First-Year Writing Program Presents the Inaugural Digital Literacy Expo

On November 22, San José State's First-Year Writing (FYW) Program is proud to present its first-ever Digital Literacy Expo, an interactive showcase of student work spotlighting digital works in progress. The event is part of an ongoing digital literacy initiative supported by Adobe Systems and the Office of the Provost at SJSU, as well as a California State University Supported Pathways grantto support instruction in first-year writing.

Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing Ryan Skinnell serves as the director of the First-Year Writing Project and is partnering with Amanda Smith, coordinator of the Stretch English program (a one-year program that divides English 1A into two semesters), to host the event.

"We define digital literacy in terms of texts, broadly defined, that appear in digital spaces," Skinnell says. "If I write a paper for class, how might that be put into different media? It could be available to people on a website or turned into a video or podcast."

Participating students have the opportunity to present assignments created using a variety of Adobe tools. In addition to Skinnell and Smith's students, five other first-year writing classes will contribute work for the expo. Assignments are fairly open-ended, depending on the class; Skinnell's students are expected to produce an op-ed about voting rights, while another instructor's class is creating work that examines environmental texts. The event will take place in rooms 4A/4B on the second floor of the Lupe and Compean Diaz Student Union, where the public is invited to circulate to speak with students about their projects on display.

Mia Castillo Garcia, '28 Biological Sciences, plans to present a project dedicated to her family at the expo on Nov. 22.

"In my English class, we were assigned to connect our favorite food with a memory [by creating] a web page," she explains. "I immediately thought of lomo saltado (beef stir fry), my favorite Peruvian dish, which reminds me of an unforgettable and bittersweet memory of my mother teaching me how to make it while undergoing chemotherapy for cancer."

Castillo Garcia adds that the assignment allowed her to share her story "not only with words, but also images of the dish, creating a richer and more meaningful experience." The experience has also challenged her to experiment with various storytelling tools.

"Learning to use AI-generated images and other digital tools has shown me the power of digital literacy, and I believe we should all embrace these tools to further our participation in today's society," she says. "I discovered a love for turning my writing into web pages and videos which I might never have explored otherwise. Everyone can find a unique way to share their stories; it's just a matter of finding what fits you best."

"The Digital Literacy Expo offers a different way to think about the curriculum," says Skinnell. "We're not replacing traditional essays by any stretch of the imagination, but we're thinking about how students engage with writing and reading in their classes when they go to work out in the world."

Students are experimenting with Adobe products and other digital tools that sometimes incorporate artificial intelligence (AI), which Skinnell hopes will prompt productive dialogue about how to appropriately incorporate AI into creative and academic writing.

"We as writing teachers now have the opportunity to think about what we bring to the work of teaching writing if a polished text can be produced by robots," he says. "AI can produce at the drop of a hat, but it can't figure out how to work through feedback and incorporate things from class discussion over a series of iterations."

Those iterations make up the real act of writing and rewriting, he says, and offer students the chance to experiment with various forms of storytelling.

Skinnell hopes that the inaugural Digital Literacy Expo helps all First-Year Writing students understand that there are many ways to present their work, with an emphasis on the drafting, revising and rewriting processes.

"Our students are starting to think really early in their first-year writing classes about how they write and produce the knowledge that will carry them through their majors," he says. "The things that students produce may surprise them. I'm very curious to see what they produce."

Learn more about the Digital Literacy Expo on Nov. 22.

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