Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Mudd, Heather Elizabeth
Author's Email Address	heathermudd@mac.com
URN	etd-07142008-235720
Title	A Teacher Action Research Project on Digital Fluency via Blogging
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Middle and Secondary Education, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Susan Nelson Wood Committee Chair Pamela S. Carroll Committee Member Sharilyn Steadman Committee Member
Keywords	Blogging Revision Digital Fluency Peer Review
Date of Defense	2008-06-11
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This teacher action research study, conducted during a semester-long student teaching experience, examined the effectiveness of the author’s implementation of a recurring strategy, which stood out as a unique way to encourage students to revise their writing that was already popular among young people: the idea of using Web Logs (commonly referred to as “blogs”) in an online community for students. In this study, the students worked through a poetry unit and completed a final project that involved posting first and final drafts of their writing to a classroom blog site. The students also participated in peer editing of each other’s writing and posted their comments to the classroom blog. These comments were used by the students to revise their writing. They also completed pre- and post-surveys on revision and the blogging process. As a part of this study, the author created a secure classroom blog site where the students posted their writing. This study found that while adding new technology to classroom instruction can be challenging for both teachers in the implementation and grading, and students in the use of new technology to implement the writing process, attempting new strategies can be worth exploring for both. Students can be easily engaged in the revision and writing process when it is paired with new technology, like blogging. This study found that students are motivated to write when they know they are writing for a real audience with the opportunity for feedback. This study also found that peer reviewing is a revision strategy with a lot of potential for success, but it needs to be carefully scaffolded and practiced before being used for a major writing project.
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