Facilitating Meaningful Writing Instruction Online

Composition and sharing ideas are practices that not only are essential for many careers, but also are powerful tools for processing experiences. As Elizabeth Dutro has suggested, there is a healing aspect of engaging with writing. Teaching online is often located in the context of 2020 and 2021, but many teachers were working with students in online courses well before this time period, and many of us, including me, have continued to do some or all of our teaching online.

Even in this AI age, authentic writing and composing can and should be done in online learning spaces.

Writing is an Individual and Communal Process

To begin with, online teaching can be individually designed yet communal in nature, and this is no less true when exploring the art of composing. Writing is an individual activity in terms of drafting and initial creation, as well as a communal experience. Authors share early copies for editing, revision, and publication. The development of ideas over time through conferencing and modeling is part of what makes AI an unnecessary element of composing, because students respond from their own experiences in real time during class meetings.

Professional writers craft in lonely spaces and spend time forming their ideas in the echoing solitude of discovery; however, they then link to a readership and sense of audience with the support of a skilled editor. Stephen King’s work in On Writing is a prime example of this type of process. It might have been easy for King to suggest that his writing simply manifests—like the astral figures in his tales—but instead, he includes images of revised and marked pages for the reader to see. When I teach an online class, I hold check-ins on writing both during class sessions and in between meetings.

Engaging in a writing process requires some sense of community for the final product to become what the writer or composer envisions. There are moments in online courses when silence can seem more cacophonous than words, but taking time to engage in the practice of composing is as essential as the feedback that an effective educator will share post-draft.

Classes, whether they are in person or online, should include multiple opportunities for modeling and practicing. This is the substance of learning how to engage in any content area. It might be tempting to spin into a full discussion of the moving parts of writing through hours-long discussions, but, as with any vehicle that must travel somewhere, actual time should be spent in motion. Sharing features and annotation tools in online conferencing platforms allow for the instantaneous dissemination of examples. Writing is an art that must be practiced, and the tools that are available, like onscreen annotations in Zoom and shareable documents in online drafting spaces (e.g., Google Docs and Padlet) support this process.

From the first draft of a poem to a full dissertation, it’s important that the form and function of the text be clear through modeling practices. The experience of being exposed to different writing structures can then be transformative as students learn the rules (just enough) to break them. This empowers them to share their ideas through the use of composing methods and tools. To mitigate the use of AI and other features, teachers can focus on developing student writings over time and highlighting personal experiences through interactions with students.

This process can begin with brainstorming, as well as interactive drafting and writing conferences as students build papers gradually. Thus, the writer/composer moves from consumer to thoughtful creator, more fully aware of the auspices of genre and convention but willing and equipped to circumvent tradition when the direction of the work requires it.

Navigating Potential Distractions and Facilitating Interaction

At the outset, the use of writing in online spaces might be seen as a journey fraught with the peril of distraction. While navigating onscreen, language (and “class”) exists on one pane, while games and chats populate other sections of the digital space. The temptation to navigate away or slide into a private chat with a friend online might be captivating. There are digital tools that can act as fortresses against these interactions (e.g., GoGuardian and Securly MDM, which offer trial periods), which is one alternative. While I like to keep a close eye on what my students engage with, I am not entirely comfortable with surveillance software.

Yet, the use of annotation tools, chatting for purpose and clarification, message boards, and online course management systems combine to create an ecosystem that a thoughtful teacher can use to build engagement and camaraderie. There can even be lively back-channel conversation in chat spaces between peers in online classes that can function as a unique form of literacy practice, much like shoulder-to-shoulder conversational whispers in physical space. This is the playful sensibility that sometimes punctuates digital literacy in a post-pandemic age.

Online classes should include interaction. Opportunities for discussion, questions out loud or in the chat, and exchanges in breakout room spaces can provide students with the opportunity to talk one-on-one with each other and with the instructor.

These conversations can stimulate additional drafting that is personalized to the learner. Hearing the voices of students this way can build authentic writing, including the use of writing conferences in whole group or breakout room or small group settings. In this way, teachers can center the humanity of writing instruction and access the organic voices of students to encourage growth.