Students can know how to use technology for simple tasks and still feel uncomfortable using it for academic work. As discussed in Being Online Doesn’t Mean Being Digitally Literate, familiarity with technology does not always equal digital literacy.
Melanie Gagich’s study expands this idea by showing that technological experience also does not guarantee confidence. Students can understand how to use digital tools and still feel nervous about creating multimodal projects or sharing their work publicly.
An interesting part of the study is how students’ emotions changed throughout the project. In the beginning of their multimodal assignments, many students felt nervous, anxious, worried, or confused. But after completing it, more students described themselves as excited, proud, confident, and accomplished. This show that just because students may be uncomfortable with an assignment at first does not mean that they cannot succeed. Multimodal confidence can grow as students gain more experience with digital projects.
Sharing academic work to a public audience is a different type of pressure. Social media may be familiar to many students but posting personal content is not the same as posting academic work. Student may worry about how their work will be perceived within a larger audience.
Teacher should consider students’ emotions when assigning digital assignments. Providing students with examples, guidance, and opportunities to voice their concerns will help them feel more comfortable.
Digital writing is not about having the skills to complete a project. Students also need the confidence to take risks and share their ideas with audiences outside of the classroom. Confidence can grow through experience, support, and practice.
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