As a teacher, I have always found that getting children to write and enjoy writing is often very difficult. They may have the ideas, but the process of getting it down on paper is often not easy. However, technology is changing that. “Today, in the 21st century, people write as never before – in print and online.” Children as young as kindergarten are sending e-mails. High school students are creating blogs as a way to share information. Social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter offer more ways for people to communicate in some sort of written form. “Students of all ages find writing on the computer and communicating through cyberspace to be highly motivating” (Writing and Communication Technologies). I believe that technology is enhancing writing. I also believe that we must develop a curriculum that supports this ever-changing way of writing.
Projects, when published, act as a way for students to make comments and share new perspectives with each other and (possibly) the world. “The same chatting software, that when mismanaged, gives us fits in our classrooms, enables us to collaborate in dynamic ways. Students now continue fiery classroom debates when they get home from school. They now walk each other through difficult readings of The Odyssey and Hamlet and return to class with stronger understandings” (Writing in the 21st Century). Students, teachers, and parents can use Blogs successfully in a classroom. They are a great way to share information and clarify questions. In my own kindergarten classroom, I use my “Oh My Stars!” blog as a way for parents to not only share with me, but with each other. This has been my first year to use a blog, and even though it has not been utilized as much as I would like (due to easy e-mail access) it has been great at times.
“Research shows that digital technology enhances writing and interaction in several ways. K – 12 students who write with computers produce compositions of greater length and higher quality and are more engaged with and motivated toward writing than their peers” (21st Century Literacies). That is what I want from my students.
