Another engaging thought-provoking presentation at the UO Conference 2014

Making Writing Public(s): How Blogs and Social Media Connect Students to a Writing Community 

“Research on writing development suggests that students who learn to write for multiple audiences...are the strongest writers when they graduate. However, our data indicate instructors across the university rarely ask students to write for any audience other than the instructor.” (Graves, 2013)

In her presentation, Brooklin Schneider introduced a quick lesson on blogs and social media and explained how we can use the tools and strategies, which are currently integrated in the Olds’ College teaching practices, into our own teaching and professional development practices. 

She claimed that writing has always been public and that the technology and social media platforms have just allowed us a different avenue to do what we have always done. We still share stories, convey information, and, thus, continue the evolution of writing communities and the process of “making writing public”.

"Traditionally, in the school system, it is common to think that the student writing should be just for a teacher and should be graded."  Brooklin questioned the “limited” approach of considering student writing as incomplete and in need of formal assessment before the “good copy” becomes public.  To oppose the conventional system, she told a story of  current students whose “writing lives are almost exclusively online”. The students have been practising “public writing” with the rise of social media, by sharing their thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. Therefore, Brooklin suggested to , perhaps, change our own perspective and recreate  the “social media” environment in classroom.  

To learn more from Brooklin , please watch the recorded session of her presentation at the UO Conference 2014 .

Brooklin Schneider is a Communications instructor in the School of Agrifood, Land and Fashion at Olds College. She has been teaching communications and literature classes at Olds College for two years and prior to that was a PhD student at York University, studying South African literature. She is also the College’s Twitter maven, managing the official Olds College Twitter account and supporting other social media accounts for the College's Brewmaster & Brewery Operations Program.