5.27.14: Online Writing Instruction - The Digital Imperative

5.27.14: Online Writing Instruction - The Digital Imperative

               In “The Digital Imperative: Making the Case for a 21St-Century Pedagogy," Elizabeth Clark convincingly argues for a departure from the “traditional essayistic literacy” that still dominates English composition courses and calls for a “carefully employed pedagogy aimed at furthering students’ digital literacy,” and offers an evolution from the dominant pedagogical model of “process-based composition” (2).

                In addition to citing over 15 well-known scholars, Clark presents the results of her own experiences utilizing just such an “intentional” pedagogical model. At the intersection of compositional as well as digital literacy, Clark’s instructional design fuses writing practice with contemporary digital mediums. The resultant pedagogy is thus, also, inherently distance-friendly as it makes wide use of Web 2.0 technologies.

                Clark makes specific use of ePortfolios, Digital Stories, Second Life, and Blogs. ePortfolios, while modeled on the paper portfolio, are exemplar of how technology can “update an effective and widely used pedagogy” (3). Indeed, online ePortfolios allow students to “experiment with the malleability and interactivity of text as they revise and alter their writing over time” (3). Further, they also offer experience with digital identity, audience awareness, argumentation skills, and can be used for basic writing, composition, and even creative writing courses.

               Digital Stories (multimodal compositions) provide egress into digital rhetoric and help students understand the “shifting nature of writing and rhetorical situations” (5). Clark acknowledges that some students were a tad reluctant in this medium, favoring the more comfortable essayistic assignments, but quickly overcame their apprehensions and went on to compose meaningful works. She writes, “we have found that writing into the images, narrating the story, and bringing the images to life using digital media design tools, creates a powerful medium for presenting a story” (6).

               Clark also utilized Second Life, where she hosted “virtual field trips,” and used Second Life’s world to both reinforce and examine literary topics and themes. For instance, while in Second Life, she and the students discussed/wrote about the literary theme of “utopia” and if/how Second Life functioned as an example. Humorously, one student remarked that her ability to actually have wings and fly around was, indeed, utopic.

               Blogs, like (e)Portfolios, have a bit of a longer history in writing pedagogy and also still have great value in the contemporary composition classroom. As Clark so succinctly puts it, blogs are “quick and dirty argument in action” (8). Further, blogs readily lend themselves to peer interaction and give students experience in analyzing other website’s reputability/usability. They also provide practice in making authorial claims, offer experience with a variety of rhetorical moves in order to influence audiences, and they promote re-visitation, rewriting, and revisioning of their writing.

                What is surprising, perhaps, is that in a mere nine pages, Clark manages to reference a great deal of contemporary, interdisciplinary scholarship and also provide case studies from her own experience utilizing Web 2.0 technologies in her writing courses. Her argument is impressive and overall, Clark’s persuasive call to action, the “digital imperative,” is a call that all disciplines would do well to answer.

               Clark, J. Elizabeth. "The Digital Imperative: Making the Case for a 21St-Century Pedagogy." Computers & Composition 27.1 (2010): 27-35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 May 2014.