The Age of Digital Respect

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For the last decade, technology has warped our society into believing that it is apart of the natural order of things. It has become harder to remind us of the reality of the impact it has made across all aspects of our lives. There isn’t a day that goes by where I do not constantly check email, NPR news, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram. On occasion I post or comment on one of these digital outlets and don’t normally think of how I may be perceived. Since it has become integrated into something of a second nature, the thought of my audience passes me by. After some long reflection and researching, I have become more alarmed that this perception of audience had surpassed my thought process. Moreover, the content that I was posting and how it would be perceived by this worldwide audience. In this essay I aim to speak to what it means to be reputable online, why it’s important, and how to pick out what is respectable while also striving to become a reputable writer. Good writing does not go unnoticed on the web and so it can be put to more use than just sharing through social media. Decent digital works from respected web authors can act as jumpstart for how we as readers online can help start to generate ideas to help solve social, political and economic issues right here at home and internationally.


Scholarly, Social and Technical

 To be taken seriously in the digital world, the back end of publication must be scholarly, social and technical according the Douglas Eyman in Composing for Digital Publication: Rhetoric, Design, Code. Scholarly refers to whether a disciplinary field values digital writing. Social is how a field behaves when implementing those values within the publishing process. Finally, technical is how systems support the perpetuity of scholarly and social infrastructures if at all. These three points relate similarly to the three points that Jen Rajchel presents about how to approach digital writing. The questions she poses are:

  • Is this medium adding a critical lens to the design of my argument?
  • Is this the audience I hope to be part of?
  • What are the terms of service and do I feel comfortable with the kind and amount of information I am sharing?

Rajchel claims these questions provide a platform to critically assess the audience and allows her to expect interactions with that audience. Both Eyman and Rajchel take into consideration what most people, like myself, do not think about when constructing a piece of digital work. These kinds of values and standards are what create a clear dividing line between writer’s exhibiting digital literacy and writer’s that are dependent on instant gratification. Writer’s that depend on the audience also highly anticipate a response. This response is what drives them to write more and more without focusing on the desire to connect with the audience through a separate writing task that perhaps they spent more time on.

Yet, in order to reach that final step of a polished piece of work this platform that Rajchel is assessing must be created. It can also be broken down into three categories presented in Eyman’s article. He analyzes rhetoric, design and code to better understand the digital literacy development that may be lacking and how it can be incorporating as a part of foundations for digital writing. In Rhetoric, he argues that, “authors of digital writing need to ask themselves: is this work best presented in a more linguistically rich or visually rich?” Additionally he focuses on how the audience will make use of the writing or digital object; “usability speaks to the degree to which the users’ needs have been taken into account in the design of a text; and “usefulness” is tied to the disciplinary networks in which a text is designed to circulate.” He presents that it is not what design is but what design does that is important in digital writing. By this he means “design is a rhetorical function that plays an important role in each of the principles of rhetoric, mostly related to style but also of organization.”(Eyman) He defines code as being synonymous with grammar in that it is the framework that ties rhetoric and design by allowing interactivity. The aspect of interactivity allows the audience to feel connected to the work and also creates a connection between the reader and the author. The web by its nature is built on connectivity, so by implementing code into digital works thereby enforces digital works to be shared with anyone on the web.

Although digital literacy is important to becoming an established writer online, it is not the stand-alone factor. As Eyman and Rajchel denote, the consideration of the audience, design of the work and the amount of desired connectivity is to be included in digital writing pieces.


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Resilient Writers Prevail

As a millennial I have discovered an empowering ability to create a “wallpaper of my life” (cite sarah murray) through social media. As technology has become more readily available, millennials have put themselves in the center a global network of communication. The placement at the center of the universe like everything else has its advantages and disadvantages.

Sarah Murray, a writer and journalist whose work focuses on sustainable development and the relationships among business/society/environment, best describes one advantage to this centered connectivity in that it has “created in many [individuals] a desire to help solve big global problems.” The best example I can think of is the blog, Humans of New York . What started out as collective map of New York’s inhabitants has transformed into a worldwide phenomenon. The photographer, Brandon Stanton, walks around New York City every day to take pictures of strangers and collects quotes and short stories from them. More recently, he traveled to Pakistan and photographed a woman who was protesting forced labor. After the initial post he set up an Indiegogo campaign to raise about $100,000 for the woman’s organization against bonded labor. Four days after the campaign had launched, $2.1 million dollars had flooded in for the cause just from a series of a few photos and the stories of hardship in Pakistan that has affected 4 million people.

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Stanton’s efforts have earned him a level of respect online that has implemented the three requirements that Eyman presents. His posts are scholarly in that he values peoples stories and comments by posting them along side their photo. Most aren’t long and detailed but for the ones that he chooses to highlight, he doesn’t change the person’s words. Rather he directly quotes what they are saying showing that he is taking value in what they are saying. HONY is social in that it behaves in a unique way as Tumblr account, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It is like nothing else out on the web now. Finally it shows Eyman’s definition of technical in that it supports the continuing of scholarly and social infrastructures by relating posts to real world problems and having the ability to share that across social media outlets.

All of Brandon Stanton’s of the world pushing for worldwide connectivity in digital writing comes at a high price. Murray denotes that all the technology has brought along anxiety, stress and doubts. As Kim Wilkins, the author of Writing Resilience in the Digital Age, suggests,

Rather than suggesting resilient writing stems from good time management, then, I suggest it stems from good writing habits. It is not strictly speaking our use of time that is the problem, but those ingrained habits that are impinging on writers’ energy and productivity. For example: booting up the computer leads to downloading email; struggling with a difficult sentence leads to opening Facebook; Googling a research question leads to Internet surfing without a time limit. Many of these habits arise out of an increasing insistence that writers develop a digital authorial identity or ‘platform’… the tools used to develop a platform can lead to distraction, anxiety, self-blame, and stasis: all of these are the enemy of resilient writing.” [Wilkins 68]

Wilkins suggests work ethic is what is driving the problems with digital writing. The anxiety and stasis is what creates a “clash of motivations: the intimate desire to create art; the public drive to sell that art” [Wilkins 69]. This is important to being a distinguished writer online because technology has added another platform for writers to build masterpieces of work however, it has taken away their tedious work ethic to focus on what is before them. In times of refocusing or reviewing a writing assignment an escape is presented to jump from one task to another by checking Twitter or Facebook.

This comes into play when you need to perform research for a certain project. When it comes time to type into the search bar on Google, realistically are you going to just type in the subject or will you automatically jump to Google Scholar? What’s the difference? Why does it matter? Well, there is a difference when looking at information on Wikipedia to PubMed, a database for biomedical literature. The difference is that the information on Wikipedia has been altered by anyone trolling the Internet. Where as the information on PubMed has been edited by established publishers and reviewed several times before actually getting published. The literature on PubMed has gone through a tedious process to create a true work of art compared to a 16 year old kid who is bored and wants to change the Wikipedia page.

I see that this is an extreme case in terms of digital writing however; I believe it drives the point home that dedicated work ethic pays off. Whether it be Brandon Stanton’s efforts to raise money for a woman featured in one of his photos or it be being published on a well-known biomedical database such as PubMed.

So What is it Going to Take?

             Now its clear what it means to be reputable online and why its important so how can a writer be sustainable in the sense of producing work that exhibits digital literacy without all the distractions of the web? But with technology and the web space always changing, writers online need to be able to evolve. At the same time, they must not lose their credibility. This is where core concepts of writing, in general, play a role in writing online.

Brian Carroll, the author of Writing for Digital Media, suggests 8 fundamentals that can spread across any medium and any audience. They are:

  • Be brief
  • Be precise
  • Be active
  • Be imaginative
  • Be direct
  • Be consistent
  • Be aware
  • Be concise

These fundamentals are good checks for sustaining good writing online and in general because they point out the obvious parts of the writing process we often forget. In thinking of what you personally read online, any piece that doesn’t exhibit these 8 fundamentals is not something you will be reading for long.

Carroll presents steps to getting the writing processes started so that you can engage the audience without losing credibility. First he suggests to create an idea or a purpose for writing. To achieve this he presents activities such as brainstorming, clustering and free writing. Next, map it all out with questions such as, what is/are the main points and who is the primary audience? The audience you hope to reach should impact the decision of the topic, tone, complexity, etc. Once these questions have been answered then a blueprint, or outline of the project can be laid out to see how the content is presented. Again, relating how design is important in not what it is but what it does for the writing and for the reader. Finally, he belabors the point of revision. As the importance of being credible online was highlighted above, Carroll’s final step strengthens the argument that revision is crucial in writing online. Editing allows a writer to create his or her own consistent style of writing. In turn, this is what can help writers online start on a path to becoming a sustained decent writer.


The opportunity to participate in academic digital writing  at Dickinson has provided an outlet to express some of my artistic abilities. Writing loosely is much like painting on a canvas in that with each brush stroke is free flowing. Almost all of the writing I do at Dickinson is very formal and directed toward the biology research community. In that kind of writing style, I don’t get to offer my opinion, everything is objective.

I have found that writing online about something I am passionate about has given me another way to define my identity online and in the Dickinson community. This has numerous advantages in and outside the classroom, especially at a liberal arts college. Implementing digital writing in courses allows for connections to be drawn between various disciplines. Which is what is emphasized at a liberal arts school. I have taken courses in areas such as Africana Studies and Philosophy that have allowed me to think outside the box for areas of study in Biology.

Activating a different part of your brain is a way to see and think in different ways. A liberal arts education encourages this notion. I believe we could all continue the efforts that Brandon Stanton started but on a much larger scale. However, in order for this occur there must be good design, strong connectivity to the audience and countless revisions. Piggybacking off of Stanton’s general idea of philanthropy for a greater cause from a single post can serve as a springboard for similar ideas to start to develop solutions for domestic and international issues.

