technology in to the Classroom” is embedded: http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction-video. After viewing
both the website and the video, compelling evidence stirs the desire to
immediately initiate integrating technology into the classrooms.
Gainer, J. S., & Lapp, D. (2010). Remixing Old and New
Literacies = Motivated Students. English
Journal,100(1), 58–64.
Through this
article, readers become aware of the vast literacies, both traditional and
contemporary, that are incorporated into processes such as remixing,
storytelling, and montages. Digital
literacies through the use of these stated processes clearly have a motivating
effect upon students’ learning and comprehension. 21st century
literacies must include these digital forms of storytelling.
Hicks,
T. (2013). Cr@fting Digital
Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres . Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
While this rich, in-depth textbook
presents multimodal means through which to create digital writing, it also
provides endless resources, websites, examples, and ideas to promote the art in
21st century classrooms. Hicks connects with and engages students in
a medium of great interest and which they are already actively engaged with and
excel in outside the classroom. Hicks’ book is essential reading for initiating
teaching of digital writing. His ideas, suggestions, and tips are proven
strategies for successful outcomes in digital writing.
Hicks,
T., & Turner, K. H. (2013). No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t
Wait. English Journal,102(6),
58–65.
Hicks and Turner expose the urgent need
for educators to implement authentic usage of technology today. An educational
paradigm shift is critical to accommodate the technological needs of students
in the 21st century. The article highlights five current pitfalls of
digital literacy in technology used as add-ons in traditional education; the
article rebounds with constructive means for teachers to reconceptualize
writing through multi-media resources that enable teachers to be advocates in
the participatory culture of digital literacy skills. With a plethora of
helpful websites, the article encourages teachers to promptly embrace digital
literacy not only for themselves, but for their students as well.
Hicks,
T., Young, C. A., Kajder, S., & Hunt, B. (2012). Same as It Ever Was: Enacting
the Promise of Teaching, Writing, and New Media. English Journal,101(3),
68–74.
As teachers, we must embrace 21st
century technologies and change our historic approach to teaching to
accommodate the technologies and media our students are already using outside
of school. We must accept more dynamic writing in its multimodal forms. We must
also invite students to be participatory and collaborative teachers and
learners in their own education. In this
way, the classroom will more accurately reflect the electronic age within which
we live, socialize, and connect with the world around us; thus, allowing
students to thrive as writers in the 21st century.
Kittle,
P., & Hicks, T. (2009). Transforming the Group Paper with Collaborative
Online Writing. Pedagogy,9(3),
525–538. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=44276752&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Kittle and Hicks outline the historic
pitfalls related to classroom assignments: collaborative, group writing
projects. Utilizing the online collection of websites such as Google Docs and
Wikis, Pbworks, and Voicethread, for example, students can successfully and
equally contribute and participate on the collective written document or
multimodal text through collaboration on these platforms. The authors provide a
series of effective procedures to follow when implementing collaboration.
Lundby, K. (2009). Digital
Storytelling, Mediatized Stories: Self-Representations in New Media. New
York: P. Lang.
This broad collection of research studies,
informs the reader about studies in digital storytelling and implications for
the future of writing. It discusses the proliferation of “amateur, personal
stories” authored on the vast network of social media websites and reveals the
morphing nature of storytelling as a direct result of technology. Implications for
mediatized stories around the world, for ownership of collaborative stories,
for cultural transformations, and for use in educational settings are a few of
the topics I delved into.
McDermott,
M. (2010). More Than Writing-to-Learn: Using Multimodal Writing Tasks in
Science Clasrooms. Science Teacher, 77(4),
32–36. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=eft&AN=508122273&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Author and high school science teacher,
Mark McDermott, explores multimodal writing tasks, a writing to learn activity,
with his students. Skeptical of its value in his science classes, McDermott and
his colleagues find the writing to learn activity promotes understanding of
scientific concepts especially for “lower-achieving” students. Careful planning of embedded writing
activities by the science teacher, produced stronger results. Multimodal
activities are highly motivating especially when they provide an authentic
audience.
