Understanding and Creating Digital Texts

Book excerpt: Given the increased use of digital reading and writing tools in the classroom, this book provides secondary and college English language arts teachers with activities and classroom examples for using a range of different digital tools—blogs, wikis, websites, annotations, Twitter, mapping, forum discussions, etc.—to engage students in understanding and creating digital texts. It therefore integrates reading and writing instruction through goal-driven activities supported by uses and affordances of digital tools. This book also provides a framework for designing these activities that encourage students to define purpose and audience, make connections between digital texts and people, collaborate with others, employ alternative modes of communication and gain new perspectives, and constructing identities; practices that are linked to addressing the high school English Language Arts Common Core State Standards. The book also describes ways to use digital tools to support these practices—for example, using digital tools to foster students’ collaborative reading and writing. The book also describes use of digital feedback and e-portfolio tools to foster students’ reflection on their uses of these practices.