Fan Fiction Goes to School: Teacher-Supported Networked Writing in a High School Setting

• In Event: Roundtable Session 48
  In Roundtable Session: Writing and Literacies SIG Roundtable 6. Game On: Youth Participation and Identity in Video Games, Popular Literature, and Self-Expression

Abstract

Research of youth participation in online writing communities has begun to suggest that teachers and classrooms have important roles to play in helping young writers fully realize the potential of these online spaces. This study examines the creation and implementation of a high school elective course called, “Fanfiction and Creative Writing: Sharing Your Work in Online Spaces.” Qualitative data were collected and inductively analyzed with sociocultural notions of literacies and theories of audience in networked publics serving as sensitizing concepts. Findings point to how course activities informed writers’ understanding of audience in ways that shaped their writing and uncover challenges teachers encountered. Implications for literacies pedagogy and continued research are shared.

Author

• Jayne C. Lammers, University of Rochester