Seamless Writing: How the Digitisation of Writing Transforms Thinking, Communication, and Student Learning

Abstract

This chapter extends the scope of the term 'seamless learning' to include writing as one of the most prominent learning activities in education. The seamless learning concept is used to analyse the ongoing flow of digital innovation with respect to the changing instructional and intellectual positioning of writing in its various contexts. The term 'seams' is interpreted as frictions or barriers in the writer's experience and the concept of 'seamlessness' refers to coherence in the practice and learning of writing. In order to understand the impact of digitisation on writing, this chapter recaps on the major development steps of digital writing technology, before offering an example of an integrated learning platform for the writing of academic theses which intends to offer students a seamless writing experience. The results indicate that the term seamlessness in the context of writing should not be directly associated with mobile learning or to the ubiquitous learning opportunities which are qualities that writing technologies have already offered for some time. Other more recent technological changes have provided considerably greater impact on what the authors term as 'seamless writing'.

English goes digital: Framing pre-service teachers’ perceptions of a learning management system in their EFL studies

“…Whereas the use of Canvas as an LMS has been researched in the literature (Fathema & Akanda, 2020;Kite et al, 2020;Kruse & Rapp, 2019;Leuckert, 2020), little is known about how pre-service primary school teachers of English frame their perceptions of the digital practices afforded by Canvas Oleksandr Kapranov: English goes digital: Framing pre-service teachers' perceptions of a learning management system in their EFL studies (Lee & Lee, 2019). Furthermore, there are insufficient studies that juxtapose the framing of Canvas by pre-service EFL teachers with that of non-teacher EFL students.…”

Writing Processes in the Digital Age: A Networked Interpretation

“…Researchers have often been limited to the written text, with little access to the writer's thought process, as well as the environment and tools that the writer uses to create the text (Anson and Kruse, "Plagiarism Detection and Intertextuality Software"). With word processors and cut/paste tools, both writers and researchers could see more of the choices they make while writing, not just when revising or editing (Kruse & Rapp, 2019;Liu, 2011). As a result, writing processes are not just seen as a series of steps, but as a constant revision and repositioning of ideas, as well as the re-examination of values, purposes, and audience.…”

ChatGPT and the digitisation of writing

“…Through the introduction of word processors, then spelling, grammar and style checking, then connectivity, and now generative AI tools, this digitisation process is having profound effects on writing, albeit they remain difficult to pinpoint because they are primarily mental rather than directly visible changes (Kruse and Rapp, 2019).…”