Writing vs. Writing

As a student and educator for the past 20 years or so, I've seen the traditional world of academia both embrace and resist technology on myriad fronts over the decades. This one is a classic struggle between traditionalists and those more progressive faculty who understand that the world is changing around us, whether we participate in that change or not.

I offer this piece for consideration not only by those responsible for teaching English and writing, but by those teaching in all academic fields. All the expertise in the collective field of an(y) academic area is worthless unless one can communicate it effectively to both colleagues within one's field of expertise/study and to a greater public audience, when appropriate.

Tell Me a Smart Story: On Podcasts, Videos, and Websites as Writing Assignments takes the concept of writing to "new millennial" levels with the actual experiences of one instructor whose iterative approach to integrating multimedia as assignment options for students led to breakthroughs for both her and her learners. (Be sure to read the comments on the post as well!)

Skeptics will, I’m sure, insist that podcasts, videos, and websites are not writing assignments.

I would argue that they absolutely are. They require students to organize materials in a similar way and to literally write out their scripts. And just because these arguments are not made in a dry, formal prose style doesn’t mean they aren’t effective or smart. In most cases, I’ve found that students who choose to do one of these nontraditional research projects are making better arguments and end up putting a lot more effort into the overall project. 

Worth a try? For ideas on how to integrate multimedia creation into your course assignments or assessments, contact Tess.Olten@uah.edu.