Category: Instructional Technology

Dr. Becky Anderson and I invite you to consider contributing your expertise by submitting a chapter in a soon-to-be-published edited book. Digital Tools for Writing Instruction in K-12 Settings: Student Perception and Experience is timely because students are currently using technology to write both in and out of the classroom. In particular, students are writing outside of the classroom in ways that are not well documented or understood. Research is needed to report what students are doing both in and out of school and the implications this has on their learning. As a result, there exists a need for an edited collection of chapters in this area to 1) keep educators abreast of how to use the growing number of technology tools, 2) address the growing emphasis on writing instruction in both K-12 settings and in teacher education programs, 3) meet national standards and current initiatives that expect teachers to integrate writing across the curriculum, and 4) inform practice for the growing number of educators involved in K-12 online teaching and learning.

Working Title

Digital Tools for Writing Instruction in K-12 Settings: Student Perception and Experience

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Publisher’s Announcement

Editors

Rebecca S. Anderson (The University of Memphis, USA)

Clif Mims (The University of Memphis, USA)

Call for Chapters

Proposal Submission Deadline: March 15, 2013

Full Chapters Due: July 20, 2013

Introduction

Currently, more emphasis is placed on writing instruction in K-12 schools than ever before. Unfortunately, however, students continue to perform poorly on national writing assessments. One possible solution to helping students become better writers is for K-12 teachers to use the growing number of digital tools to teach writing. Another possible solution is for content area teachers (i.e., math, science, social studies, and language arts) to integrate writing assignments into their curricula. Consistent with the present national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) initiative, which also embraces writing across the curriculum, students are no longer taught how to write just by the writing teacher. Instead, teachers at all levels, and in all content areas, are expected to use writing to help students both become better writers and to learn content knowledge. Therefore, it is important that K-12 teachers learn how to use new digital tools to effectively teach writing in the content areas. In particular, it is important to learn which technologies students are using, both inside and outside the classroom, and the implications this has for teaching and learning. As a result, there exists a need for an edited collection of articles in this area.

Objectives of the Book

1. To provide research about using digital tools to support writing instruction with K-12 students.
2. To disseminate information about how students use digital tools to write in school settings.
3. To disseminate information about how students use digital tools to write outside of school settings.
4. To disseminate information about students’ perspectives on using technology to write.
5. To discuss issues and concerns related to students using digital tools for writing.
6. To discuss the teaching and learning implications of K-12 students using digital tools for writing.

Target Audience

The target audience of this book is educators who are, or who work with, K-12 content area teachers. Thus, the primary audience will be professionals and researchers working in the field of K-12 education and teacher education. Additional audiences are higher education and adult education professionals who can adapt the practical and effective applications for using new technologies to teach writing in their respective content areas.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to the following:

• Hardware (e.g., iPads, Audiobooks, Smartboards, etc.) Used to Teach Writing in K-12 Classrooms
• Applications Used to Teach Writing in K-12 Classrooms
• Software Applications Used to Teach Writing in K-12 Classrooms
• Web-based/Online Tools for Use in the K-12 Writing Curriculum
• In-School Writing Using Digital Tools
• Students’ Out-of-School Writing Using Digital Tools
• Action Research: K-12 Classroom Teachers Studying Students’ Digital Writing Tools
• Training Teachers: Providing Professional Development for Digital Writing Tools
• The Future Use of Digital Writing Tools

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before March 15, 2013, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by March 29, 2013, about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by July 30, 2013. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This book is anticipated to be released in 2014

Important Dates

Proposal Submission Deadline	March 15, 2013
Notification of Acceptance	March 29, 2013
Full Chapter Submission	July 30, 2013
Review Results Returned	September 30, 2013
Revised Chapter Submission	October 30, 2013
Final Chapter Deadline	December 15, 2013

Inquiries and Submissions

Submissions can be forwarded electronically (Word document)

Rebecca S. Anderson, Ph.D.
Professor, Reading Education
The University of Memphis
406 Ball Hall
Memphis, TN 38152
USA
Website, Email, Phone: (901) 678-3977

Clif Mims, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Instructional Design and Technology
The University of Memphis
406 Ball Hall
Memphis, TN 38152
USA
Website, Email, Phone: (901) 678-5672