Writing in a Multiliterate Flat World, Part I
Multiliterate Approaches to Writing and Collaboration Through Social Networking
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v2i1.117Keywords:
computer-mediated communication, writing, 21st century learning, social networking, collaboration, connectivism, blogs, blogging, wikis, computer-assisted language learningAbstract
Writing courses increasingly incorporate Internet and online learning activities as part of the syllabus and teaching materials. How does this change our teaching practices, and which free and collaborative online tools can be most appropriately applied in online and blended writing courses? This is the first part of a two-part article focused on freely available Web 2.0 tools and how they can promote collaboration in the context of social networking. Part I places writing in the context of new views of literacy due in part to revolutionary changes since the turn of the century in how content finds its way to the Internet. Web 2.0 and cloud computing have made it possible for writers to publish not only prose but a range of other media online without having to pass through traditional gate-keepers, and tools and mechanisms have evolved for networking communities of like-minded writers online. Among the many impacts of this development is the possibility now for student writers to write purposefully for worldwide audiences. Part I examines the production side of this dynamic, while Part II (to appear in the first issue of this journal in 2011) explains how the Internet resolves the marketing side of the role once played by traditional publishing and how writers and audiences can navigate the seemingly chaotic preponderance of content available online to find one another’s material and carry on conversations about it, thus providing truly authentic motivation for their writing.
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Wesch, M. (2007) The machine is us/ing us (final version). YouTube. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g.
Christensen, C., Johnson, C., and Horn, M. (2008) Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. New York: McGraw Hill.
Clark, C. and Dugdale, G. (2009) Young people’s writing: Attitudes, behavior and the role of technology. National Literacy Trust. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/Writing_survey_2009.pdf.
Dieu, B. and Stevens, V. (2007) Pedagogical affordances of syndication, aggregation, and mash-up of content on the Web. TESL-EJ 11. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://tesl-ej.org/ej41/int.html.
Downes, S. (2006) Groups vs networks: The class struggle continues. Stephen’s Web. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.downes.ca/presentation/53.
Fisch, K. and McCleod, S. (2007) Did you know 2.0? YouTube. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2.
Friedman, T. (2005) The World Is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Freedman, T. (ed.) (2006) Web 2.0: About “Coming of Age: An Introduction to the New Worldwide Web.” Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://comingofage.podomatic.com/.
Fryer, W. (2006) Podcast103: Digital storytelling in the classroom. Moving at the Speed of Creativity. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=1515.
Good, R. (2004) The birth of the NewsMaster: The network starts to organize itself. MasterNewMedia. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.masternewmedia.org/2004/02/19/the_birth_of_the_newsmaster.htm.
Grabe, W. (2002) Foundations for L2 reading instruction. The Language Teacher. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/articles/2002/07/grabe.
Grossman, L. (2006) Time’s person of the year: You. Time Magazine. 13 December. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://tinyurl.com/3chjkb.
Hart, J. (2009) Top 100 tools for learning 2009. Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/.
Hughes, A. (2009) Higher education in a Web 2.0 world. JISC (The Joint Information Systems Committee). Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/heweb2.aspx.
Johnson, L., Levine, A., and Smith, R. (2009) The 2009 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved on 23 December 2009 from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/chapters/cloud-computing/.
Laningham, S. (2006) Tim Berners-Lee. IBM: DeveloperWorks Interviews. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/podcast/dwi/cmint082206txt.html.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
LeFever, L. and LeFever, S. (2007) RSS in plain English. CommonCraft. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english.
Lessig, L. (2006) The read-write society, keynote given 15 September 2006 at the Wizards of OS4 conference. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.wizards-of-os.org/index.php?id=2322.
Levine, A. (2007–2009) 50+ Web 2.0 Ways To Tell a Story. Cogdogroo. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/50+Ways.
Locke, C., Levine, R., Searls, D., and Weinberger, D. (2001) The Cluetrain Manifesto. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Publishing. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html.
Lorenzo, G., Oblinger, D., and Dziuban, C. (2006) How choice, co-creation, and culture are changing what it means to be net savvy. Educause Learning Initiative. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3008.pdf.
New London Group. (1996) A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://wwwstatic.kern.org/filer/blogWrite44ManilaWebsite/paul/articles/A_Pedagogy_of_Multiliteracies_Designing_Social_Futures.htm.
O’Reilly, T. (2005) What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. O’Reilly. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html.
Pegrum, M. (2009) From Blogs to Bombs: The Future of Digital Technologies in Education. Crawley, Australia: University of Western Australia Publishing.
Prensky, M. (2001) Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon 9: 1–6. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf.
Richardson, W. (2005a) RSS: A quick start guide for educators. Weblogg-ed. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/RSSFAQ4.pdf.
Richardson, W. (2005b) Recording: “RSS: The new killer app for educators” with Will Richardson. LearningTimes. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://home.learningtimes.net/learningtimes?go=679449.
Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Selber, S. (2004) Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.
Sessums, C. (2007) The Future begins now: School 2.0 manifesto. Eduspaces. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://eduspaces.net/csessums/weblog/150678.html.
Siemens, G. (2004) Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Elearnspace. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.
Siemens, G. (2005) Connectivism: Learning as network-creation. Elearnspace. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/networks.htm.
Siemens, G. (2006) Knowing Knowledge. Ebook available via Creative Commons license. Retrieved on 19 December 2009 from http://www.elearnspace.org/KnowingKnowledge_LowRes.pdf.
Stevens, V. (2007) The multiliterate autonomous learner: Teacher attitudes and the inculcation of strategies for lifelong learning. Independence 42: 27–29. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.learnerautonomy.org/VanceStevens.pdf.
Toffler, A. (1970) Future Shock. New York: Random House.
Udell, J. (2005) The heavy metal umlaut. JonUdell.net. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/umlaut.html.
Unsworth, L. (2001) Teaching multiliteracies across the curriculum. Buckingham and Philadelphia: Open University Press. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335206042.pdf.
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wesch, M. (2007) The machine is us/ing us (final version). YouTube. Retrieved on 5 December 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g.
Published
2010-06-11
Issue
Section
From the e-Sphere
How to Cite
Stevens, V. (2010). Writing in a Multiliterate Flat World, Part I: Multiliterate Approaches to Writing and Collaboration Through Social Networking. Writing and Pedagogy, 2(1), 117-131. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v2i1.117
