Observing children writing on screen : exploring the process of multi-modal composition

Introduction - Over recent decades, there have been a number of shifts in recommendations for teaching writing in schools. In the late 1980s/1990s, much thinking focused on encouraging children to see writing as a process. Building on the work of influential thinkers and practitioners such as Frank Smith (1982) and Donald Graves (1983, 1989) and championed in the United Kingdom through the National Writing Project (1990, 1991), such approaches prioritised composition (planning, drafting and revising) before concentrating on transcription (punctuation, spelling and finally presentation). Whilst this process was never intended to be perceived as a rigid, linear process, many teachers welcomed the opportunity to encourage children to delay concerns about surface features, including presentation, until they had developed their ideas