Purposes+of+Digital+Writing

**PURPOSES OF DIGITAL WRITING**
__**Group Members:**__ Kaia Bishop, Jen Alexander, Linda Wielfaert Presentation date: Monday, April 11 EMU, ENGL 408W, 2011 Winter, Dr. Bill Tucker

__**Discussion Question:**__

Can the use of digital and technological resources contribute to the academic process of teaching writing in the secondary classroom? How so?
__**Presentation Outline:**__

Digital Writing in the English Classroom
 * podcasting
 * can be used for book clubs and literature circles
 * focus on student produced and published
 * engages students as active readers
 * Wiki
 * can be used for collaborative essays
 * online fan fiction
 * gives students instant feedback
 * students feel someone is reading their work
 * can provide platform for lessons on the revision process and copyright laws

Using New Technology to Enhance Proven Teaching Practices
 * Document Camera
 * instantly view handwritten,or typed documents, write in revisions
 * display on-line reference sites for entire class
 * no prep or costly material, easy set-up
 * allows peer participation, with or without identity of writer
 * tool for teaching difficult revision steps


 * Interactive White Board
 * capture lecture outlines, class notes to digital document
 * instantly create archive of notes & assignments
 * assists with continuity teaching mulitple sections of same class
 * costly, not available to most public schools


 * On-line blog as publisher
 * no cost
 * encourages kids to write- instant gratification
 * teacher sets controls for format & content- controversial amongst teaching professionals

__**Annotated Bibliography:**__

Boardman, Dave. "Ch 14 Inside the Digital Classroom." //Teaching the Neglected "R": Rethinking Writing Instruction in Secondary Classrooms//. Ed. Richard Kent, and Thomas Newkirk. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2007. 162-71. Print. Boardman's expertise in teaching secondary writing comes across in many new mediums. Both the teacher's methods of instructing and the students process of learning is vastly different than most late twentieth century classrooms. And, from most of our early twenty-first century classrooms. His use of weblogs, email pen-pals, MP3 players, digital phtography, online publishing, student video production, and computers change the face of English instruction greatly. He attributes his success to the motivation provided by new technologies, and the empowerment of students to explore. Boardman notes, "Technology adds volume to our conversations and our digital classroom is helping students discover a more resonant voice on their way to becoming proficient, independent learners."

Chizek, Lisa M. "Constructivist Learning Through Wikis in the Writing Classroom." //Language Arts Journal of Michigan, The Scholarly Journal of the Michigan Council of Teachers of English// Spring/Summer 23.No. 2 (2008): 35-41. Print. Nice summary of potential benefits of wikis to pedagogical practice. Discussion of how constructivism and technology collide is interesting to those concerned with collaborative and community learning. Observations in the classroom of increased student participation and enthusiasm support the theory that technology can be the hook for some students, while organizing resources, hosting social collaboration, and allowing different learning styles to flourish.

//EasyBib: Free Bibliography Maker - MLA, APA, Chicago Citation Styles//. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. [].

Kajder, Sara. "Ch 13 Plugging In To Twenty-First Century Writers." //Teaching the Neglected "R": Rethinking Writing Instruction in Secondary Classrooms//. Ed. Richard Kent, and Thomas Newkirk. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2007. 149-161. Print. Kajder discusses how English can be taught with technology and specifically explain show podcasts, wikis, and fanfiction can be used in the classroom.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary, an Encyclopaedia Britannica Compnay. Web. 01 Apr. 2011. [] The online dictionary king of all kings. An excellect source for students fishing for spellings, definitions, thesaurus, and other resources for the English language. Also, the Word of the Day email service is a fantastic classroom tool for livening up the instruction of vocabulary. Also, word games, Spanish to English dictionary, video clips, and Ask the Editor flash videos are appealing to young students in the wired world.

//The OWL Online Writing Lab.// Purdue University, English Department. Copyright © 1995-2011. []. The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, provided as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.sAn excellen source to train and council on formal citation formatting. The OWL contains all rules and samples for the 2009 MLA Guide, the 2009 APA Guide, as well as podcasts and flash videos.

//Urban Dictionary: The Crunk Dictionary.// Web. 01 Apr. 2011. []. Urban Dictionary is written by the public, like a wiki. Frequently it is where slang words are defined.