 

 

Works Cited

Carroll, Brian, [1965-]. “Writing and Editing For Digital Media.” N.p.:Routledge, 2014. Africa-Wide Information. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Eyman, Douglas, and Cheryl E. Ball. “Composing For Digital Publication: Rhetoric, Design and Code.” Composition Studies 42.1 (2014): 114-117. Education Research Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Johnson, Alex. “Humans of New York Raises $2 Million to End Forced Labor in Pakistan.” NBC News.  19 Aug 15. <http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/photographers-campaign-raises-2-million-end-pakistani-forced-labor-n412031>

Rajchel, Jen. “Consider the Audience,” in Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning, ed. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell (University of Michigan Press/Trinity College ePress edition, 2014) 

Wilkins, Kim. “Writing Resilience In the Digital Age.” New Writing: The International Journal For The Practice & Theory of Creative Writing 11.1(2014):67-76. Literary Reference Center. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

 

 

 

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Digital Media and its Place in the Classroom

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                            Photo via Got Credit

Education is an essential in the twenty first century. As many of my fellow college students know, it is extremely hard to get a job without experience or an education. So what does that mean for scholars? Or for those who want to get hired in a working position? It means finding an education that incorporates what is needed. And what is needed for jobs is getting increasingly different from the past as time goes on.

It used to be a big deal when someone could list proficient in Microsoft word or excel on his or her resume, now it is something that is implied. Companies want people working for them who are digitally literate. Becoming digital literate is not something promised to come along with earning a diploma but that might change soon.

The prestige Cornell University explains digital literacy to be this, “Digital literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using information technologies and the Internet.”

This means that to be digitally literate you have to be able to interpret things online or even post things online, but most importantly know how to work technology.

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Video found via YouTube

This is a big change from the past! Writing online is completely different than writing for other mediums. That is why a digital education is becoming a thing of importance. However this new age “bring your computers to class” idea is not presented flaw free.

There are negatives for the positives that a technology woven education can bring forth and these pros and cons can often be categorized within themes. One of those main themes is communication.

Communication is a positive because it is connecting people in ways that would never happen before, building new networks, giving access to tutors, connecting family through video instead of short broken phone calls, and even allowing students who might be too shy to talk in class add to the discussion through social media (Nel, Turkle, Rajchel).

For example in Sherry Turkle’s article “Alone Together”, She describes a situation where a young adult was able to video chat with her grandmother for an hour during the week instead of a 20 minute rushed phone call.

This kind of communication is a game changer. But it has negatives.

Turkle goes on to further say that despite being more connected with her grandmother the young woman often found herself multitasking while video chatting. The disconnection of this new communication method does provoke a lot of thoughts on how anyone utilizing this technology can remain present while having the ability to juggle tasks.

In addition some educators fear that communicating behind a screen or keyboard will lead to in class distractions and lack of focus (Nel). Now of course some students will fall to this and end up on Buzzfeed during class but there is an opportunity here for educators to open up the class to social media.

As John Pavlik says about integrating technology and social media into the classroom, “This Strategy to take advantage of many students’ natural inclination towards ubiquitous and often non-stop mobile device use. Rather than fight against the tide, so to speak, this is an approach to exploit it for educational benefit.”

That is very much what was done in a class Jen Rajchel helped with. In this class students had to write a “paper tweet” following the rules of Twitter but just write the 140-character snip-it on a piece of paper. The student wrote tweets based on some in class material and Rajchel reflected, “For the first time, everyone in class talked, and for the same length of time.” A demonstration of opening the class discussion to social media is very important, it begs educators to consider possibly using social media forms to continue the discussion or even just complement it.

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Photo via MKH Marketing

But before educators can make these choices in classroom they have to learn the technology themselves. In a study done by Melanie Hundley and Teri Holbrook students studying to be teachers experimented with using multiple forms of media to create writing including a video essay.

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Gif via Giphy

Many of the participants in the study felt they were a student again instead of becoming the educator. There also was an overall opinion that though social media and technology is a good tool for learning it would be hard to incorporate something with writing. However the study concluded that teachers should be given an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the media before teaching it.

The confusion of educators, unsure of where to incorporate social media is not a small opinion. In a paper about social media incorporation to a university in Southern Africa multiple professors responded that they wanted to incorporate social media into their teaching but either did not know how, thought it might be too time consuming or could not find what they were looking (Nel). Despite these speed bumps many teachers did try to incorporate media anyway and were very pleased by the development of communication and academic interaction online (Nel).

Furthermore, media in the classroom often presents itself as a coin, there is a heads and there is tails. More often than not gambling with media has gotten educators a positive response and it has gotten students skills in digital literacy that they will need now and in the future.

I find myself in the same heads or tails situation with my own education and digital integration. My writing for digital environments class is the first class I have taken that has addresses my own digital literacy.

It has been great.

I find myself reading, writing, and acting online differently than I did before I took this class. Of course prior to the course I knew how to start a blog, how to tweet, and had multiple social media accounts but I felt all of that was completely separate from my education a college.

Since I’ve started this class I am able to use websites other than just scholarly journals and identify if they are trustworthy or not. I can also write better online and read blogs easier since now I can relate them to things I am learning.

Of course there are things I don’t like, for example learning how to write this web essay was a challenge. It is completely new style of writing for students who have had the formal essay format preached to them since the 7th grade.

I also find it a bit harder to go from reading web articles to scholarly papers that are not written to draw readers in. This is more of a personal downfall rather than something I would blame on having digital media in my class.

The only other negative thing about have such a digital classroom is that I tend not to take notes as much. But that is a positive hidden within a negative because frequently I am so caught up in the conversation happening in front of me I don’t want to take notes for the sake of not missing a part of the class discussion. This is where I think having an online conversation to complement the class talk would be super helpful and also just open the discussion further.

I think course like the one I am in, about writing in digital environments, are important because I thought I knew all I needed to know about writing and reading online and using technology in my education. Then I took this course and now I am learning something new everyday.

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GIF via Giphy

The things I am learning are super important too because I already know I am going to use them in future courses I may take and future employment opportunities.

Digital media is part of almost every company, organization and so forth. Even Mr. Clean has a Facebook and I bet the person who runs that page had no idea they would end up having to write Facebook posts for a cartoon man who makes cleaning products.

In a time where digital literacy and education are still trying to figure out their footing and how they can mix together to provide better education, knowing that I can tell future employers that I have taken a course in writing for digital environments, that I know how to make, design, write, and run a blog, is very reassuring.

I know that despite some roadblocks, like not understand how to break from formal writing mode, my experience with digital media and education is a positive one. My experiences make me suggest taking a course that integrates the two to my friends because I think soon enough, everyone will need to have a digital education to complement what they already know or are learning.

Sources 

Holbrook, Teri, and Melanie Hundley. “Set in Stone or Set in Motion? Multimodal and Digital Writing with Pre-service English Teachers.” Journal of adolescent & Adult Literacy, 56(6). March 2013, web October 15th, 2015.

Nel, Liezel, and Patient Rombe. “Technological Utopia, Dystopia and Ambivalence: Teaching with Social Media at a South African University.” British Journal of Educational Technology, 46(3). 2015, web October 17th, 2015.

Pavlik, John V. “Fueling a third Paradigm of Education: the Pedagogical Implications of Digital, Social, and Mobile Media.” Contemporary Education Technology, 6(2). 2015, web October 15th, 2015

Rajchel, Jen. “Consider the Audience” in “Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning.” Ed. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell. (University of Michigan Press/Trinity College ePress edition, 2014) web October 5th, 2015.

Turkle, Sherry. “Alone Together.” (Dis)Connecting in a Digital Age, pg 85-95. No date, PDF web accessed October 12th, 2015.

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A Whole New World of Writing

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http://www.newmiamiblog.com/files/2014/04/technology-concept-with-countries-in-background.jpg

The Internet has forever changed the way we live our lives. This is especially prevalent on college campuses, where you can’t walk by a group of students without seeing at least one person looking at their iPhone. I don’t think I could even name one person I know that doesn’t own a laptop and cell phone. We are in constant communication with one another, and connected to social media on a daily basis, if not an hourly basis. If something happened to me during the day I can immediately tell my friends about it in a group message and feel connected to them, even though I may not have seen them all day. We can quickly Google something we need to know, check a menu online to order takeout, and even check what is for dinner in the cafeteria at college. We now live in a digital world and its impacts range from our social lives to our academic lives to our professional lives, and we must learn how to adapt to the new rules of this new world.

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What is digital literacy?

While the definition of literacy is the ability to read and write, but this definition has changed as the digital world has developed. In his article Digital Literacy, Richard Lanham explains, “the word ‘literacy,’ meaning the ability to read and write, has gradually extended its grasp in the digital age until it has come to mean the ability to understand information, however it is presented” (Lanham “Digital Literacy”). Today, this means that most information we will encounter is multimodal. Articles online can have pictures and videos as well as links embedded within the writing.

To be deeply literate in the digital world means being well seen and well heard as well as well read, skilled at deciphering complex images and sounds as well as the syntactical complexity of words (Lanham “Digital Literacy”).

Lanham expresses the importance of students in todays age to be able to not only read words and understand their meaning, but interpret the multimodal aspects of digital information into the meaning of the writing as well. This type of writing allows for a broader interpretation and understanding of the ideas. It can also make online reading more enjoyable for the reader, as the multimodal aspect can break up the redundancies of reading text.

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http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/wordle_thesis.jpg

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What does this have to do with academics?

The importance of technology in education is paramount in today’s day in age. Because young people who are being educated right now grew up with technology, it is very familiar to them, and they have a better understanding of its many facets than the majority of older people. This should be used as a helpful tool.

In her article Using Digital Story Projects to Help Students Improve Reading and Writing, Hani Morgan explains:

Using technology effectively in school has many benefits. It keeps students motivated, helps them function well in their digital world, promotes academic gains in literacy, and facilitates the learning of a subject matter because technological tools allow students to perceive and create content through various formats including graphic images, audio, video, music, etc (Morgan 20).

