In June I wrote this post that showed some of the work that I was doing in Canva and in Google Drawings – both digital medium that I “had seen” but new to me on the creation side! At that time it really felt like a new leap of faith . . . similar to sky-diving or jet packing but is now a regular part of my repertoire when I think of “ways” to display learning.
As I considered ideas for this post and waited and waited and waited on my slow computer, I was mentally rehearsing the title. “Digital Writing Craft”and these questions surfaced.
What is “Digital Writing Craft”?
Why is “Digital Writing Craft” important?
Why now?
I’m going to begin with the end in mind . . . Why now?
Consider your goals for Digital Writing at the end of the year. “Your expectations are your students’ ceiling” (Lucy Calkins) and you need to have a plan in mind if digital writing is going to be a goal for you or your students this year. Your journey may meander a bit, but without clear end goals, the likelihood of meeting your end target will be slim! A bit of planning time now and during the course of your work will help keep your learning goals aligned with your final target.
What is “Digital Writing Craft”?
Digital Writing is ubiquitous and I believe it is probably most easily defined in the medium in which is is created. For example, what is the “craft” that needs to be considered if one is blogging? What is the “craft” that needs to be considered if one is tweeting? What is the “craft” that needs to be considered if one is voxing? The medium helps define the “craft features” or “moves” that can be added.
So the answer is . . . (drum roll)
“IT DEPENDS!”
The craft will be directly related to the presentation style/medium that is use. Moving away from social medium examples to more traditional “print-based” writing, what “digital craft” is needed to create an infographic? A travelogue in pictures? A google document with pictures, hyperlinks and embedded video?
I believe that digital writing craft will need to be defined by the authors as they immerse themselves in a study of models of that medium and then determine the moves that they want to emulate. Decisions will be many . . . How many pictures? How much white space? What is “reader” friendly? What kinds and sizes of fonts / headings / text boxes? are just the first ones that come to my mind. I’m sure that you and your students can add many, many more!
Why is “Digital Writing Craft” important?
I believe “Digital Writing Craft” is where we really do have the opportunity AND the obligation to provide real audiences for our student writing. I also believe that this is the writing of the future. More and more print is prevalent every second of every day in the world. Digital work is an evolving world that our students must be able to navigate and participate responsibly in for the rest of their lives! It’s a “REAL LIFE SKILL”!
What “Digital Writing Craft” is in your repertoire?
How are you increasing your skills, knowledge and understanding of “Digital Writing Craft”?
What’s your next step?
Check out “DigiLit Sunday” posts here!
And yes, Margaret said “Crafting Digital Writing” but I could NOT figure out how to craft that “digital writing” that was yet undefined so my post may help someone “beginning” to craft digital writing!
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It depends. So much depends upon… I like that you have me thinking of the end, the goal, to decide what digital writing craft really is and why it is important. More and more our students will have to navigate a digital world, with or without our help. It is our obligation to learn how to help, how to guide them. Great questions. Thanks for participating.
You are so welcome, Margaret. Your post was just so creative that I was wondering how and what I would explain to kids. You have such a gift for both poetry and narrative!!!! I’m working on it but informational writing is so comfortable for me!!! More practice needed!
I laughed when I saw “it depends” ! So true. Kids use digital media (Snapchat and Twitter) and their mentors are their peers. They have a message they want to convey to a very important audience. We need to tap into that energy. It makes me think of this post https://crawlingoutoftheclassroom.wordpress.com/2016/07/24/pushing-beyond-the-single-story-part-1/ by Jess. How she plans to study Instagram messages as a precursor to their study of how we understand story.
I will have to read that. I’ve not gone to snap chat deliberately. But not above tapping into power of media and Olympics even. Composition matters in art, photography, music AND wriring!!! Thanks!