Instilling Good Writing Habits Through an ePortfolio Initiative

In recent years, educators are struggling with a writing epidemic, a weakness and carelessness in the writing process perpetuated by the rapid writing produced in daily communication. Essay scores are low, universities are noticing the lack of college readiness, and employers are even hiring writing coaches to remediate the new generation of employees trickling into the workforce. The frustration is a daily conversation in teacher workrooms across America. Why do our students fail to revise and edit? How can they have such little care about the work they are producing?

These questions and experiences along with my observations of my own students' weak digital writing upon the implementation of my ePortfolio initiative led me to focus on the following research question: Does writing quality decline when a student drafts electronically?

After reviewing the writings of numerous English Language Arts professionals, I have reached a conclusion. Yes, writing quality can decline when students write electronically, but there is a solution out there that is easily implemented: The Digital Writing Workshop (Hicks, 2009). This workshop has the same basic foundations that writing educators have been leaning on for years, but it is infused with technology applications. What an amazing find! I learned so much while reading, The Digital Writing Workshop (Hicks, 2009), and I can't wait to share my learning with both my colleagues and students! Please continue reading my attached literature review to glean a snapshot of how a Digital Writing Workshop can help to change the quality of the work your students are submitting.

Resources

Hicks, T. (2009). The digital writing workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann