Great Article

I found a great article from:www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2003/02/blogs.phpIt's called "Writing with Weblogs".

I once had a student that was communicating with Robert Munsch (successful and popular children's author) online, sharing her ideas about some stories she had written. Had it not been for the opportunity for her share her writing online, she would have never have had the chance.

With respect to encouraging student writing, the article states that "students will write when they have something to say, when they have an audience, and when they get feedback."I completely agree with Goulb's philosophy. It's sometimes challenging as a teacher to get your students to write a personal journal entry in their "notebooks", let alone a creative writing assignment or essay on a topic of their choice. I find that often students write what they think their teachers want to read, not necessarily what the student themselves believes or thinks. If the students have an audience of their peers or an "unkown, cyber" audience, that may contribute to more authentic and quality writing. When students hand in a writing assignment, they have to wait to get it back. Children nowadays are used to, and expect, instant gratification and results. I think the the immediate feedback they would receive is a great incentive to encourage publishing their written work online.

The article also provides some insight on the challenges of assessment. This is a great read and the site (www.techlearning.com) provides additional digital writing resources.