The Digital Sphere

While reading Chapter 3 of “The Digital Writing Workshop” by Troy Hicks, what caught my eye was the emphasis on the reflection and collaboration opportunities that digital writing tools can bring to the classroom. He focuses on three different platforms that are viable in the classroom: Blogs, wikis, and collaborative word processors (like googledocs). These tools encourage students to interact with one another – whether that be through commenting on blog posts, participating in online discussions, or offering one another advice through the editing and commenting features that are present in tools like googledocs. While all of these things are available to be done in person (albeit through different strategies), I feel as though in a digital sphere, the information that is transmitted during these activities is much more likely to stick in a student's mind. It is so easy to become distracted in a physical classroom setting when having a discussion – a student might be thinking about lunch, a school dance, a test in the next period – and they aren't participating to the fullest during a classroom discussion or peer review session. What the online element does is provide students with the opportunity to revisit, reflect, and ponder what they're reading and writing. They can come to the digital classroom whenever it best suits them and contribute when they feel motivated to do so.

When applying the Hicks' chapter to my own goals as an educator, I think these digital platforms will be beneficial to my teaching. Not only do these platforms give students another realm to explore and interact with, they give students the opportunity to really think and reflect on what they are going to say and how they are going to say it. The key part, in my opinion, is time. Students have a substantial amount of time when it comes to posting and responding, while in a physical classroom, many comments in a discussion or during peer review are done right on the spot with little time to formulate an adequate response. Similarly, these platforms give students practice with online etiquette which is more important now than it has ever been in the past. It's very important for students to be exposed to the digital sphere in a productive, collaborative, and accepting way early on so they develop good habits while online.

When thinking about hindrances that online writing can bring, my biggest concern is that some students might not have the resources to partake in an online sphere, although I would hope the school I am working at can accommodate for that. It is important to remember that not all students come from the same economic background and what we as teachers take for granted may not be available to them at home. Another issue I can see coming from online instruction is students simply forgetting to actively participate. I too am guilty of this with online courses – it is so easy to forget that they even exist. I suppose the reason for this is because many of us aren't actively thinking about them throughout the day; really, our only interactions with online coursework comes when we sit down at our computer and (hopefully) remember that we have work to do, while with the physical classroom, you must be physically present everyday which is very essential when it comes to remembering.

This blogger was actually mentioned in the Hicks' chapter. Her name is Vicki Davis and she runs the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. I found her post entitled “Does Everyone Need toUnderstand Technology? You be the Judge” interesting.