Memo #1

            I came to question the topic of digital writing and the use of social media within the classroom throughout my current education to become a teacher. Digital writing is a growing trend within the writing world today. With new advances in computer technology, young people are at the forefront of learning about and applying these new technologies in their everyday lives. It has always been a question of mine to figure out how teachers are using digital writing and social media within their classes. The students are so preoccupied with their social media websites and their phones that it makes me wonder if teachers are noticing and using these “distractions” to their advantage? My search goes into how teachers are implementing digital writing and the use of social media into the classroom and how it directly benefits students and improves their writing. What are the benefits from digital writing? What are the downfalls? Is there room for improvement? How is all of this seen within the classroom?

            My experiences with digital writing and social media would be equal to the normal teenagers, I would assume. Since I have only been out of high school for three years, I still have most of the same interests in social media that high schoolers are having today. I may not have all of the time on my hands that teenagers seem to have, but I still frequently visit sights. Because of my usage of social media sites, I started to think about how I can use them in the future when I begin teaching. Will I have to shut them down completely, or can I revamp them to become more educational and reach my students in another way. How can this affect their writing and their participation in the writing classroom? 

            This is an important question to me because I want to eventually teach in a high school, and this is what preoccupies teenager’s minds. There are rules set up in schools to keep students off of their cell phones because it causes distractions and takes away from the lesson that the teacher has prepared. But, what if the teacher can harness the student’s digital writing and social media usage for positive gains within the classroom? Is this possible, or will their only be opposition to the use of digital writing and social media in the classrooms today? I hope that my I-Search paper can lead me to a better conclusion on this topic.