E-mail me your thoughts: digital communication and narrative writing

The use of ICT for communicating with those not physically present in the classroom can add a new dimension to literacy work. This study illustrates how the interactive nature of e-mail opens new possibilities for young writers, enriching the curricular emphasis on genres and forms, and expanding children's horizons by encouraging them to write in new ways for new audiences. The paper reports on a study into the use of e-mail as a means of providing support for classroom writing projects at Key Stage 2. These projects, with pupils in the 7–10 age range, focused on two popular narrative genres: sword and sorcery adventures, and sci-fi stories. The research shows how digital communication can be used to enrich print-based literacy whilst at the same time providing a creative exploration of new forms of interactive written discourse on screen.