Entry 2

      My last teaching experience was in an eighth grade English class in which some students were also labeled with special needs, such as LD or ADHD.  My cooperating teacher was keen that digital media and writing were becoming more linked and had created a class blog.  The blog was an option for students to respond for their independent reading tasks, so it was not mandatory.  In addition, use of the blog was not expanded to other areas of the English curriculum, likely due to limited access of computers at home.  However, in terms of digital space, my cooperating teacher laid a foundation for using technology and writing in her curriculum.
     Setting up a digital workshop would not be too difficult once students were familiar with the structure of the writing workshop (Tomkins, Ch. 2).  Incorporated within the traditional writing workshop, a teacher could easily have a mini lesson on the procedures of an online digital writing workshop. Success of a digital writing workshop relies on similar principles of a traditional writing workshop.  First and foremost, a community of writers should be stressed.  Students should understand that a blog or other media writing space is another form of published writing.  Furthermore, students should understand the importance of "blogging etiquette" (i.e.understanding a blog is a public space and that responses may not be removed once posted).  Students should be explicitly explained assignment expectations and be well-informed of the purpose of each assignment, which will help ensure an extension of the classroom, rather than simply using technology for technology's sake.  Hicks adds, "Understanding when, why, and how to use different forms of media to convey a particular message requires a working knowledge of the mode...audience [expectations]...how to effectively manipulate the media" (2009, p. 127).  The goal of a digital writing workshop is to obtain the knowledge Hicks describes here: audience and mode.  These to key elements add or detract from particular writing pieces when published in digital media places.
      Other necessities would be access to computers, hopefully on a daily or every other day basis.  Therefore students will continually work on their writing in a recursive way.  In addition, I would need to decide which digital writing spaces would best suite the needs of my learning goals and students.  For instance, most students would likely be familiar with a blog, however, perhaps not for academic purposes.  A Wiki or audio anthology may be more difficult for some students to understand how they work.  To resolve technological discrepancies, I would have students complete a survey with specific questions regarding their personal experience with the media options I was considering for class assignments.  Then, I would have a class discussion about technology preferences and set up general guidelines for digital etiquette, including student input.  Initially, I would experiment with a blog or wiki by incorporating digital responses as an option for students.  This would allow me to gage the level of comfort and professionalism my students had.  Once, it was evident students were comfortable enough with using this kind of technology for school purposes, I would enlarge the use of digital media for a literature study.
      My ultimate goal for using digital media spaces for academic purposes is to have students deeply interact with content material using the digital media in hopes that the technology would allow for a more sustained, deep pondering of the content.  I think a key point to remember about writing with technology is that the writing becomes more malleable so it can be revised easier over a period of time.  I would convey this purpose to students so that they would realize exactly why we are using this technology.  Particularly, for the literature study, I may have students write a blog through the eyes of a specific character as they read a text.  In that way, students would still write in journal form, which would be in alignment with their background knowledge of blogs.  I may add a class Wiki for specific questions at certain points in a text, which would enhance in-class discussions.  I would love to have questions to ponder before class and after class discussions on a Wiki so that students would be emersed in the content of the text while studying it.  Once I had a general practice of using digital media spaces in the ways described I would then consider using this technology to assess students knowledge at the end of a unit.  At that time, I may give options such as an audio anthology; however, the options for the assessment would be very specific and in direct correlation with the content of the unit.