Integrating Technology in Teaching Writing

Nowadays, we can see the rapid rising and development of the information and technology which has offered a better pattern of teaching English. The generation has become the digital natives which have grown up using the technology in most aspect of their life. Furthermore, the Internet itself has changed with the rapid spread of participatory tools and sites facility of social networking, interactive learning games, collaborative writing and editing. These tools provide opportunities for students in writing and construct knowledge as well. For example the types of technology which can be used in the classroom include the Internet, computer-assisted tutorial materials, computer simulation and interactive multimedia packages. By integrating technology in teaching writing, not only the students will get the advantage but the teacher as well. This is because the implementation of technology provides instant access to up-to-date content and very flexible to be used in teaching and learning process.

As we all know, Internet provide more academic resources which can help the teacher to find a suitable and appropriate technological tools based on the student needs. For example, the teacher can use online discussion group in teaching writing because this feature able the collaborative work of the students where the teacher will become the instructor. Here, the students can exchange their idea and doing a discussion without have to meet up which give them convenient as they can do it outside the classroom anytime and anywhere they want. Moreover, by using online discussion, it helps the shy students to feel more comfortable and secure especially in giving their opinion and idea compare to face-to-face interaction. Besides that, the students also will improve their writing when participating in the discussion as they will contribute their idea and become more responsible in doing their work especially when their friends are showing a good feedback in the discussion.

Apart from that, writing through social networking sites for example Facebook can encourage the students to practice themselves to write to the audience. In addition, the Facebook have a special feature where the students can have their own group discussions which allow others people to join the group and help in the discussion. This is very good approach as it can broaden the student knowledge and motivate them especially when they get a good response through a comment from their friends who will encourage them to be more active and boost up their confident in writing more. Furthermore, by using social networking, the students can expand their worldview which will open their mind as they can communicate with people around the world. By doing so, the students can share knowledge as they are exposed to different culture of learning with people of different background all around the globe. Besides that, the students also can use Blogs to store their work online through e-portfolios which give advantages for them to revise their work in progress anytime they want. Moreover, they also able to view their friends work by using Blogs.

By using technology in teaching writing, it able the teachers to save more time on guiding the students rather than taking extra time explaining to them. This is because, teachers can use slides to teach the students and these slides can be prepared before entering the class. Moreover, by using the power point, teachers can use visual aids in their presentation for example pictures, songs and videos so that the learning environment is fun and more interesting. This is because; the students tend to get interested in learning with those visual aids which can enhance their creativity and give them an idea on the topic that they will learn for their writing. Other than that, teachers also can introduce to the students on using the web-based tools for the students to improve their writing as the website have a suitable applications which provide a strategies and guidance that is very helpful to the students.

In a nutshell, integrating technology in writing does give impact on the aspects of learning by the students and it plays a very important role in inspiring the students to improve their writing skills. That is why; it is recommended to the teachers to use technology in teaching writing to the students as there is a lot of benefit that can be getting from using technology in teaching the students. Moreover, classrooms which employ technology in educational ways may look very different from one another as they may be based on different technologies. Thus, teachers have a responsibility in choosing the right technology which is suitable for the writing process so that the students will become more motivated in the learning and interested in participating in the learning process.