Tech in the Writing Process: Drafting

In today’s episode, we'll explore strategies and tech tools for the drafting stage of the writing process.

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Transcript

Paul Beckermann 0:01 Welcome to Tech Talk for Teachers. I'm your host, Paul Beckerman.

Transition Music 0:05 Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What's in the toolkit? Check it out.

Paul Beckermann 0:16 The topic of today's episode is tech in the writing process: drafting. In the past several podcast episodes, we've been diving into how technology can enhance the pre-writing phase of the writing process. Now that we have our ideas collected and organized, it's time to start drafting.

To start writing, you'll need to choose a writing platform, and your specific choice will be shaped by your intended format. Most often, you'll be using a word processing program like Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Even if you later plan to place your text into a multimedia platform like a website or a blog, you may still find it helpful to draft the initial message in a word processing program, since this will give you access to a powerful suite of tools specifically designed for writing.

You'll often end up using a tool promoted by your school district, but sometimes you might have a choice of several options. While most writing tools are similar, they do have a few functional differences. Be sure to explore the pros and cons of each platform and choose the one that will work best for you and your writing project. Microsoft Word and Google Docs are the two most popular options, and both are excellent choices. With our drafting tool in front of us, let's take a look at five tips for an effective drafting experience.

Transition Music 1:36 Here are your five, here are your five tips.

Paul Beckermann 1:43 Number one, use your outline. When writing your first draft, it's important to have your outline nearby. The more well-developed the outline is, the easier the drafting process will be, because it will provide you with meaningful direction.

It's like mapping out a trip before you head out on a road. If you know where you're going, why you want to get there, and what path will be the most efficient, you'll be able to drive with purpose. While your trip may still include detours and some unplanned and potentially beneficial stops, you'll almost certainly make fewer false starts and take fewer wrong turns. This is a lot like writing.

Number two, tile your screen. If your outline has been written on paper, you can lay it beside you as you type on screen. However, if both your outline and draft are digital, it's helpful to tile your screen. This means placing two open windows side by side on the screen so you can see both documents at once.

This approach allows you to write without having to flip back and forth from tab to tab. It also allows you to quickly and conveniently copy and paste ideas from your outline into your draft. The process of tiling the screen might be slightly different depending on your device. You can almost always manually resize each window and then drag them to the different sides of the screen, but you can also use built-in shortcut commands to instantly snap these windows to one side of the screen or the other. For instance, on a Chromebook, you can type in Alt plus the left bracket to snap the window to the left side and Alt plus the right bracket to snap the window to the right. You can also click, hold, and drag the title bar of a window to one side or the other, and it will snap to that half of the screen. A quick internet search will give you shortcuts for your device or browser.

Number three, use the integrated tools. The many integrated word processor tools are usually quick and easy to access. They've been built into the tool because they are the most useful and commonly used tools sought after by writers. It's easy to overlook these because we see them every day, but it's important to consider them. Here are a few to specifically consider as you draft:

Speech to text. We use this in the pre-writing process, and it's also helpful here. While it's common to simply type your text into your document, speech-to-text options can also be used. With this feature activated, you speak your ideas, and the speech-to-text program converts your words to text on the screen. This is especially helpful for those who don't type well, but even proficient typists may find it faster to dictate their ideas than to type them. Some writers compose better if they can verbalize their ideas out loud, and these tools allow them to capture their ideas efficiently into the text format.

Google Docs includes voice typing under the Tools menu, and Microsoft Word uses their integrated speech recognition feature.

Formatting toolbar. Although this step is mainly about drafting and capturing ideas, you'll probably do some editing and formatting along the way as well. The convenient shortcuts on the toolbar give you quick access to the most common tools, like alignment, font color and size, and text formatting as you're drafting.

It can also be helpful to highlight ideas that you wish to revise later. Maybe you have an idea but want to come back to it to develop it more completely after you've finished your first draft. You don't want to slow down your drafting right now. The highlighter tools or comment features can be great ways to tag these spots for future revision and review. Doing this can help you keep moving and achieve a completed draft before slowing down to edit and revise.

Cut, copy, and paste. Again, you're not in the editing stage yet, but you'll almost certainly be moving things around as you compose. This is a natural part of the composition process.

The cut, copy, paste feature might be the most powerful benefit of using a word processor to write and revise. When a draft is written out on paper, it can be very tedious to completely rewrite the work to complete the next draft. However, when it's as easy as it is when using a word processor, you'll be much more likely to do it. It also promotes the idea of changing your thoughts as your ideas evolve, which can help foster a growth mindset and improve your writing.

Word prediction. With the rapid growth of AI, most tools now include word prediction tools. You might be most familiar with this in terms of text messaging, when your phone suggests words that you might intend to use next. This word prediction feature can be helpful when drafting a message.

