Internet as Audience for Writers

Exchanges:
1. Katherine J (Writer/Summarizer)
2. Madison (Example Writer)
3. Megan H (Example Writer)
4. Stacy (Editor/Publisher)

Summary:
Providing students with authentic audiences for their writing can promote
engagement, collaboration, and digital citizenship. There are several platforms that
teachers can utilize to provide an authentic audience for their writers. One of the easiest
ways to publish student work, online, is through the use of a teacher created blog, wiki,
or classroom website. While these are the easiest, they do not have a large network so
it is necessary for the teacher to advertise this method to parents and other individuals.
Through advertisement, the students will have an audience reading and commenting on
their work. Another option is to publish student work through an existing online
children’s magazine. These literary magazines provide students with the opportunity to
publish their work and view other works from students around the world. This large
audience will help to promote digital citizenship and global learning for students. Lastly,
students can exchange e-mails with an electronic pen-pal. By utilizing the internet as an
authentic audience for writers, teachers aim to enhance engagement and promote
personal responsibility for student learning.

Example:
In order to provide an authentic audience for students, teachers can find an
online magazine where they can submit and publish their students’ work. A literary
magazine, “A Vision,” is an online magazine that is created by students for students.
According to their website, their primary goal is to “showcase youth perspectives and
celebrate diversity” (A Vision, n.d.). Students globally are submitting writing pieces that
they have completed in school to the online literary magazine. Students are able to
submit various forms of writings such as essays, poems, and/or stories. Students are
encouraged to participate and provide feedback to others through the online magazine.
By submitting writing pieces to the online magazine, educators are providing their
students with an authentic audience which in turn, encourages students to care and
value their writing.
A Vision. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from
https://icc-collaborate.iearn.org/cc/space-2/group-9/about

Example 2:
Students are able to create audiences through pen pals. Teachers may sign up
for the site epals.com in order to have their students participate in activities or
discussions with students from around the world. This allow them to experience an
authentic audience that is not their family or teachers. It enables them to write to people
who are in the same age range they are and to find common interests with people who
are from another region or country. This means the students may be able to relate to
their audience better since they are talking to people who probably have similar
interests or are familiar with the same things. They could write about themselves or
about where they live, the options are limitless! This site also has challenges that the
students can choose to complete based on what interests them. It encourages them to
get out of their comfort zone and to communicate with people on a global scale. Having
the students writing about themselves or things that interest them in order to form a
relationship with a students from another country, allows for the student to put forth
more effort and care into their writing.
Site: epals.com