An example of useful technology for teaching is Smart Boards, which are interactive whiteboards connected to a computer. Students can write directly on a webpage that is projected on the board, and it is a way to get students more involved in a discussion or activity. Another example of this type of useful technology is Google Docs, which allows multiple people to edit different types of documents from different computers, at the same time. This allows students to interact intellectually, and share ideas in real time even if they are not together in a classroom. The more that technology is included in an academic environment, it the more important it becomes to educate students on digital literacy, and what is really means to write online.

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http://purposefultechnology.weebly.com/uploads/8/9/6/3/8963208/2657119.jpg?283

Suzanna McKee-Waddell supports the importance of digital literacy in her article Digital Literacy: Bridging the Gap with Digital Writing Tools, and describes, “Digital literacy is an emerging field of progressive literacy instruction…Teachers are seeking inventive forms of digital technology instruction to enable, engage and propel instruction in composition” (McKee-Waddell 26). This being said, digital literacy is not just a new field for students but also for teachers, and the teachers need an education in technology in the classroom. McKee-Waddell continues, “Simply stated, educators should engage and embrace student’s technological knowledge instead of allowing old avenues to constrain the medium of instructional delivery” (27). Right now, in most cases, the students in a classroom know more about technology than the educators do, simply because they have grown up with it. Because technology is changing so quickly, educators must have an open mind to learning about the digital world and how it can improve their classroom.

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But, the Downsides

The benefits of technological advances in the digital age are countless, but these do not always come without consequences. As Neil Postman states in his article Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change, “for every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a corresponding disadvantage. The disadvantage may exceed in importance the advantage, or the advantage may be well worth the cost” (Postman 27). For example, Facebook has many advantages, such as being able to connect with friends and family far away, or update people on important events you wish to share.

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http://blogs.longwood.edu/ngrant/files/2015/07/Read_Socialmedia_Classroom.jpg

But a downfall of Facebook that you may not have originally considered is the information and pictures other people can post without your approval or knowledge, which could have negative affects on your relationships or professional life. While people may not have thought about this possible downfall when they began using Facebook, it is something people have to be conscious of. A more widespread comparison that Postman presents is cars, “think of the automobile, which for all of its obvious advantages, has poisoned our air, choked our cities and degraded the beauty of our natural landscape” (27). While this is a very broad example, it is a form of technology, and it does have serious downfalls. There are also downsides to technology in the classroom, as they can serve as a distraction for students who are checking social media on their phones or texting.

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A New Way to Cheat?

The concept of plagiarism has been widely accepted since writing became a profession in the 17th century, but the concept now has broader dimensions with the new digital age. In a New York Times article Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age, author Trip Gabriel writes about how students conceptions of plagiarism do not include technology. He starts off with a few examples:

At Rhode Island College, a freshman copied and pasted from a Web site’s frequently asked questions page about homelessness – and did not think he needed to credit a source in his assignment because the page did not include author information…At the University of Maryland, a student reprimanded for copying from Wikipedia in a paper on the Great Depression said he thought its entries – unsigned and collectively written – did not need to be credited since they counted, essentially, as common knowledge (Gabriel “Plagiarism Lines Blue for Students in Digital Age).

These are examples of the discrepancies students now face in school. With the wide range of online sources students can use to write papers and do research, it is not always clear to students what needs to be cited and how. Instead of just having to cite from books in a formulaic manner, students must now know how to cite from a blog post, or a review from a website.

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In an article published in The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Lea Calvert Evering & Gary Moorman discuss the complex and evolving concept of plagiarism. They explain, “With the vastness of the digital world, plagiarism is difficult to define and continuously evolving. Although plagiarism is clearly an academic issue, the proliferation of digital media with which students interact daily and the growth of the Internet as a source of information have made it a literacy issue as well” (Evering & Moorman 37). It is difficult for students to understand the do’s and don’ts of plagiarism in today’s digital world. It is something that needs to be incorporated into education so students are able to uphold respect for intellectual property.

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My Life and the Digital World

The digital writing course I am currently in has had a positive impact on not only my other courses this semester, but my writing as well. This course is structured very differently than any other course I have taken. It encourages me to write in a creative way, and to reflect on my thoughts and ideas and connect them back to my writing. Outside of the blog projects we are doing, we keep a journal, and do different exploration exercises. These exercises have us write down our observations about different things, and then reflect on these.

Our blog projects have given me an outlet to write about a personal experience that I am passionate about. I chose to write about my traveling, and reflect on the experiences I have had. I have gained not only a valuable skill in learning how to blog, but I have gained confidence in my writing overall. I have learned about myself as a writer, which would not have happened in a typical structured course. As a science major, I have learned to write in a formulaic manner with no room for self-expression, which is very different than writing a personal blog.

The experiences I have gained through digital writing will help me in my future career, hopefully in the biomedical field, as I will have a better understanding of how to share my ideas and research in the digital environment. So much information is being shared on the Internet and having the skills to contribute to this in a valuable way will make me an invaluable asset to my future employer. The importance of digital writing is growing, and my developing skills in digital literacy will help me through my academic and professional careers.

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Works Cited

Evering, Lea Calvert and Moorman, Gary. “Rethinking Plagiarism In The Digital Age.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 56.1 (2012): 35-44. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Gabriel, Trip. “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Aug. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Lanham, Richard. “Richard Lanham: Digital Literacy.” Richard Lanham: Digital Literacy. Scientific American, 1995. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

McKee-Wardell, Suzanna. “Digital Literacy: Bridging The Gap With Digital Writing Tools.” Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin. 82.1 (2015): 26-31. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Morgan, Hani. “Using Digital Story Projects To Help Students Improve In Reading and Writing.” Reading Improvement 51.1 (2014): 20-26. ERIC. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Postman, Neil. “Five Things We Need to Know About Technological Change.” Colorado, Denver. Lecture.

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Digital Writing: Redefining the Classroom, Personal Expression, and Society

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What does it mean to be living in a Digital World?

Imagine driving to work or school and realizing halfway to your destination that you left your phone at home. That feeling of being lost without it, loneliness, and a sense of detachment from society is universal in today’s culture. Engineers and the masterminds behind Apple and other companies are starting to romanticize technology. As stated in Sherry Turkle’s article, “Alone Together,” we feel as though we have actual relationships with our devices as they are “romanticized” and “inseparable” from our daily lives. She further explains how networks are becoming seductive; they are pulling us in with multimodal aspects leading us to click away at different links and never escape the four edges of our screens for hours.

The digital world and digital writing is becoming more accessible and influential in educational settings. On college campuses, we, students and professors, have new tools and mediums for learning, teaching, writing, expressing ourselves, and being creative. Our digital world is multifaceted and evolving which transcends to the progressing roles and structures of classrooms, teachers, and students. The collaborative, multimodal and democratizing aspects of digital writing sparks student motivation and engagement as new roles and teaching methods are introduced and practiced which allow students to gain rhetorical skills necessary for success in this fast growing digital world.


Right-Way-to-Go-DigitalWhat actually is Digital Writing?

With easy access to computers, tablets, phones, and the Internet, we each have an equal amount of power to create a voice and express ourselves with the tool of digital writing. Digital writing, is writing written specifically for the web. Although digital writing is relatively new with new technological advancements and social media platforms, the idea of implementing technique with the practice is the same as traditional ways of writing.

What does it mean to be a “good digital writer”?

To be a good digital writer means that you understand the techniques that are effective on the web. To be effective on the web means that you:

  1. Engage with the audience with your voice and presentation through text and multimodal features (videos, photos, links, colors, layouts, etc.)
  2. Be familiar with other platforms so you are able to link specific audience with your own (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)
  3. Don’t be afraid to take chances (be creative, express yourself by taking risks over and over again to get a final product you are happy with)
  4. Own your voice online (digital writing gives you power and access to other conversations and authors that you never had before, so engage with them! (comment/like/subscribe/write)

 

Before taking a course in Digital Writing this past semester, I used to use the Internet passively. I would scroll through nonsense simply to avoid awkward eye contact with someone, or just be on Facebook just to be there; not knowing why. But through this class I’ve learned that digital writing gives you opportunities that shape your writing that have never existed before, ultimately giving you more power as a writer.


How is Digital Writing Used as a Pedagogical Tool?

Now, more than ever before, we are able to engage with our community, build our own networks, express ourselves and be creative all in an inclusive learning experience. As technology is shifting from flip phones to smartphones and tablets, so is their use and influence in classrooms and the educational experience. Digital writing creates a world of collaborative knowledge between the students and the teachers. Together, they face the pros, cons, and opportunities of the new digital world.

Here are some influences that digital writing has and is making in classrooms and the educational experience:

Digital writing in classrooms upgrades methods of teaching and classroom dynamics to help students develop digital literacy. Suzanne Mckee-Waddell’s article states that with digital writing, the role of the classroom, teacher, and student shift.The classroom is more of an inclusive learning experience where students are able to work together, listen to each other, and collaborate with the help of technology and social media platforms. As technology evolves, so must pedagogical practices. As students are more distracted, fast paced, and technologically advanced, teachers need to be able to engage, and in a way, entertain their students with new platforms. The article includes a chart of new programs that are used for that very reason and some of those include, GoogleDocs, Essaypunch, Easybib, and Wideo. New platforms like these allow the classroom to be more of a group learning experience while being part of a bigger conversation outside of the classroom. Students are able to continue conversations and the creation of ideas outside of the classroom with peers as we have access to tablets, phones, computers at all times and are able to engage in material at any time; whereas before, that was not a viable option for students. Using Twitter and WordPress and similar platforms engage, motivate, and enhance the classroom writing environment, without losing interest or motivation from the students.The same shift occurs for teachers, teachers are now introduced with new methods of interacting with students. They no long have to carry “red pens” and mark papers when they are handed in. Instead, tools like Trackchanges on Word and emailing makes it easier for students and teachers to interact and get feedback. Ultimately, the new roles and settings of classrooms reinvent the methodology used to teach writing. It focuses more on enabling and engaging both the student, the writer, and the audience.


