One of the greatest attractions of using digital technology to teach writing is the opportunities it offers for multimedia writing.  Multimedia writing starts with writing text, and then uses a combination of text, images, audio and/or video to illustrate the story and/or enhance the viewer's experience of it.  The information presented in each medium is complementary, not redundant, so that different parts of the story are told using different media. 

Using multimedia is a great way to engage students in many of the disciplines of writing. It also often entices the less engaged student to participate. Among the attributes of a multimedia project are these:

• Conceptualization: Students develop an idea, a workplan and a strategy for accomplishing their task;
• Clear writing: Students write as they plan out their concept, interview people, do various types of research and create narration;
• Detail: Using Web links, digital images, audio and/or video in a writing project helps students think out details they will need to bring their project to life;
• Collaboration: The entire process lends itself to collaboration and shared learning; and
• Different viewpoints: Students tend to think differently when using different media; a multimedia project helps them see an idea from a variety of viewpoints.

Click on the links below to learn more about specific forms of multimedia writing and get ideas about how you can use them in your classroom.