Creating a Collection of Essays
Since I started teaching Introduction to Digital Literacies, I’ve tried to create writing/composing situations where my students are writing for a wider, more public audience. This helps them to not only become more invested in the project that they are working on, but also to help situate themselves within the public spheres that their writing will circulate.
The cover for the most recent collection
Creating a collections of essays, which are turned into an e-book, is usually the first or second project of the semester. If you look at the assignment sheet above, I have my students start with an essay about what it is like to be a student in the digital age/digital generation. I like using this assignment as a way to ease into digital literacy because they are able to write about their own experiences and look at the readings from a perspective that they understand. They’ve already been bombarded with articles and news segments about how Millennials and Generation Z are the worst because they grew up pampered by technology, so I try to lean into that by having them read articles that counter each other on the advantages and disadvantages of technology on the latest generations or its use in the classroom. We have class discussions about accessibility – including topics about access to internet, hardware, software, and issues with concepts like e-learning days. We have discussion about the expectations put on students that grew up with technology – i.e. being immersed in technology and being a technology expert.
I also use this unit to talk about different types of digital writing, with a focus on blogs and e-books. This gives students a juxtaposition between writing that is designed for digital formats (blogs) and writing that is, for the most part, molded into a digital format (e-books). I love this part of the unit because I get to bring in writing by popular bloggers, like The Bloggess, as well as popular figures in digital spheres, like Felicia Day. During
The cover for the first collection
this section of the unit we are able to discuss the different styles that are used for each format, as well as narrative conventions that are often a large part of digital writing. One of the things I like to do is order the narrative writings from the most casual to the most formal. I often start with a blog post from Jenny Lawson’s blog, The Bloggess, that is the epitome of random blogging to keep followers interested, then move to a chapter from Jen Lancaster’s memoir, Jeneration X, that is not only about millennials, but also showcases a writer who moved from digital writing to more formal writing, and finally end with an essay from Felicia Day’s memoir, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), which showcases writing about the internet – I generally pick the chapter about her involvement with GamerGate – that was always intended for the more structured format of a book. These readings help gives students a good look at ways to express their identity through narrative writing – and the importance of that expression in digital writing – while still being able to create an engaging, relevant discussion on issues faced by students of the digital age.
Each semester I’m surprised and delighted by the topics that my students choose to write about. Often it’s the students that write about being anti-technology or not being technologically savvy that write the most interesting essays. In fact, last semester the most engaging essay was about the merits of still using a flip-phone. This assignment not only eases students into digital literacy, but it gives them a chance to get out any frustrations they have as digital natives, whether it’s through their essays or just during class discussion. Then as we move onto more complex areas of digital literacy they can delve into more complex issues.
Sara Strasser 