Enhanced Writing Instruction Using Technology

A Historical View  Paper and pen/pencil  Typewriter  Computer – printed  Computer – saved  Computer – shared (single-user)  Computer – shared (co-authoring)

A Personal Experience  High School – penmanship  College – a step back  Ekers vs Gushers  Typewriter  Computer lab on campus  Computer at home  Today  Computer in my pocket

Student Attitudes Toward Writing  One shot – good enough  Fostered by teacher only having time to grade it once.  Physical layout limitations of paper.  “good enough” vs “my best”  “Good is the enemy of great.” –Voltaire  Teachable moments aren’t always between the bells.

Hurdles in the Way of Best Product  Limitations of written product  space to insert clarifying details  time to rewrite  Perception of lost/wasted time

Classroom Instruction that Works - Marzano  Research Based Strategies: Chapter 4: Reinforcing Effort & Providing Recognition Chapter 5: Homework and Practice Chapter 6: Nonlinguistic Representations. Chapter 7: Cooperative Learning Chapter 8: Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback Chapter 9: Generating and Testing Hypotheses Chapter 10: Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

Feedback in the Past  Limited to drafts – same for each student  Students were in a holding pattern until feedback from teacher  Not all students in the same stage of writing at the same time

Modern Feedback to Writers  24-7 access  Possibility of multiple rounds of feedback and refinement  Flexible timeline

A Healthy Balance  In the learning process, optimal flexibility  In the real world, often a need to get it right the first time.  Experience in revising and clarifying helps students recognize their common weaknesses and move these corrections to earlier stages in their writing process.  Students will learn to make these corrections themselves, resulting in better expressions of what they are thinking.

The Tools  Anything that allows 24/7 shared access and disaster protection  Office365  Google Docs  Dropbox  ….

Example - OneNote Class Creator  onenote: my.sharepoint.com/personal/andersonp_laramie1_org/EduOneNoteAppD onenote: my.sharepoint.com/personal/andersonp_laramie1_org/EduOneNoteAppD

Example – Word Online Co-authoring

Example – Word Online Comments

Example – Word Track Changes

Achieving the Desired Outcome  Student Learning  Teacher Facilitated Student Growth

Paul Anderson