 

  1. The use of social media is introduced in classroom settings in our digital world which also increases the use of digital writing in class. Dan Åkerlund’s article supports the idea of social media in classrooms and also explains that when introducing social media to a classroom setting, students become more engaged, motivated, and creative. Social media changes the relationship between students’ own produced texts and the school subject that is studied. When a student is able to use personal photos or stories or links to pages they are interested in or have created, they have a sense of ownership which makes their work more authentic and personal. Digital writing with social media allows students to be motivated to share their ideas not only with their class, but to a larger public. Once the audience is bigger, students feel more motivated to be creative and engaged in their world. Social media is there to provide an outlet for their work to be seen. This addition to the educational process also adds a new role of the teacher as they are responsible to teach students copyright laws and how to be private/public on the net and how to handle sensitive information. Classrooms benefit from this aspect of learning as students are able to learn about the power of the internet and social media platforms, combine personal/authentic images and stories to their writing which makes them a more rounded, and creative (multimodal) writer through digital literacy.

  2.  Digital writing creates a new sense of “audience” that motivates students to do their best. In Åkerlund’s article and Jen Rajchel’s article, there is proof that there is a change in writing, for the better, when an audience changes for the author. Digital writing shifts the audience of a paper or writing piece from just the instructor to the entire web. She states, “When students feel an increased level of investment in their projects and a heightened sense of responsibility to an actual audience, the work becomes less about grades and more about shaping their scholarship.”   Rajchel’s article explains that when writing for a public audience, the writer is inspired to write the best they can, knowing that their work will be broadcasted; adding pressure to the writer and their ownership of their work. Digital writing disjoints the traditional role and pressures that a teacher has on a student as they no longer are the only ones reading or having access to their work. This idea introduces the double edged sword aspect of digital writing in classrooms and in general. There are some dangers brought by digital writing, which are introduced in Roxane Gay’s article. You have to think about what you say, how you say it, and the fact that it’ll be there forever. She states, “The vulnerability of online exposure is infinite. The internet is permanent as it is ephemeral. Everything is archived somewhere, lurking.” Digital writing makes you more of an aware writer as you have to think before you write something, knowing that your words and posts will always be traced back to and related to your persona. Although sometimes this aspect of writing online makes you hesitant to provoke a conversation or state your opinion, but those are risks you as a writer have to make.

 

 My Experience with Digital Writing

            As a 21 year old student, I’ve been involved and exposed to many digital writing environments and have had a lot of experience with digital media, writing, and social networks. With a Facebook account, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Portfoliobox, and WordPress account, I’ve had a lot of practice with different digital platforms. As an International Business and Management major at a liberal arts school, I have had numerous amounts of group projects and could scroll for what seems to be forever in my GoogleDrive at previous group projects I’ve done for classes. Digital media and writing is extremely important in the marketing and business world; a career path I am most interested in. Being able to be creative while informing customers and the market about a good or a service is more important now than ever before. We are constantly being thrown at with ads online, with social media campaigns, and hashtags. All of these new concepts of marketing and creativity spark from our efficiency in digital writing and the use multimodal aspects of the web.

Although these new ideas and ways of branding and marketing are new and creative and have more of a sense of ownership, they also have higher stakes to fail. For example, when abroad in Copenhagen, my digital marketing class was assigned to present a campaign to the DIS buddy network program to the head of PR at DIS. My group and I collaborated on Google Doc and Prezi which allowed us to present to a larger audience, ultimately making more room for criticism. However, being able to use these tools effectively and be able to convey a message in just a simple hashtag and logo that catches on to millions of people, we are able to create a larger conversation and gain more credibility and awareness.

 

Capture     ssss

(logo and bike seat we created with link on it to promote awareness and access to campaign)

These skills are especially important for us, students, to nail and perfect before getting hired for jobs as employers are looking for people who will be able to enter the fast and technologically integrated world. Jobs like Social Media Manager and positions in PR are more important and fast growing than ever before; and with classes that integrate digital writing and digital skills are those that will produce the best candidates.

So, the next time you find yourself driving to school or work and realize you left your phone at home, don’t panic. Sometimes you have to disconnect from the networks and conversations had in the virtual world and appreciate those in the physical world. Balancing both will allow you to integrate your ability of being alone and “alone together” in this digital world.

 

 


 

Works Cited:

 

Åkerlund, Dan. “Social Media in the Classroom Different Perspectives on Young Students’ Use of Blogs and Digital Cameras in Their School Work.” Social Media in the Classroom (n.d.): n.p (2011). Web. <http://klassbloggarna.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/%C3%85kerlund-Dan-2011-Social-media-in-the-classroom-T%C3%B6nsberg.pdf>.

GAY, ROXANE. “The Danger Of Disclosure: Cultural Criticism Online.” Creative Nonfiction 49 (2013): 58-61. Humanities Source. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Jen Rajchel, “Consider the Audience,” in Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning, ed. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell (University of Michigan Press/Trinity College ePress edition, 2014), http://epress.trincoll.edu/webwriting/chapter/rajchel.

 

Mckee-Waddell, Suzanne. “Digital Literacy: Bridging The Gap With Digital Writing Tools.” Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin 82.1 (2015): 26-31. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

 

Rajchel, Jen. “Consider the Audience.” Web Writing: Why & How and for Liberal Arts Teaching& Learning. 15 September 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.

Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. , 2011. Print.

 

 

 

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The Web of Everything: You Can Learn There, Too

 

We often think of blogging as the work of the amateur cook, the dog lover, the awestruck student abroad, or the good samaritan building homes for earthquake victims in Haiti. They are known to have value, but their value is limited. They are written by amateur writers; fun little collections of literature for family, friends, and the occasional stranger. And in thinking all of this, we fail to see the possible value writing online has for students and educators.

http://hollywoodmomblog.com/dog-with-a-blog-renewed-for-season-3/

Blogging, in its current form, covers nearly every corner of the internet and beyond, incorporating the past and present, the far and wide, cooking, dogs, sports, music, love, hate, apathy, and abroad experiences. Its value is not limited. In fact, the inherent social aspect of digital writing (a more nuanced word for blogging) is what makes it limitless. Digital writing manifests itself in many forms; as literal blogs published through free web services such as WordPress, as posts on social media, and as blogs published through larger media groups such as CNN, ESPN, and the New York Times.

My current Twitter feed. Not a whole lot of discussion, but some interesting points.

My current Twitter feed. Not a whole lot of discussion, but some interesting points.

Digital writing as an act is more than putting together words on some sort of platform and pressing publish. In her talk Networking the Field, Kathleen Fitzpatrick defines writing on online platforms as “scholarly communication,” in a broader context than would otherwise be available. Digital writing has become a means of engaging not only with scholars immediately available through traditional methods of information-sharing, but with anyone, nearly anywhere. As she states, “the blog…provides an arena in which scholars can work through ideas in an ongoing process of engagement with their peers.” Consider this in the context of student work; professional scholars (professors, writers, politicians) have been given the opportunity to engage with their peers through university networks and personal relationships for years, yet students have not been afforded this intellectual luxury.

Now, with the availability and ease of digital writing, students can engage in this same scholarly engagement with each other. Fitzpatrick also emphasizes digital writing as an ongoing process; a continuous process of practicing and presenting that contributes depth and understanding to work at a more constant rate than before the advent of the blogosphere. A perfect example of this is Twitter, which allows users to instantly present (short) arguments, and within minutes receive feedback, criticism, and suggestions. 

Jen Rajchel agrees with Fitzpatrick’s idea that web writing is “inherently about seeding the development of more opportunities to circulate student work while still foregrounding the difficult navigation of the public/private that accompany them.” In our current age of sharing and over-sharing, it seems trivial to speak about navigating the intersection of the public and private spheres that exist on the web. Yet these separate, and linked, spheres shape our identity equally. Digital writing is not only about the ability to publish and discuss at ease; it is about shaping yourself in a context that places you in the eyes of an audience. How might you interact with that audience? How does your audience take and digest what you say, and how do you do the same with their work? As Rajchel writes, “When students feel an increased level of investment in their projects and a heightened sense of responsibility to an actual audience, the work becomes less about grades and more about shaping their scholarship.” Rajchel is speaking about the level of depth that young scholars’ work can have when they understand the importance of creating a dialogue. An audience, hosted and sustained by the immense digital writing sphere, creates a sort of accountability for young writers and promotes reflection.

http://www.albertpalacci.org/tag/online-audience/

Linked to this idea of audience is what Natalia Cecire describes as “thinking in public,” a way of taking academic thought and placing it into the broader public sphere. Digital writing is an act of creating “theoretically supple ways to answer questions that we seriously want answered;” and act of linking small details and ideas to larger ideas as part of a community of authors, scholars, students, and readers. Cecire also emphasizes the importance of being somebody when you blog, as an act of public recognition of your place in the arena of digital writing. She says this as a professor and scholar, but the sentiment can be applied to students as well, and links to Rajchel’s idea that publicness leads to accountability (indeed, Rajchel cites Cecire in her essay). Implicit in her essay is Cecire’s idea that being public online as an academic, an especially trying position for women, is a form of academic progress; digital writing is both an expression of scholarship and and expression of your value as a scholar.

In his essay Organic Writing and Digital Media: Seeds and Organs, Pete Rorabaugh advocates for a sort of scholarly composition that sheds formula and instead attends to planting the seed of a composition and writing in unpredictable directions using that seed. That does not mean that the piece of writing is inherently messy or confusing; it simply means the the process of writing is not structured like high school teachers might have us think. Instead, it is paths that converge to create a cohesive whole. Rorabaugh focuses on the digital medium as having the capacity to facilitate this organic style, stating,

“[o]rganic material and compositions move through particular stages with a goal in mind, but the process takes precedence over the product. Using the digital landscape to frame academic composition allows us to attend closely to that process and encourage research fluency and critical inquiry.”

