Cirrus@Austlit

'In spite of calls for more digital engagement and the fact that students are arriving on campus with digitally connected skills, creative writing classrooms are generally ‘low tech and quaintly humanistic’. We don’t appear to be incorporating the socially networked student experiences in the quaint creative writing classroom. One of the barriers to more engagement may be one of our hard-won ‘markers of professional difference’, that is, the things that distinguish us from other classes. This particular marker is that we are not market-driven. By examining this issue (but not eliminating the marker), we might determine if we can and should open the class up to more engagement. In this paper, the terms ‘social media’ and ‘social media marketplace’ are explored in order to consider changes to the marketplace and some ways to engage with the digital world that honor our traditions and benefit our classrooms by enhancing educational experiences without excessive cost or training. ' (Publication abstract)