"We ask students to create public digital writing personas at the same time they know that they are doing work for a grade. No longer is writing about trying to just please the teacher so as to earn an 'A'. It is an act of identitfy formation, a 21st Century skill that students need to have as they represent themselves across a variety of online communities. It is a difficult place for us to put our students, and for us to be in as teachers" (107).

          I found this to be my favorite lesson of Troy Hicks' Chapter 6 in The Digital Writing Workshop.  Hicks explains the importance of assessing students digital writing.  The chapter focuses on the idea that students are no longer writing for themselves, but for an audience; an audience that is free to judge them as harshly as they would like.  This can be a hard situation for students to be in, however I think that it's a very helpful place for them to be.  "When students are writing for real audiences and purposes, there are real reactions and consequences for them as writers" (107).  Students become more aware of their writing and of its content.  I believe that if students are aware that their writing is going to be viewed by more than just their teacher they are going to work extra hard to be sure that their writing is worth reading.
          Hicks mentions a philosophy of Jim Burke's about being an effective writer.  Burke believes that "an effective writer will identify the type of text or genre so he knows how to write it" (110).  An awareness of your writing can sometimes be the most difficult.  I think that digital writing gets students ready for the idea that their work is going to judged, or graded.  The best way to get them ready for that fact is by throwing them into the digital writing process.  Being able to document students progress with a particular piece of writing, i.e. wikis and blogs, is a great way to form assessments.  I believe that the process of writing can be more powerful than the end result.  As long as I am able to track the students processes and see that they have come in a positive direction from where they started, I can only grade them favorably.  I am concerned with progress and I believe that digital writing is a great way to assess this.


Megan