By this he means that digital writing provides a context in which outside participation, the acknowledgement of an audience, and the tangible and visible stages of developing a piece all come together to strengthen the process. Digital writing is about using the process of organic writing; engagement on a much larger scale. Digital writing is interactive, reactive, social, and, at times, messy.

Jason Ranker, in his essay The Affordances of Blogs and Digital Video, uses a specific case study to add nuance to the idea of blogging as a tool of scholarly engagement. He discusses two students, Jakob and Derek, and their blogging and digital video project. As ninth-grade students Jakob and Derek, along with other pairs in their class, were tasked with creating blogs and videos about a topic of their choice. What Ranker found from observing Jakob and Derek is that the class’ use of blogging, commenting, and multimodal aspects (video) lead to dynamic discussions, both online and in person. While he concedes that there were limitations to blogging (less depth and limited face-to-face interaction), he finds that “[b]y providing multiple modes, media, and technologies through which students can explore their topics, a more comprehensive—and perhaps more engaging—understanding of the research process and of the subject matter can emerge.” This includes online discussion between students, an aspect that Jakob touches on when he says, “nobody will listen to your blog if you have no credibility.” Again, an audience creates accountability and interaction, which affords credibility.

Ranker also touches on the power of multimodal aspects of digital writing and engagement. Multimodality can be defined as, “blends of words, pictures, charts, graphs, tables, audio, and/or video,” in the context of digital writing, or in traditionally published sources such as textbooks. As Ranker mentions, things such as hyperlinks expand discussion by introducing other web pages and sources in a tangible way. Video (and images) aid in conveying a message, acting as “a visual means to communicate complex ideas.” Often times words need the help of visuals in order to fully articulate an experience or point.

https://chegordonliteracyprofile.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/week-two-multiliteracies/

 

Chris Thaiss, in discussing multimodality both online and in brochures, on research posters, in journals, and beyond, writes that, “[e]ven the articles in peer-reviewed journals… include an array of visuals—charts, graphs, tables, photos, drawings—to supplement and clarify written text.” Multimodality is a way of further unpacking what is written, adding context. It is inherently linked to digital writing because images, sound, video, and hyperlinks are accessible and clickable, adding more depth to writing and paving the way for better understanding.

The regretful part about my education is that I firmly believe I chose the wrong major, or at the very least I could have chosen a better major. I chose political science because I was unable to commit to anything else. Luckily, I have been able to tailor my major to fit my interest in journalism and writing. I have focused on media and their relationship to politics, and a number of my classes have required blogging in order to better understand that relationship. I have found it to be the most effective means of understanding the field, and the most interesting. Looking at classmate’s blogs allows each student to approach the course material from different angles (and also allows students to interact with each other on a slightly-less superficial plane).

Digital writing is a means of scholarly engagement that goes beyond the traditional essay in that it is true engagement. When writing a research paper for a professor, you are only accountable to yourself and to your professor. It is easy, then, to write in a superficial, formulaic way that betrays your actual identity as a writer. Too often do formal essays leave me wondering how they helped me in any substantial way. As many of the authors above noted, an audience beyond you and your professor adds weight to issues, and forces more insightful and developed work. Writers in digital environments began to add more of themselves into their work, which is how they expand their scholarship. True engagement in scholarship necessitates interest, and digital writing is a catalyst for interest. If you can’t write online like you are interested in your subject matter, then you lose your audience. You lose credibility. Writing online, therefore, promotes interest and engagement.

In personal terms, writing online is a way to produce a portfolio of sorts that I can show prospective employers. It is more intriguing than linking them to a PDF of an essay for class because what I write online is a concise discussion of topics that interest me, and therefore represents my best work. I would rather an author see my piece about homophobia in the hip-hop community than my recent research paper on government in Latin America. Writing about homophobia might prove to be polarizing, but it is a much more personal and interesting piece. Multimodal aspects also allow me to engage readers and address sources in a more direct way, allowing for a better and more informative read.

Writing online usually requires writing for an audience that is made up of readers from multiple disciplines and backgrounds. Given that, it is necessary to write online employing rhetoric that can transcend your topic and be understood by everyone. In that sense, digital writing is a practice in liberal arts; it is an aggregate of multiple and diverse styles that lend to readability and understanding, more so than other academic works. Writing for politics online means writing so that your science-minded friend can understand the complexities of the judicial process. Writing for science online means writing so your politically-minded friend can understand the complexities of the double helix. In each case, we are using a liberal arts mindset to explore topics online.

Perhaps the most important and formative aspect of writing online is that it is ever-changing, ever-evolving. Technology may give rise to new ways of sharing your writing, or new ways to use image and sound. We will continue to see the expansion of internet access into rural and impoverished areas in the world, creating larger and more diverse audiences. With that, our own engagement with digital writing will change. Nothing is definitive online, only collaborative.  

Written using the following articles and blogs as sources:

Cecire, Natalia. “How Public Like a Frog: On Academic Blogging.” Arcade. Stanford University, 20 April, 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. http://arcade.stanford.edu/blogs/how-public-frog-academic-blogging

Fitzpatrick, Kathleen. “Networking the Field.” Planned Adolescence. N.p. 10 Jan. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/networking-the-field/

Jen Rajchel, “Consider the Audience,” in Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning, ed. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell (University of Michigan Press/Trinity College ePress edition, 2014), http://epress.trincoll.edu/webwriting/chapter/rajchel.

Ranker, Jason. “The Affordances of Blogs and Digital Video.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 58.7 (2015): 568-578. Print. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jaal.405/epdf

Rorabaugh, Pete. “Organic Writing and Digital Media: Seeds and Organs.” Hybrid Pedagogy (2012): n. pag. Web. 21 Oct. 2015 http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/journal/organic-writing-and-digital-media-seeds-and-organs/

Thaiss, Chris. “Multimodal Assignments: Writing for the Digital Age.” The CETL Blog. UC Davis Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, 8 May 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. http://cetlblog.ucdavis.edu/writing-for-the-digital-age/

 

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Wake Up And Smell The…Digital Writing

“Digital literacy is no longer a luxury, and we simply cannot wait to build the capacity in our students and colleagues, as well as ourselves.”

This idea of digital writing is something completely new in education. The use of laptops and iPads are becoming more and more prevalent in schools across the world although, we have only been able to uncover a few layers of what digital writing has to offer. With the pace of technology in schools becoming more rapid every year, it is imperative that educators and students learn the most effective to use digital writing to their advantage.

With that being said, there are still so many questions to be answered about digital writing. Jen Rajchel author of, Consider the Audience, wrote her thesis on web-based writing and talks about the many questions she still has about it. She writes, “When I began my work of a web-based thesis, the most beneficial experience was not jumping into the backend of WordPress (a skill a still use on a daily basis) but learning what kinds of questions I should ask when considering web writing of any sort” (Rajchel, p. 1). I think that using this skill- taking a step back and asking questions- before you start your web-based writing is so important. The crazy thing is, once you post something online, you have completely lost all control of it. We are living in the age of digital writing now but it will take time before we have a greater understanding of it.

Andrea Baer, author of, Keeping Up With… Digital Writing in the College Classroom, is able to use her article to so easily relate to college students. In her second paragraph, she says that, most simply defined, digital writing is writing that is composed and read through digital environments and tools. Things like wikis, blogs, social media, videos or even SMS messages could all be considered digital writing. Whether I knew it or not, I have been exposed to digital writing ever since I’ve had my first cell phone and Facebook page.

She concludes her second paragraph by trying to get the reader to further understand digital writing. Baer says, “Moreover, understanding the multi-modal nature of digital writing requires an understanding of not only how individual media like text and image work separately, but also how they interact with one another to create new meanings and multiple potential interpretations” (Baer, p. 1). One thing that is important to note is the idea that you can interpret digital writing in a ton of different ways. One piece of writing can hold one hundred different meanings to one hundred different people and with this writing now online; the piece is visible to all those different people.

Baer also goes on to talk about the importance of teaching digital writing correctly. Traditionally, it is important to look at writing and research as two processes that are interconnected. Now with digital writing, it is necessary to revisit the relationships between writing and information use. What Bear means by this is since all of the information being used is, for the most part, all at our fingertips, it is easy to try and load in a bunch of information to your writing. There has to be a point where you realize too much information will hurt your writing. Being able to understand the relationship between these two will extremely help your digital writing. Baer ends her piece by first touching on the difficulties that are brought upon by trying to teach digital writing. Since it is so new right now, it can be tough to be able to effectively teach it however, is also presents new opportunities for students. Their knowledge can be vastly expanded on thanks to digital writing. Once instructors are able to attain enough information on digital writing to create new models for teaching it, there will be numerous openings for students to learn and explore even more.

In a piece done by Suzanne McKee-Waddell and Katie Tonore, they use their opening paragraph to share a quote by Elyse Eidan-Aadahl. She says, “Digital writing assignments match the real world and give students experience composing in a form people will actually read.” In keeping this quote in mind, the authors believe that it is imperative to have K-12 teachers incorporate digital writing into their classrooms. We are starting to deviate from the traditional paper and pencil type of writing and are moving into the use of more and more technology. Teachers are starting to understand and develop ways to integrate traditional writing with a range of digital tools for literacy instruction. One example of these new digital tools is Google Docs. On a Google Doc a student can write a traditional-style essay but instead of handing it in to the teacher in the form of a hard copy, it can be looked at digitally by the teacher. Then the teacher can do all the grading necessary on the document. This allows students and teachers to work on essays and projects collaboratively.

