Motivations & Attitudes
What role should digital literacy play in the composition classroom?
While I touch on WPAs' motivations on the implementations page to show the disjuncture between WPAs' beliefs and actual practices, here, I go into more depth about WPAs' motivations, based on their responses to the above open-ended question (in red). Of the 47 positive responses to this question, the most common motivation or justification for why digital literacy belongs in our composition courses was based on the notion that digital literacy is communication today. Six of the respondents stated that digital literacy is becoming literacy itself, and these statements tended to suggest that because digital literacy "is literacy," it therefore fits into the traditional goals of the writing classroom and should be taught in the service of “improving traditional written communication.” Another five respondents stated that we should start from where students are, which means teaching with and through digital media because it’s “what students do.”
Others phrased their motivations more in terms of how digital literacy can help students gain knowledge, skills, and abilities. The most common trends in the responses included research skills, audience awareness, and personal and professional growth. Regarding audience, the respondents in my study emphasized that digital literacy helps students think about how to appeal to various audiences “according to the way audiences read and retrieve information.” Many respondents mentioned research skills, stating that writing programs are responsible for teaching students research skills in online environments because these environments are used most commonly by our students. They argued that digital literacy should be used as part of how the research process is approached. Only one respondent, however, specifically addressed the concern of evaluating the credibility of online sources. Instead, digital literacy tended to be described in terms learning the tools necessary for researching, such as library databases. Lastly, some respondents argued that digital literacy is needed in order to help students succeed in their personal and professional lives in college and beyond. These respondents indicated that digital literacy is a skill needed for “social communication” and “business practices.”
On the other hand, in some responses, the role of digital literacy in writing courses was discussed not so much based on why it is important, but instead on how important it should be within the overall curriculum. Of the WPAs who responded in this way (13), nine (or 69%) stressed that digital literacy is important, but less important than the “basic” reading and writing skills that should be the focus in writing courses. These WPAs stated that digital literacy or technology should not be course topics or that digital technologies should be used only insofar as they aid alphabetic literacies. The other four did not express worry that digital literacy would eclipse reading and writing skills, but they suggested that digital composing should be seen as one of several writing modes or genres. Thus, opinions were mixed when it came to how important digital literacy should be to the curriculum, but the majority indicated that it should hold less importance than alphabetic literacies, as opposed to being potentially complementary.
As discussed, there was only one negative response to this question that was intended to get at WPAs' motivations and attitudes toward digital literacies, and the respondent (who said digital literacy had no role in composition) did not offer enough context to shed light on reasons against implementing it. However, a few of the responses throughout the rest of the survey (especially respondents who answered "no" to the question: is digital literacy formally encouraged in your program?) alluded to concerns about fitting digital literacy in to a busy curriculum or that it could, as mentioned, shift focus away from written, academic prose.
Others phrased their motivations more in terms of how digital literacy can help students gain knowledge, skills, and abilities. The most common trends in the responses included research skills, audience awareness, and personal and professional growth. Regarding audience, the respondents in my study emphasized that digital literacy helps students think about how to appeal to various audiences “according to the way audiences read and retrieve information.” Many respondents mentioned research skills, stating that writing programs are responsible for teaching students research skills in online environments because these environments are used most commonly by our students. They argued that digital literacy should be used as part of how the research process is approached. Only one respondent, however, specifically addressed the concern of evaluating the credibility of online sources. Instead, digital literacy tended to be described in terms learning the tools necessary for researching, such as library databases. Lastly, some respondents argued that digital literacy is needed in order to help students succeed in their personal and professional lives in college and beyond. These respondents indicated that digital literacy is a skill needed for “social communication” and “business practices.”
On the other hand, in some responses, the role of digital literacy in writing courses was discussed not so much based on why it is important, but instead on how important it should be within the overall curriculum. Of the WPAs who responded in this way (13), nine (or 69%) stressed that digital literacy is important, but less important than the “basic” reading and writing skills that should be the focus in writing courses. These WPAs stated that digital literacy or technology should not be course topics or that digital technologies should be used only insofar as they aid alphabetic literacies. The other four did not express worry that digital literacy would eclipse reading and writing skills, but they suggested that digital composing should be seen as one of several writing modes or genres. Thus, opinions were mixed when it came to how important digital literacy should be to the curriculum, but the majority indicated that it should hold less importance than alphabetic literacies, as opposed to being potentially complementary.
As discussed, there was only one negative response to this question that was intended to get at WPAs' motivations and attitudes toward digital literacies, and the respondent (who said digital literacy had no role in composition) did not offer enough context to shed light on reasons against implementing it. However, a few of the responses throughout the rest of the survey (especially respondents who answered "no" to the question: is digital literacy formally encouraged in your program?) alluded to concerns about fitting digital literacy in to a busy curriculum or that it could, as mentioned, shift focus away from written, academic prose.