Digital Writing – Using word-processors
In considering the role of digital writing it is possible to overlook the value of some of the less interactive uses of technology in the teaching of writing. Word processing has considerable potential to provide the means to support and develop children’s writing and has a major advantage in being the facility most likely to be readily available to student teachers in their classrooms. It is important that the word processor is not seen as a tool for typing up children’s hand written drafts, but its role in supporting the writing process is appreciated. We encourage students to be aware of the opportunities provided for children to collaborate in writing and to recognise their role in providing support during the writing process.
Activity – Investigating uses of the word processor
In exploring the varied uses of word processing we aim to draw attention to facilities which support developing writers. We encourage students to collect examples of their use from their experience in the classroom, using the table below which contains some examples.
| Word processing function |
Relevant activities |
| Cut and paste |
e.g. Sequence jumbled text
Poetry writing – children collect relevant phrases and then move them around to create a poem
Select key information from non-fiction text to include in table |
| Insert text |
e.g. Children add connectives to simplified text and consider the impact on meaning
Insert missing punctuation e.g. speech marks
Cloze procedure |
| Delete text |
Note making – children delete irrelevant parts of text
Deletion of adjectives focuses attention on their role in the meaning of text |
| Changing presentation of text |
Exploring the impact of font in the presentation of poetry
Insertion of images |
| Providing a flexible frame to support children’s writing |
A non-fiction writing frame for instruction writing created in shared writing is used and adapted by individuals in creating their own recipes for a class recipe book |
We also suggest that they consult the following sources:
Millum, T. & Warren,C (2001) Twenty Things to do with a Word Processor: ICT Activities for the Secondary English Classroom. Derby. Resource Education.
Millum, T (2003) ICT and Literacy. Sheffield. NATE.
Wray, D. (2002) The word is out. Literacy and Learning 27. (25-9.)
The BECTA website for the role of multilingual wordprocessing packages in supporting children with English as an Additional Language:
 
| 