The use of these new digital tools is excellent if used correctly by teachers. The authors go on to say that it is important that teachers find a way to have the most effective digital tools meshed in with the various traditional teaching styles that are done so well. In other words, teachers should not just force in digital writing in their teaching styles just because everyone else is. They should find a way to smoothly incorporate it in their teachings. With the proper use of digital writing, students will be able to greatly expand their thinking on certain subjects and in turn, prepare them for the future better.

James Zappen author of, Digital Rhetoric: Toward an Integrated Theory, explores the issues, characteristics and constraints of the new digital media. He says that this new era of digital rhetoric is, of course, exciting because of the vast opportunities that lie ahead, but also could be troublesome because of the challenges that will come with it.

“…it reveals the difficulties and the challenges of adapting a rhetorical tradition more than 2,000 years old to the conditions and constraints of the new digital media” (Zappen, p.1).

The point Zappen makes here is quite interesting because he brings up that we will be, and currently are, changing something that has stood for over 2,000 years. Zappen goes on to talk about four main characteristics of digital rhetoric- speed, reach, anonymity and interactivity- and shows their positives and negatives. It is so quick and easy to write a post and send it out to the world. This could help get your point out to your audience but could also make you post something you never wished to post. This also leads into the idea of reach. By posting that blog or comment, the amount of people who could potentially see that post is more than you would ever imagine. Of course, this could be extremely beneficial or can easily be the opposite. Anonymity could somewhat help you in this case because not everything you post has your name attached to it. If you feel the need to get something off your chest and post it to the Internet, you could do so without anyone ever knowing it was you. With interactivity, you can now more easily put your blog post in conversation with others, which could increase opportunity for discussion and feedback.

On the flipside however, it also increases the opportunity for intrusion on your personal posts. Zappen brings up these four characteristics to clearly show the pros and cons to digital writing. It can be as easily beneficial and important, as it could be disastrous. It is crucial to first get familiar with digital writing before taking it on head on.

Troy Hicks and Kristen Hawkley Turner, authors of No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait, write in depth about two made up schools, Access Academy and Exodus Elementary. The first is completely tech-savvy and the second does not have nearly the same amount of technology. The authors go on to talk about how much more potential Access has over Exodus and how Exodus’ teachers use a lack of technology as an excuse. This article brings up the point of opportunity. The students at Access have much more opportunity to strive in the classroom because of all the extra resources they have. This problem can easily be seen in schools around our country today. Growing up through the public schools in my town, we were fortunate enough to have technology all around us. I can definitely say that this enhanced my knowledge on certain subjects and helped me be where I am today. At the same time, it is important to realize that all of that was a privilege and it is certainly not to be taken for granted.

After reading these five articles I have definitely enhanced my knowledge on this subject. Before taking this class or reading anything on digital writing I only thought of digital writing to be simply news articles and Facebook posts. I didn’t understand the vast amount of works that fall under digital writing. Since I have taken this class, I have experienced the hardships and benefits of digital writing first hand. I think the hardships that arise are only because of how new digital writing is and I think that it should, in no way, detract students from experimenting with it. I have learned that the trial and error approach has worked pretty well for me. I am able to test different things out, acknowledge what I did wrong and learn from it. So, the next time I write a piece or post a blog, I know from experience what to do or not to do.

I think digital writing fits so well into being a college student. Everywhere you look around a college campus, you will see students with their laptops, iPads, iPhones, etc. in their hands. Since we are so wrapped up into our devices, something like digital writing should come somewhat natural to us. I think that with proper guidance and teaching, college students can effectively contribute to this new age. I am already contributing to it by working on my semester project. Having my own blog is easy and fun for me because I am able to share what I love to do with the countless number of people in the online world. Writing these blog posts also gives me the experience I think I will need for the real world. Being able to effectively talk and post things on the web is such a crucial part of the real world. In dealing with that kind of stuff now, as a sophomore in college, I feel like I will be more prepared than most other people who have not yet dealt with digital writing. I am by no means an expert in digital writing- in fact I don’t think anyone is an expert quite yet- but I do believe that experiencing digital writing first hand will be extremely beneficial for me during my remaining years here at Dickinson College and then into the real world.

 

Works Cited

 

Baer, Andrea. “Keeping Up With… Digital Writing in the College Classroom.” Keeping Up With… Digital Writing in the College Classroom. N.p., 15 Apr. 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Hicks, T., & Turner, K. (2013). No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait. English Journal, 102.6, 58-65.

McKee-Waddell, Suzanne, and Katie Tonore. “Embracing Digital Writing in Today’s K-12 Classrooms.” National Teacher Education Journal 7.4 (2014): 49-52. Print.

Rajchel, Jen. “Consider the Audience.” Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning. Eds. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell. Trinity College ePress edition, 2014. EBook. 30 October 2014.

Zappen, James P. “Digital Rhetoric: Toward an Integrated Theory.” Technical Communication Quarterly 14.3 (2005): 319-25. Print.

 

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WRITING IN A SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Technology is Everywhere
It’s a part of our everyday lives, never leaves your side, and can be one of the most useful things today. It’s technology. Every day is started off with using some form of technology, whether that be an alarm clock, phone, computer, car, or even your coffee maker. Anywhere you go you will see people using it; the use of cell phones is extremely common today. Technology has been made so portable that you can literally take it with you wherever you go. To escape technology fully would be extremely difficult. Why? Human nature, my friends. We crave knowing what’s going on in the world; it’s something we do even without even acknowledging it. The most common way of finding this is through Digital Media.
Digital media has been changing our world rapidly from the conception of the Internet. With the invention of MySpace, it helped catapult the success of many new forms of media referred to today as social media. The rapid growth of internet availability has changed the way people interact with each other, the way businesses communicate with consumers, and the way people find out what is happening in the world. Our newspapers and news channels are all now on social media forms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and snapchat. Today’s internet and social media offer professional and novice writers, such as journalists, to reach out to their followers with blog posts and web sites.
The trend for technology in classes has rapidly increased and is expected by students, teachers, and parents. As said in the ‘Journal of Technology Research’,
“…students have become increasingly tech-savvy, classrooms across the nation have become “wired” and textbook publishers now offer a wide variety of computerized teaching supplements.”
Technology may help to get you involved in learning, however there’s many who will say it doesn’t replace the need to have a structured “learning process grounded in theory.” There are many different viewpoints of teachers using it in the classroom. Some may choose to use a simple Power Point while others will never use technology. Those who choose to use it believe that technology will benefit the learning of the students by letting them listen more often rather than trying to translate every spoken word. Some also believe that “writing on whiteboards or blackboards hinders their ability to interact with students.
During my exploration of what digital writing is I found several articles that have influenced my opinion of digital writing.
Social Media
The use of social media is huge! There are so many media companies out there I can’t name them all, but, here is a small list.
• Twitterlol
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Vine
• Pinterest

 

