Learning to Write Publicly: Promises and Pitfalls of Using Weblogs in the Composition Classroom

A primary goal for our study was to determine both the potential for and pitfalls of using class blogs to facilitate the development of network literacy among first-year composition students. As others have pointed out in recent years, the web has now shifted to its second-generation, what might be referred to as Web 2.0, coined by Tim O’Reilly (2005). The web in its new form is characterized by a new set of conventions, rules, and consequences. Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of web-based communities and uses — including those facilitated by social-networking sites, wikis, and blogs — which are based on collaboration and sharing between users. In other words, the web has shifted the focus from working individually and locally to working in a networked setting, in which the web is seen as a social, collaborative, and collective space.

As such, Web 2.0 requires a new form of literacy. The notion of literacy as it relates to emerging communication technologies has been widely addressed by writing scholars. Of note is the work of Cynthia Selfe (1999), who makes a distinction between “computer literacy” (the mechanical skills of using computers, software, or the web) and “technological literacy,” which she defines as “a complex set of socially and culturally situated values, practices, and skills involved in operating linguistically within the context of electronic environments” (p. 11). This latter type of literacy focuses on effective and appropriate communication within online spaces, not just the technical “know-how” necessary to access them. Laura Gurak (2001), addressing what she calls “cyberliteracy,” adds further that this form of literacy requires a “conscious interaction with the new technologies” (p. 12). We believe that network literacy likewise focuses on communication practices and on critical reflection on the role of technology in reading and writing practices. We note further, however, that network literacy is distinct from the forms of technological literacy present during the first generation of Internet communication. We assert that network literacy requires responsibilities that extend beyond knowing how to access information on the web, critically reading web content and determining the credibility of online sources (what we might refer to as “information literacy”), all of which are relatively passive forms of Internet communication. In addition, network literacy requires an understanding of the means of participating on the web by writing and connecting to the public sphere. Following Selfe (1999) and Gurak (2001), then, our work is not limited to addressing technical skills and computer literacy. Rather, we focus on network literacy, or an understanding of the ways in which people read, write, and participate actively in the distributed, collaborative environment of the Internet in its current form.

Blogger and blog scholar Jill Walker (2005) offers a more extensive definition of network literacy in her discussion of the usefulness of class blogs in the writing classroom:

Network literacy means linking to what other people have written and inviting comments from others, it means understanding a kind of writing that is a social, collaborative process rather than an act of an individual in solitary. It means learning how to write with an awareness that anyone may read it: your mother, a future employer or the person whose work you’re writing about. (117)

Walker raises several points in her definition that are worth exploring further. First, she notes that interactivity with what other people have written is a key factor in networked writing. Writers commonly use the technological capabilities of Web 2.0 writing spaces to link to, comment on, and interact with other content online. Second, Walker notes that an understanding of audience is a key component of network literacy. Since the audience for blogs is multiple, varied, and public, writers should think carefully about the potential reach of their work and consequences arising from it. Relying on Walker’s definition, our project studies network literacy by examining students’ sense of responsibility for their writing, awareness of potential consequences for such interactivity, and understanding of the complexity of audience when writing online. With this in mind, in our study of class blogs we looked at the following factors to evaluate students’ developing understandings of network literacy. It is important to note that these factors do not make up a comprehensive list of all characteristics of network literacy, but rather include only those factors that appeared as points of interest in the context of our study.

• Audience: student writers recognize a multiple, varied, and public online audiences.
• Genre: student writers understand and make use of the formal and rhetorical features of blogs that allow for interactivity with existing web content.
• Social engagement: rather than acting only as passive receivers of web content, student writers participate in writing as a social activity and engage in debate and discourse with the goal of common understanding and, ultimately, social action.

Our initial questionnaire showed that 95% of the students have used some sort of social networking technology, such as Facebook, MySpace, or blogs, and a clear majority reported that they are “comfortable” with writing in those online public spaces. Only 10.5% expressed any level of uneasiness with writing to a public online space like a blog. Participants explained that their comfort level arises from the fact that they do such writing frequently (“cause i [sic] do it all the time”) and they find it to be a relatively simple task (“Because it is generally easy”) that differs from other writing tasks that may cause them anxiety (“its [sic] just writing online”). Despite these students’ perceptions, we do not feel that writing in the public space of the Internet is “easy,” and are concerned that perhaps some of our students aren’t recognizing the complexity of the audiences for and potential consequences of that writing. Writing in a networked environment with multiple and varied audiences, where there are real consequences for what a writer contributes can, in fact, be very difficult.