Artificial Intelligence helps programs learn your tendencies and predict what you might want to say next. While we don't want students to fall into the trap of using the same ideas over and over, the scaffold can be especially helpful for young writers, language learners, or students with learning disabilities.

Thesaurus and dictionary. Writers no longer need to carry around a thick, back-breaking thesaurus and dictionary. These are now conveniently integrated into almost all word processors. While you may return to these tools when revising, they can also be very helpful when composing. These features are often available through menu options or by highlighting a word and then right-clicking on it.

Spelling and grammar checkers. Once again, you're not at the revision or proofreading stage yet, but integrated spelling and grammar checkers can be very helpful during the drafting stage.

If you can catch these mechanical errors while drafting, it will help you shift your focus during the editing stage from mechanics to ideas. Mechanics are important, but the ideas are the heart of any writing. These integrated tools help to automate the low-level components of writing, allowing you to focus on the more sophisticated aspects of writing, such as your message.

Word count. While this is not the most important writing tool, it can be helpful when you're given an assigned length for a writing project. It can save a lot of time, which can then be spent on the actual writing.

And citations. Google and Microsoft both offer integrated citation generators. In Google Docs, you'll find this under the Tools menu, while in Microsoft Word, it's located under the References tab. Use these tools to keep track of the sources that you're using during your writing.

Number four, explore add-ons and extensions. While it's a good idea to become proficient with the integrated tools, first, you don't need to stop there. There are increasing numbers of add-ons and extensions that can be very helpful to you while you're writing. Microsoft offers add-ins through their app source. Google Docs and Google Chrome offer their largest selection or additional options through their workspace marketplace. Here are a few examples of add-on tools that you might find helpful:

One, Look. This Google Docs add-on gives you a quickly accessible thesaurus that pops up on the right side of your word processor. It can help students find synonyms, related words, and rhymes. While basic thesaurus tools are already integrated into the standard programs, this add-on can offer additional functionality and ease of use.

Math Type. Typing in math characters can be a real challenge on a word processor. That's where this Google Slides and Docs add-on comes in. It allows you to easily type in math equations and chemical formulas.

There's also a Microsoft version available. Similarly, Flat for Docs allows you to add musical characters and notations. And Easy Accent Marks allows you to easily add language accents to the type text. These add-ons can make it a lot easier to type in what you have in mind.

Google Docs Offline. This one can be a life saver for students who don't have internet at home. It allows students to continue working on a Google Doc, even when a Chromebook or device is offline. Then when they reattach to a network, that document will update.

Draftback. This is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to play back the drafting of a document as if it were a movie. While teachers often use this as a way to detect plagiarism or copy and pasting from AI, it can also help students review their revision history or thought process. It can even be used retroactively on existing documents.

And number five, leveraging AI tools. Now this is where writing teachers get a little nervous.

And personally, as a former writing teacher myself, I agree that we want students to learn to draft their own writing and not have AI do it for them. While I believe that AI is probably most appropriate during the pre-writing, revision, and editing stages of the writing process, here are a couple ways that you might consider using it during the drafting process.

The first strategy is to teach students how to ask questions about their writing. Essentially, the strategy has students ask the chatbot questions about their draft, much like they would ask their teacher. And we know it's hard for teachers to get around to every student in a timely manner. To do this, students would paste in their draft or a part of their draft, and then ask follow-up questions: "What am I missing in the development of this idea?" Other questions might include, "Does my main idea make sense?" "What questions might a reader have after reading this paragraph?"

"Is there anything confusing or unclear in this section?" These are often questions that a writer should ask themselves. But by asking a chatbot, you can get some actionable feedback.

Another strategy is to create a custom chatbot with a tool like School AI. By creating a custom chatbot, you can retain more control over how much help and what type of help your students are receiving from AI. Students might still use the same strategy of pasting in content and then asking a question, but by creating a custom chatbot, you can shape that feedback. For instance, you might redirect the chatbot to only pose probing questions and give hints rather than composing text for the student. This can help the chatbot act more like a coach or a helpful teacher.

For many students, the drafting stage of the writing process is the most challenging, and it requires a high level of critical thinking. It's not easy.

While we don't want technology to do the writing for our students, having them use some of these technology scaffolds and strategies can make the challenge a little less daunting. To learn more about today's topic and explore other free resources, visit AVID Open Access.org. Specifically, I encourage you to check out the article collection, "Power Up and Enhance the Writing Process with Technology."

And of course, be sure to join Rena, Winston, and me every Wednesday for our full-length podcast, Unpacking Education, where we're joined by exceptional guests and explore education topics that are important to you. Thanks for listening. Take care, and thanks for all you do. You make a difference.