Literacy and Technology

After reflecting and reading about the effects of using technology to enhance writing, I found that technology is very beneficial for the writing process.  Technology not only gives students the ability to write and post their responses, thoughts, and reflections, but also to comment and communicate about other student’s work through blogs, articles, or posts.  This opportunity gives students the chance to participate in a deeper level of comprehension and reflection that is personalized and engaging.  As Lisa Zawilinski states in her article, HOT Blogging: A Framework for Bloggin to Promote Higher Order Thinking, “As students synthesize across websites and blog posts, they gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience”  (Zawilinski, p. 659, 2009).   

Blogging benefits the student, teacher, and parent.  As the student is blogging, he or she can write with purpose.  As Mary Kreul, a classroom teacher mentions her online classroom work she states, “I think the biggest advantage to blogs is that they provide an authentic audience for student writing and work in general” (Leu, Leu, &Corio, 2004).  As students are able to provide work for an audience other than the teacher, motivation is heightened.  When discussing the Internet Pen Pal Program, Nancy Necora Charron stated the power that comes from student communication.  In her article, I learned that there’s a state called Victoria and he has six blue-tongued lizards, she stated,  “They’re giving and receiving, not just giving and getting a grade” (Charron, p. 768, 2007).  Blogs provide a great opportunity for the teacher to allow students to practice communication, collaboration, and problem solving skills outside of the classroom.  Teachers are also able to see, comment on, and prompt students’ written response through other types of blogs, such as a literature response blog.  Parents are able to participate in their students writing when using a blog.  Writing becomes available to many outside sources, such as parents and grandparents.  As teachers create and manipulate their classroom blog, they have the opportunity to assign a page for each student.  Parents can then easily access their students’ writing to view.  Everyone is engaged and involved when writing is done through the use of a blog.       

Allowing students to publish their writing on the Internet can be an issue for many parents.  The concerns for their child’s safety are understood.  Many parents may not wish for their child’s full name, school, or picture to be connected with their writing and then posted to the Internet.  Informing parents on the values and benefits of allowing their child to publish writing on the Internet is crucial.   Blogging and other forms of publishing writing on the Internet is effective for student reflection, collaboration, and growth through the writing process.