The list goes on and on, almost never ending. Given all these sites and how convenient they are there will always be benefits and downfalls. Let’s start with the potential benefits.
One benefit is the immediate access to any information about any subject matter. Reading the news, it’s easy to question if you are getting the whole truth or just a small part. It’s also easy to assume that half the news tabloids are fake. For example, some topics which are easy to question include what celebrities are doing, who’s dating who, etc. One of the most immediate accessible media is twitter. Twitter is one way to easily confirm what’s going on in the world, to see you may not be the only one who agrees or disagrees about some big topic. As said in the article ‘How Social Media Has Changed Us: The Good and the Bad’ Landry says,
“Social Media is also very helpful for expanding our sources of content. With so much being blogged, written, curated, and shared proactively, the volume of content has grown exponentially.”
A second benefit is being able to connect with other people in more than one way. Instead of the old days when you would’ve written a letter, or called someone and couldn’t leave a voicemail, you would have to try and get to them by calling again or physically going out and finding them. Today it’s so much easier! When you can’t get to someone by calling them you have so many more options (or backup plans). Some of these options include:
• Leave a voicemail
• Send a text
• Tweet them
• Facebook message
• Send a snap
These are just some of ways you can get to them. So many social media pages now have a form of messenger that you can use to talk one-on-one in.
A third benefit of social media is the ability to get opinions from those you would never expect. Finding global news used to be so hard, now all you have to do is login to a bowser of your choice and type in what you are looking for and hit search. It’s so easy to talk with people around the globe. “We can rant, rave, tell jokes, share images, mix and mingle till our heart’s content. It is far easier to do something remarkable and noticeable, and have it reach people across the planet.” This can happen within minutes or even seconds!
Lastly, one of the biggest things going around on social media today is the hashtag. This originated on Twitter as a way to tie a trend, event, or topic and filter out everything that doesn’t relate to your topic of interest. The hashtag was a way to focus on specific conversations and to possibly find answers to problems on your own. Twitter was made to be simple, a 140 character post of your preference. Since the ‘birth’ of hashtags people have used them in so many ways, whether that be for snark, traditional, or experimenting, they will forever be known as “keywords for social media,” and “part of the culture of online discussions.”
Now after a list of some benefits, it’s time to talk about the possible downfalls which digital media and writing can bring. There are many troubling things about digital writing. With the digital environment we live in, private things online are not private. Chris Shores wrote for ‘The Recorder’ how nothing you put on social media is really private. He quoted State Police Sgt. Michael Hill,
“If you’re on the Internet and you have at least one friend (on Facebook or other social media outlets )…your privacy rights are pretty much out the window,”
He continued and said that any information sent from computers or phones can easily be saved, tracked and used for cyberbullying or to harass someone. Deleting something on the internet is very hard to accomplish because once you search something in a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, etc. it automatically saves everything. Whatever one writes on the internet will remain for others to read and with the responses of today’s world it can go “viral” in seconds, as Justine Sacco’s tweet did about aids in Africa. Her tweet stated,
“Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”
Three weeks after she posted, she was still a person of interest to the media. A New York Post photographer even followed her to the gym. About four months after the incident Sacco had said,
“Well, I’m not fine yet, I had a great career, and I loved my job, and it was taken away from me, and there was a lot of glory in that. Everybody else was very happy about that.”
It is hard to remain private in today’s world. Once someone else has responded or shared the information, it is out there for all to see.
Digital media can also bring copyright issues and plagiarism. People may be quoting something informally that is seen by other writers, who in turn may use it formally, and down the line someone may have quoted a great speaker like President Lincoln and not realized it. Digital writing can be troublesome for some to read, use or participate in. I believe that it has led some readers to skip over important details and jump to conclusions without reading things in their entirety.
What Is Digital Writing
What used to take days, weeks or months to communicate now only takes seconds to trend on social media. How readily the internet is available and anyone’s ability to use “digital rhetoric is…exciting and troublesome.” (Zappen) In “Digital Rhetoric: Toward an Integrated Theory” Zappen starts with saying there are all these ups and downs to writing online, continuing to say that it’s a form of persuasion and self-expression. Then he stated a couple reasons why it’s so appealing: the speed, reach, interactivity, etc. He ended with saying that digital media is pretty much an amalgam of specific components rather than a complete thought.
Another troubling fact of digital writing is that there is no “schema” (Rajchel) for this media where traditional writing has set rules and styles. In some cases the most novice of writers can have a voice though they will not have schema, often write in the wrong person and use slang that the audience may or may not be familiar with. In “Considering the Audience” Rajchel starts off by saying that the web forces us to become a reader and a writer, she continues to say how our social media puts us in the position where we write about specific subjects of our interest. In conclusion, she mentioned that there is no beaten path for how to write on the web. It’s just something you learn in time.
Digital writing is not all negative, as it has some great points and offers everyone a voice. Our constitution affords people the freedom of speech. Digital media, writing, and social media are available to everyone with internet. My father has been in some third-world countries and has shared how it is weird that they live in poverty but still have television and internet, yet struggle to meet basic needs. Digital writing, whether a blog or social media, can give today’s society a voice whether they need one or not.
My Experiences
Before the class I have had no courses about digital media or the internet. Coming into this class I didn’t know exactly what to expect. However, before the class I had learned what is appropriate and also inappropriate to post online. My methods of online interaction included Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. My circle of influence included my parents, friends and other relatives. My parents had informed me before creating accounts what would be appropriate or inappropriate to post. I noticed some of the photos and information my friends would post could negatively affect daily life.
From this class, the information I already knew about having an online presence has been reaffirmed. In addition, I have acquired how to make your online presence a positive one by writing for a selective and targeted audience through the creation of a blog. Knowing what you are writing about is a huge influence as to who your audience will be. For instance, my blog is about the life of an ice skater. Therefore, the majority of potential readers are either other skaters, or those interested in the ice skating lifestyle. Blogs with a more general day-to-day topic, such as cooking, are likely to have a much broader audience. No matter the topic of the blog, the author needs to be aware of the terminology used in their writing. When writing about an unfamiliar topic to those who are just learning, you will need to expand beyond just the basic information, as the reader may not grasp what you are intending to say.
While I am still undecided in the major I will pursue in college, I have obtained an understanding of how to properly research information through the online world. I have learned how to evaluate whether a website is credible through looking at whether the author is a trustworthy source, date the article/information was published, in addition to who the intended reader may be. This may help me and other students in and beyond college as it provides proper skills which can be utilized in future endeavors, including both a personal and professional online presence.
I believe that at some point during your time at college it would be a worthy investment to take a digital writing class. In taking this course, it has helped to better prepare me for any situation where I would need to write online or write a research paper, whether that be for college, a future job, or for personal enjoyment.

Works Cited
Landry, Tom. “How Social Media Has Changed Us: The Good and The Bad.” Business 2 Community. N.p., 5 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.business2community.com/social-media/social-media-changed-us-good-bad-01000104>.
Lavin, Angeline M., Leon Korte, and Thomas L. Davies. “The Impact of Classroom Technology on Student Behavior.” The Impact of Classroom Technology on Student Behavior (n.d.): 1-2. 30 Sept. 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10472.pdf>.
Rajchel, Jen “Consider the Audience,” in Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning, ed. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell (University of Michigan Press/Trinity College ePress edition, 2014), http://epress.trincoll.edu/webwriting/chapter/rajchel.
Ronson, Jon. “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life.” The New York Times Magazine. N.p., 12 Feb. 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=0>.
Shores, Chris. “Nothing You Put on Social Media Is Private.” The Recorder. N.p., 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://www.recorder.com/news/townbytown/greenfield/11532943-95/nothing-you-put-on-social-media-is-private>.
Social Media. Digital image. Industrial Social Media. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://industrialsocialmedia.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/social-media.png>.
Zappen, James P. “Digital Rhetoric: Toward an Integrated Theory.” Religion Past and Present (2005): 319-25. Technical Communication Quarterly. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. <http://homepages.rpi.edu/~zappenj/Vita/DigitalRhetoric2005.pdf>.

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No Time To Wait: Digital Literacy Needs to be Taught Now

While brainstorming ideas for how to start this online essay I glared into space, praying for some inspiration. Out the window to my right I noticed one of my Spanish classmates walking quickly, eyes glued to his IPhone. To my left, a table filled with unrecognizable faces hiding behind their matching Mac computers. In front of me, my own MacBook Air with a blank word document staring back at me. Behind me was a girl ferociously typing on her Dell laptop as if she were trying to punish her keyboard. At that moment, I decided to do an experiment. I explored the top two floors of the Waidner-Spahr library and recorded the number of students either on their phone or on their computer.

Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 1.48.02 PM

During the time I conducted this experiment, there were 71 students sitting at a desk in the library doing work. 63 of these students (88.7%) were either using a computer or on their phone, while 8 (11.3%) had no technology in front of them. These numbers were astonishing to me, but research has shown that these numbers are not new. Technology is now being used by nearly everyone. In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 78% of teens now have a cell phone, and almost half (47%) of those own smartphones. Nine in ten (93%) teens have a computer or have access to one at home.

Just because technology is being used by all of these teenagers, does not mean that they are digitally literate. ALA defines  digital literacy as the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills. With all the statistics showing the current use of technology by todays generations, shouldn’t it be obvious to incorporate teaching digital literacy into the classroom?

In “No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait” by Troy Hicks and Kristen Turner, the authors simply state that we are all citizens in a digital age. We are all on the roller coaster ride that is digital literacy, and we do not have the time or the luxury to question if we would like to partake. English teachers must actively commit to this digital rhetorical prospective on writing, or they will miss the opportunity to help their students engage effectively in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution taking place right now.

Hicks and Turner state, “We need todays students to critically consume information, to create and share across time and space, to cocreate and collaborate to solve problems, to preserve in light of setbacks, and to maintain flexibility (Hicks and Turner 58).” The authors state that becoming digitally literate will provide endless
kids-on-a-computer_0opportunities for the inquiries that will develop the skills stated above. Digital literacy, however, is more than just adding additional technology into the teaching we already do.

“We must have students use technology in ways that are truly digital. We should not simply have students find an image to insert into a slide deck; they should cite the source, remix the original image, and create their own image (Hicks and Turner 59).”

Digital literacy is all about learning functional skills to critically think and evaluate safely how to communicate, write, cite, and be original and creative online.  A digitally literate individual needs to be able to not only find sources online, but properly cite the source and make the information their own. Having students cite a source, remix the original image, and create their own image is a recipe towards creating a more digitally literate student.


Why is digital literacy so important and how can we teach it?

In “Digital literacy as important as reading and writing” by Josie Gurney, Gurney quotes Mark Surman as saying, “Becoming literate in how the technical world works is equivalent to reading, writing, and the math’s. We need to look at this fourth literacy as
mainstream (Gurney 1).” Sermon  states that an individual that does not understand how the digital world functions, will be living in a
world where they do not have the creative, innovative, and digital skills that are going to be needed in the future economy.

I personally hope to use the skills I am learning to help me with my future carer path. I have an interest in pursuing marketing and social media due to my desire to continue writing online and my ambition to be successful in business. Learning digital literacy is imperative to being prosperous because experts such as Martin Zwilling agree that understanding how to properly use technology has a colossal effect on those fields.

According to Zwilling, the businesses and the economy stated above are changing to become more digitally driven. Zwilling states in his article that we live in a “buyer-led digital age (Zwilling 1).”

This means that consumers are now using technology to change the way products are bought. A marketer that is digitally literate will understand how to use technology to create strategic digital marketing plans geared towards these consumers.

So if technology is so imperative in modern society, how should the education system teach this “fourth literacy”? Hicks and Turner put the burden on English teachers. “English teachers must embrace a new role: We must advocate for digital literacy, not just technology, in a way that reconceptualizes our discipline. We must dump the dittos, throw out the workbooks, and remix our teaching for a digital age (Hicks and Turner 61).”

Hicks and Turner describe five practices that destroy digital literacy:

  1. Counting Powerpoint Slides
  2.  Using a blog without blogging
  3. Criticizing Digitalk
  4. Only asking students questions that can be answered through
    digitalliteracyusing a search engine.
  5. Using “cool” technology to deliver a planned lesson.

Rather than having students create a basic slideshow presentation with minimum requirements that need to be met, they should be able to create a presentation that requires more creativity. Secondly, blog is a verb not a noun. Many teachers use blogs to capitalize on the conversation aspects blogging offers, rather than using a blog to allow students to be creative and develop their own digital literacy.

Criticizing digitalk or “texting language” (BTW, Gr8, BRB, LOL, etc.) is also problematic. Texting language is tailored to the immediacy and compactness of new communication media outlets such as Facebook. Criticizing this “language” does not improve digital any-languages-besides-textingliteracy.  “Research has shown that digitalk actually improves students’ linguistic competence and that adolescents develop an understanding of audience, purpose and voice in their digital writing communities (Hicks and Turner 61).”

Additionally, teachers that are only asking students questions that can be answered through a simple search “are not asking them to think critically or to use digital tools in substantive ways (Hicks and Turner 61).” Teachers need to help students by creating complex literacy tasks, which will inevitably create ideas that will build and refine over time, creating a more digitally literate student.

