Questions for digital writing paper.

Week 4 :
Please answer them in your blog. According to the article:

1. What are the problems struggling writers have in writing classes?

Answer 👉

• Many struggling writers have language difficulties.
• Struggling writers is often less motivated to write and fails to organize their idea.
• The learners usually have poor handwriting and writing slowly or illegibly.
• They have problems in expressing their idea through composition and sometimes have trouble communicating and understanding.
• They have a lack of confidence in producing text and insecure feelings about showing their writing to other.
• Struggling writers are likely to develop negative attitudes toward writing and often have low motivation to write.

2. What does 'digital writing' refer to?

Answer 👉

Digital writing refer to the term of digital writing is used to define a change in the writing environment where writing is produced on the computer, mobile phone, and tablet, and then distributed via Internet networks.

3. What are the three digital writing tools? Give brief descriptions?

Answer 👉

Three majors tools are reviewed as a source for teaching writing : blogs, instant messaging and social network sites.

1. Blogs : A blog is a discussion, informational article or personal journal, published on the World Wide Web, which is often frequently updated. Blogs allow people to post or exchange information with no constraints on time and space. 
2. Instant Messaging : Instant Messaging (IM) is a form of Internet-based, real time text communication between users on the same system.
3. Social Network Sites : A social network site (SNS) is a website or an online service platform in which people share interest, create a public or semi-public profile, and interact with other users.

4. How has digital writing enhanced the teaching of writing?

Answer 👉

    First, many digital writing applications offer an anonymity feature. They provide opportunities for users to use nicknames or pseudonyms. This anonymous identity results in less anxiety and more pleasant classrooms. A digital-integrated writing class has the potential to be an avenue for nurturing writing skills. Synchronous computer-assisted class discussion reduces anxiety and enhances interlanguage communication. Moreover, digital writing, especially SNSs namely Facebook, creates a state of anxiety-free relaxation with the sense of anonymous communication

    Second, in digital writing, learners actually type out what they want to communicate to the group or readers. This emulated real-time communication is perceived as advantageous since learners can see what their partners intend to communicate through the typed text. Moreover, they can view their language messages as they produce them, they are more likely to “monitor” and self-repair or edit their messages; hence, they tend to produce more structured language.Thus, this may be beneficial for struggling learners or those who have problems with spelling and low command of vocabulary  since being able to see what they would like to communicate to a conversation partner allows learners an opportunity to ponder and recheck their ideas before transmitting their response.

     Third, digital writing promotes learners’ equity in terms of interaction. All users are able to see everyone’s messages and respond to those messages in real-time.All users have an equal opportunity to type their messages and respond to other people’s messages. This feature reduces teachers’

authority, increases student-centered learning, promotes student participation and fosters negotiation of meaning. And this feature encourages collaborative which has a positive effect on students’ writing proficiency, especially with struggling writers and students who are shy and passive learners.

     Next, instructors are able to keep track of learners’ interaction records through the history logs with no intervention to learners while actively writing. Learners, on the other hand, are willing to write more freely without the sense of submitting their writing to the teachers. 

     More importantly, digital writing offers language environments. The blog as a place to use language to engage in authentic communication instead of a place where they can learn and improve their language.

     Finally, this multimedia writing environment can capture learners’ attention and interest and suits learners’ different learning styles. 

5. What are the things that you should take into consideration to employ digital writing for teaching academic writing?

Answer 👉

I think, the things that I should take into consideration to employ digital writing for teaching academic writing. The first is writing skills, students must first have good general writing skills in a language before than can do academic writing. Next, it is shorthand, abbreviations, and emoticons. This specific discourse register has been continually debated among scholars whether or not it can harm young Generation M learners' academic discourse. It will likely deconstruct verifiable grammatical rules.

6. Which activity do you like most? Why?

Answer 👉

For me, The activity which I like most is Role Play because it is a technique that allows students to explore realistic situations by interacting with other people in a managed way in order to develop experience and trial different strategies in a supported environment. Depending on the intention of the activity, participants might be playing a role similar to their own (or their likely one in the future) or could play the opposite part of the conversation or interaction. Both options provide the possibility of significant learning, with the former allowing experience to be gained and the latter encouraging the student to develop an understanding of the situation from the ‘opposite’ point of view.