As a writer I would like to:
- easily connect with family and colleagues to share ideas/life
- learn more about myself (I've never really been a journal person)
- learn authentic ways to use it (for myself and students). I don't just want it to be an extra "task".
- incorporate digital writing into my curriculum - in a meaningful way
- learn ways to work the writing process into digital writing
This article is about a 4th grade teacher who created digital comics with his students.
Last year I took a mini-workshop to learn how to use Comic Life, the software described in your link. It was pretty fun! I'll have to show you my trial attempts at comic strip writing. I do think it's a great way to engage students in writing...perhaps a way to be sneaky about getting kids to write :) I haven't yet tried it with my students, but they were very interested in my samples and wanted to jump right in and try it (of course those are my impulsive students--they always want to jump right in to things that are new and different!).
ReplyDeleteMolly, you mention the potentials of writing helping us to learn more about ourselves. I have found that writing be it online or off really helps to slow down my thinking. I especially like being able to add images and sound when writing online.
ReplyDeleteAs for the link on 4th graders using ComicLife, perhaps you'll want to do a ComicLife project for your digital writing project in order to try it out before using it with your students. If it interests you, go for it.
Dear Molly,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about wanting whatever we do and learn to be not just practical, but integral and integrated to our teaching, learning, and writing. I have questions about SCRATCH and VOKIs having much utility beyond the WOW factor. But then, I'm not 7, 10, or 17 any longer and I need to keep up with the changes in the world. I guess that's part of the reason I'm taking this course.
JoAnn
It resonated with me when you said that digital writing can’t be an “extra task.” I couldn’t agree more. The teacher’s plate has become an overflowing platter. Sometimes we create Big projects (capital letter pun intended) but we forget to ask ourselves if they exist for the sake of technology rather than the curriculum goals. Digital writing should be about delivering the curriculum differently, not adding cute or glitzy projects. If we carefully think through the purpose and format of students’ digital writing in support of curriculum standards, then we’ll work more efficiently while reaping the benefits of high student motivation.
ReplyDeleteWhat is exciting about digital writing in the context of immersion is that it opens the door to an authentic French-speaking audience outside the walls of the school. The kids crave that! Could thinking about who that authentic audience is help you figure out the best tool for your students’ writing? I’m not sure but it’s a piece of the puzzle.