An example of this includes allowing students to create their own blog. This task stimulates creativity and grants students an opportunity to write, cite, and be engaged online.

The last practice that destroys digital literacy is using “cool” technology to deliver a planned lesson. Just because a tool might be flashy and seem like a substantial way to incorporate technology in the classroom, the most important aspect needs to be developing digital literacy.

So what even is digital literacy? The classic definition of literacy is the ability to read and write, but in Digital Literacy by Richard Lanham, he states that“the word literacy has gradually extended its grasp in the digital age until it has come to mean the ability to understand information, however it is presented (Lanham 1).” An individual that is literate in the digital world is a person whom is “well seen and well heard as well as well read, skilled deciphering complex images and sounds as well as the syntactical complexity of words (Lanham 1).”


Digital Writing

One aspect of a digital literacy is digital writing. Digital writing includes anything from a blog to a Facebook post, Tweet, Instagram, or even a Snapshat with a funky caption. Digital writing is any kind of writing that can be seen digitally. In “Consider the Audience” by Jen Rajchel, Rajchel states that writing on the web is more than simply writing for the web. “Web writing is also inherently about seeding the development of more opportunities to circulate work while still foregrounding the difficult navigation of the public/private that accompany them (Rajchel 3).”

Rajchel urges the importance of making a blog multimodal by incorporating images, videos, and links. While working on new media projects, Rajchel also follows a strict set of guidelines.

  1. What are the terms of service and do I feel comfortable with the amount of information I am sharing?
  2. Is this the audience I hope to be apart of?
  3. Is this medium adding a critical lens to the design of my argument?

Creating a blog is exactly the tool Hicks and Turner would recommend to stimulate digital literacy. A digitally literate individual needs to be able to not only find sources online, but properly site the source and make the information their own. A blog allows students to do precisely that.

Hicks and Turner also stated that students should “cite a source, remix the original image, and create their own image.” Since blogs are multimodal it additionaly will allow students to be creative with images. In my own blog ,written about my grandparents, I follow the steps that both Rajchel, Hicks, and Turner state about becoming more digitally literate.

I had to search the web for blogs similar to mine to find the audience I hoped to be a part of. I have to properly cite all images and resources I use, and most importantly I have to be creative. I have personally experienced blogging as being an exceptional tool towards increasing digital literacy.


My Experiences

A month prior to my first blog post, I had to first walk into my Writing in & For Digital Environments class. I was unsure about what I would learn and what the class would really entail. I registered for the class because I knew I liked to write and I knew I liked to write with little restrictions. The class description included that students would explore digital environments such as Facebook as well as learn the technical skills needed to create and maintain our own website/blog. I was ready.

I had little experience with online writing. I wouldn’t call middle school Facebook posts, retweets, Snapchats, and the occasional Instagram a resume for a digitally literate expert. I wanted to learn how our technologically advanced society has impacted writing, teaching, and learning. I wanted to learn how to be able to write online properly and add a new voice to the millions of voices posting every day.

In the first few months of class I have already had many in depth analytical discussions about how technology is changing the world with my classmates. I have learned how to properly create, manage, customize, and operate my own website. I have studied how to write a blog for a specific audience, make the blog multimodal, create a writing structure that is visually appealing, and so much more.

Digital writing classes teach students like me the importance of being able to think analytically and look at the world through a ferris-buellerdifferent lens. I have learned to look up from my phone and watch what is going on, then write about it. As Ferris Buhler said, “Life
moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Digital writing classes help students see the importance of that exact quote. I have learned to look around at my surroundings and take everything in. I explore the web and understand how it is contributing to my blog and how I can cite it. I look around the library and see my peers hiding behind  their Mac computers.

When I now look at these heads in the library suppressed behind their computers, I wonder if they are digitally literate. So many of my peers know how to email, surf the web, download music, and take snapchats of cafeteria food, but are not digitally literate. Learning how to become digitally literate takes time. Taking a class on how to become digitally literate may take time, but it is well worth it.

In addition to learning how to write and correctly navigate online, this class will support me in accomplishing so much more. I am a Policy Major with an interest in marketing and business. Writing in & For Digital Environments allows me to explore how social media and online writing is changing the way businesses are managed. Marketing has expanded to nearly every website online. Marketing directors need to understand how to find target audiences online and create an advertisement that will appeal to that audience. Learning digital literacy is imperative.



Citations

Lanham, R. (1995). Digital Literacy. Scientific American.

Jen Rajchel, “Consider the Audience,” in Web Writing: Why and How for Liberal Arts Teaching and Learning, ed. Jack Dougherty and Tennyson O’Donnell (University of Michigan Press/Trinity College ePress edition, 2014), http://epress.trincoll.edu/webwriting/chapter/rajchel.

Hicks, T., & Turner, K. (2013). No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can’t Wait. English Journal, 102.6, 58-65.

Zwilling, M. (2015, October 20). 6 Critical Marketing Metrics To Target Todays Buyers. Retrieved October 22, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2015/10/20/6-critical-marketing-metrics-to-nail-todays-buyers/

Gurney-Read, J. (2013, November 11). Digital literacy ‘as important as reading and writing’ Retrieved October 22, 2015, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10436444/Digital-literacy-as-important-as-reading-and-writing.html

Mobile Technology Fact Sheet. (2013, December 27). Retrieved October 22, 2015.http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/

Images

http://4liberty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/kids-on-a-computer_0.jpg

http://workbench.cadenhead.org/media/ferris-bueller.jpg

https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/blogs/45810/2010/11/51121-40993.jpg

https://carlytavares.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/any-languages-besides-texting.gif

http://www.mathiaspoulsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/digitalliteracy.gif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Prima Cena della Casa Italiana

Ciao a Tutti!!!

All together! #SelfieTime
All together! #SelfieTime

Friday Evening – for me 5 PM is afternoon but that doesn’t concern us today – the Italian House had its first “Cena Italiana” (Italian Dinner) – it was A-MA-ZING! A little context: The Italian House is actually the Romance Language House where 20 students plus 5 TAs (the Spanish, the Argentinian, the French, the Portuguese from Brazil, and of course the Italian) live; the students who live here with us study one (or more) of our languages and we all try our best to speak in our languages, have fun together and plan culture events with them – it is so funny when in the morning we meet in the bathroom and I see the efforts the make to speak Italian with me, they rather prefer not to come to bathroom at all! So, the Italian part of the house consists of 5 students (Natalie, Sara, Taylor, Stefano, and John) and I; and as I was saying Friday “Evening” we had dinner together, also with Prof. Trazzi and Prof. Masini.

Directions from Prof. Trazzi, Natalie taking mental notes and Prof. Masini singing Laura Pausini
Directions from Prof. Trazzi, Natalie taking mental notes and Prof. Masini singing Laura Pausini

We gather in the kitchen and Prof. Trazzi started explaining what we had to do and prepare, he is the Kitchen Boss. But first, I had to put some Italian music – I’m not such an expert or enthusiastic of Italian songs but when you are abroad you easily become one – in the background, you always have music or a TV on in the kitchen – it creates the atmosphere!

Now we all had our roles and things to do, well some of us had to

The Players
The Players

experience the role of those who just wait while the others work, yeah there’s always someone who just “gioca a carte” (play cards), play with some board games, or entertain the others with magic tricks – it’s the hardest role but somebody has to do it!

After almost an hour and half the food was finally ready – we have been really quick, it takes more time usually! “Tutti a tavola” (which is the typical expression mothers or those who cook say to gather everybody at the table to start eating … it’s “let’s sit and eat” time now)!!!

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Tutti a Tavola!
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Tartufooooo!

When we were ready to eat, Taylor said that she never tasted “il tartufo” (truffle) so we had to record her first time and of course she loved it! So, after this “moving” scene, we start eating two types of Risotto, “Risotto allo Zafferano” and “Risotto ai Funghi e Tartufo” – delicious!!! Oh, I was forgetting that while we were preparing, we have to “spizzicare qua e la” (to nibble here and there), that’s why Italians created “gli Antipasti”: we had “olive speziate (Prof.Trazzi’s personal recipe) con un filo di olio extravergine d’oliva” and “grissini” which “non possono mai mancare” (they are always there, every lunch or dinner together with bread … we didn’t have bread though, but we will one day)!

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Chocolate Budino!

It wasn’t a typical huge Italian dinner with many courses but still it was enough! Oh well, there was one thing that we all were waiting for … “il Budino”! The night before, Thursday, Natalie and I prepared a dessert similar to the US pudding (or course budino is way better), dark Italian chocolate Budino! Then we put it in the fridge and the following day we ate it with so much pleasure (even if some of us were full, there is always room for the cake)!

We had so much fun! It was beautiful, as if we just went back to Italy for one night. The music, the food, the language we were speaking: the whole atmosphere was so perfecthumb_IMG_7078_1024t!

Of course, we had “caffè” (espresso). Italians need it!

The next day, we had to “fare il bis” (do it again), as if we couldn’t just go back to the American food after the dinner of the previous night, we had to do it gradually. So, Natalie, Taylor, and I just cooked some “pasta con sugo al

Taylor and I eating some Baci Perugina as a reward after washing the dishes!
Taylor and I eating some Baci Perugina as a reward after washing the dishes!

pomodoro e zucchine” (tomato sauce with zucchini), prepared a “macedonia” (fruit salad) and we had to finish the budino!!!

This is it! Nothing really big but still something so special.

A presto!

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I’m not persian, I’m not only white, and I’m more clearly not the average Chinese fella.

Photo on 11-22-14 at 9.41 PMSome days you wish people just knew, or that you believed it yourself.

Posted in Student Blog Project 2015, Student Blog Project 2015 | Tagged | Comments Off on I’m not persian, I’m not only white, and I’m more clearly not the average Chinese fella.