National
Writing Project , DeVoss, D. N., Eidman-Aadahl, E., & Hicks, T. (2010). Because Digital Writing Matters:
Improving Student Writing in Online and Multimedia Environments. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
This text emphasizes the fact that all
humanity in the 21st century lives in networked world where digital
writing through multimodalities is utilized in our everyday lives. Texting,
social media, and the internet have changed not only the ways in which we
write, but also the audiences for whom we write. Third space has changed the
writing dynamic between readers and writers. This indispensible text provides
research, current trends, and strategies for teaching digital writing across
the disciplines.
The
NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2014,
from http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/21stcentdefinition
The National Council of Teachers of
English espouse their definition of 21st century literacies to include, for example,
developing proficiency with technology and creating and sharing multimedia
globally. NCTE recognizes the value and importance of technology integration
for 21st century literacies.
Remixing Old and New Literacies= Motivated Students by Jesse.
(n.d.).prezi.com. Retrieved April 22, 2014, fromhttp://prezi.com/oz5cuc0bc9lp/remixing-old-and-new-literacies-motivated-students-by-jesse/
This storyboard created on Prezi
outlines the highlights of Jesse S. Gainers and Diane Lapp’s article, “Remixing
Old and New Literacies = Motivated Students” (NCTE, 2010). The Prezi, a
web-based software for storytelling and presenting concepts on the web,
provides a phenomenal, visually pleasing, digital graphic presentation of the
stated article.
Robin, B. R. (2008). Digital Storytelling: A
Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st Century Classroom. Theory Into
Practice, 47(3), 220–228.
Robin addresses both the educational and historical perspective
of digital storytelling and shares the intrinsic educational values of digital
storytelling for promoting higher order thinking skills: leading to the
positive development of 21st century literacies. Strong teacher and
student engagement in new technology increases motivation and end products
yield greater understanding. Robin also addresses technological pedagogical
content knowledge (TPCK) in relation to the use of digital storytelling.
Sadik, A. (2008). Digital Storytelling: A
Meaningful Technology-Integrated Approach for Engaged Student Learning. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 56(4), 487–506.
Sadik’s
research question evaluates digital storytelling with MS Photo Story as an
effective means to assist teachers improve their teaching and students’
learning. The results were positive in that teachers recognized the use of
technology to create digital stories improved students’ comprehension;
therefore, teachers are willing to alter their teaching methods to integrate
digital storytelling into their curriculum.
Tarasiuk,
T. J. (2010). Combining Traditional and Contemporary Texts: Moving My English
Class to the Computer Lab. Journal
of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(7),
543–552. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.lib.uwm.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid&db=eric&AN=EJ880104&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Tarasiuk, an English teacher, researched
how her students were using technology outside the classroom. Incorporating
students’ innate interests in technology, she applied their home-grown,
technological skills in her classroom with collaborative learning, social
media, and internet usage resulting in improved comprehension as well as
increased student involvement, effort, and interest in learning. Ultimately
changing her style of teaching from directive to guiding and facilitating
learning while simultaneously allowing students to be both teacher and learner,
has greatly improved student performance. This is a phenomenal research study
describing the teacher’s role in changing her literacy instruction paradigm,
through using technology and combining traditional and contemporary texts, to
meet the technological needs of today’s students.
Writing
to Learn Matters. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAcDcBhnmA4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
This video expounds upon the virtues of
implementing writing to learn as part of Columbia State Community College’s
quality enhancement plan to improve student learning. Utilizing informal
writing to learn exercises in all subjects, improves students’ comprehension by
enhancing their ability to organize their thoughts, remember, assimilate, and
reflect upon the lessons taught.
Therefore, writing to learn is an integral part of teaching to promote
understanding and ultimately to create comprehension synthesis.
Zinsser,
W. (1988). Writing To Learn.
New York: Harper & Row.
Zinsser’s book provides the reader with a
recognition that writing enables one to create meaning and in-depth, personal
understanding of topics across the curriculum spectrum. Regardless of the
material, writing allows us “to think” on paper and to recognize what we do and
do not comprehend from new material being taught or read. Zinsser’s text
provides the traditional foundation for understanding why we write and the benefits
of writing.
Additional Resource:
Gratigny, J. (Producer), (2009).What is Digital Storytelling [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKZiXR5qUlQ
(Link for video)
Photos Retrieved from: http://yuxiyuxiyuxi.blogspot.com/ http://www.edudemic.com/8-steps-to-great-digital-storytelling/ - Website on digital storytelling.
