The digital is inextricably woven across people's everyday lives and literacy practices, and English educators are tasked with preparing students to be critical, ethical, and agentic inventors and consumers of digital text. What has crystallized for English educators is an awareness that facilitating "digital discourse"--or the multiple…

In this article, the authors examine how social media memes can manipulate and polarize audiences and provide teaching approaches for student learning, understanding, and action. The authors describe the four-step instructional approach they use to guide preservice English language arts (ELA) teachers and their secondary students in recognizing…

An incident of bullying via Twitter in a Midwestern US high school problematizes traditional stereotypes about adolescents and social media, as witnessed by two English teachers at the school who write about their own experiences and implications for English curriculum and instruction.

A mentoring relationship that began as part of teacher preparation can evolve into a professional community that stays connected through several means of communication. While there are examples of mentoring relationships within schools and among former university cohorts, these authors took a slightly different approach. Rather than forming a…

According to a 2009 AP-MTV survey of 1,247 people ages 14-24, 50% of those surveyed have experienced cyberbullying (Gatti 1). Victims were twice as likely to need help from a mental health professional and were three times more likely to drop out of school than those surveyed who did not report being cyberbullied (5). Given this alarming social…

Because digital language represents such a large part of the primary discourse of today's adolescents, it is not surprising that the style of electronic communication is "seeping into their schoolwork." According to a recent study published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, in partnership with the College Board's National Commission…

The four authors of this article have each at different times over a ten-year period helped develop versions of the Online Writing Partnership between future English teachers learning to teach writing and high school students learning to write better. The authors have been striving to help future English teachers learn how to help high school…

High school teacher Cathie English believes online threaded discussions are "an amazing ally to the teacher who cares about giving voice to every student in the classroom." They offer a forum for quiet students to develop and verbalize ideas; promote in-depth response and reflection; encourage peer affirmation; and provide opportunities for more…