Building Digital Community: Educational Technology in Online Composition Courses

As more students have joined online higher education programs, research has provided insight into the use of various technologies in online courses. There is an ongoing question of how digital learning resources could be leveraged in English composition courses to best support the needs of students and provide them with the foundational skills for academic and professional writing. This study explores how students in an online first-year composition course use the digital community platform InScribe. Data was collected by examining posts made on an InScribe community embedded in Arizona State University’s online First-Year Composition courses. A survey was conducted about students’ perspectives and use of InScribe. The data reveals a positive correlation between students’ confidence in writing and their participation on the digital platform, but also shows where further structure and organization are needed to use InScribe’s full potential. The student-led structure of InScribe allows for meaningful conversations to develop through peer-to-peer learning. Resources shared on InScribe effectively prepare students to make purposeful rhetorical choices in their writing. Recommendations are made to instructional designers, educators, and writing program administrators to expand the use of digital platforms in writing education programs and foster community for online students.