Digital+Writing

Troy Hicks is the leading practitioner and researcher in the field of technology and writing instruction. From his book entitled “The Digital Writing Workshop,” Hicks takes a writing workshop approach, which centers on students as writers and provides time and space for engagement in the writing process. Hicks (2009) focuses on “digital writing,” integrating newer literacies with the writing workshop to develop writing strategies. Hicks believes that digital writing should first focus on the writer, then the writing, and lastly technology. At the core of Hicks’ notion of digital writing lies the importance of changing teachers’ mind-set about using technology to improve students’ reading and writing skills in the classroom. According to Hicks (2009), “when we simply bring a traditional mind-set to literacy practices, and not a mind-set that understands new literacies…into the process of digital writing, we cannot make substantive changes to our teaching that need to happen in order to embrace the full potential of collaboration and design that digital writing offers” (p. 2). On his website, [], Hicks provides a vast amount of research material on technology and writing instruction, as well as the most current conversations concerning these topics.

Hicks, T. (2009). //The digital writing workshop.// Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.