I was looking for some articles on digital writing to see how people are using it and how it compares to conventional writing techniques. This article discusses how digital writing is becoming more necessary to prepare students for college and careers. Take a look at the article and post your thoughts on these questions:
- How important do you think conventional writing (pen and paper) is for students to learn, practice, and use?
- The article suggests that digital writing and conventional writing do not conflict with each other; in fact, they can meld together in developing skills. How do you feel about moving towards more emphasis on digital writing, and how do you feel these two types of writing can work together?
- Lastly, do you agree that testing should eventually be done through digital writing? Why/Why not?
Hi Nathan,
ReplyDeleteSome deep questions! good stuff.
1. I think conventional will always be the learning steps towards a digital literacy. My thought process is a type of traditional evolution where conventional writing has a firm importance towards an individual's success in the digital writing realm.
2. My answer for this question is a little foggy. I agree digital writing such as blogs meld well with conventional writing skills and can even help. My concern comes from other forms of digital writing such as twitter. Given a set number of characters to type within seems to be creating its own language. A language where your complete thought must fit into 150 characters or less. Much like text talk. With those examples I think digital writing can indeed conflict with conventional writing in my opinion (IMO haha).
3. I do not agree that testing should eventually be done through digital only. I think the best practice will be the one that works best for the students on an individual, student by student basis. Should that be conventional writing or digital, either or the student as the right to whichever one will help them become successful.
Thanks for the questions.
I talked with a fellow teacher about technology, and she had a family member who taught at a school where the students received an iPad in 7th grade and continued to use it throughout the rest of their education. Since the majority of the assignments were completed on the iPad or through other sources. She noted that her cousins who were in this school had terrible handwriting because they never used it.
DeleteI love writing little notes as reminders for myself, to students, or to other faculty members, but if they can't read my handwriting, then that is a problem. I hope that this form of writing never goes away!
Nathan, on your second question... I think the two are quite different. I know the way I write when I blog is different than the way I write when I am working on papers on my computer, and also different than the way I write using paper and pen. In fact, for most of my academic writing (i.e., journal articles and book chapters) I tend to write with paper and pen because I feel that things flow better and I am able to get ideas out there better. Then I type it into MS Word and that is often my first round of editing and revising. So the medium does make it a different process, as least for me personally.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the medium does make a difference as you mention with blogging. As Jason mentions, Twitter is a different medium that requires a different writing style. Honestly, I have gotten rid of writing first drafts in pen and paper because I have had computer access readily available to me and found it more convenient. I think that there is great value in writing out the first draft by hand, especially when editing. Often times when the first draft is typed, it is difficult to decide how to change a paragraph or ideas around.
DeleteI wonder what data would show on how people write using a variety of occupations or age groups. Do people who do academic writing tend to write pen and paper first? Do "digital immigrants" revert back to pen and paper when writing?
I would definitely like to find some research on this because I require my 6th grade students to first write out a draft. I think this helps them collect their ideas because they are still learning to type and spend a lot of time on that.
The comparison between digital and conventional writing is interesting. I do think there is a distinct difference between the two types of writing skills and our students need to know the difference. There is a purpose for each type of writing skill. I also still require my 4th grade students to write a rough draft in their composition notebook. There is considerable grumbling but I do still place a huge value on pen and paper. Once the rough was completed, I have them type it which does take a while but their keyboarding skills improve with practice. I do prefer to read their typed rough since it is more convenient to pull up a file and yes, it is much easier to read. I think there is a place in education for both types.
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