Publishing in OLOR: Sharing strategies for teaching writing and reading online

On July 1st I became President of the Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE), succeeding my good friend Beth Hewett. GSOLE is a hard-working group of scholars and practitioners, and since our launch in spring 2016 we have accomplished a lot to support teaching and research in online literacy instruction.

Many people who would or do teach writing and reading online are looking for practical strategies to help them. GSOLE has a tremendous resource for this purpose: OLOR: Online Literacies Open Resource. This online, peer-reviewed journal, created and edited by another good friend, Jason Snart, is a place that online teachers share their practices and strategies. From the site: "The goal of the OLOR is to publish relatively brief and practical pedagogical strategies. Busy online literacy teachers can read an OLOR publication and, within a few days, try out a strategy out for themselves."

OLOR submissions are designed to be a from-reading-to-course type experience, and not only is the content created with this goal in mind, but so is the way that content is presented: Short, user-friendly, multi-media articles.

The published pieces are organized around the Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction from the NCTE/CCCC 2013 Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction.

We are encouraging online literacy teachers to submit materials to OLOR. Already published have been pieces on asynchronous conversations and community, screencast feedback, and using blogs in an OWC. 

Check out OLOR, and consider publishing. In addition to sharing your practices, it can help you join a community of like-minded educators who care about helping students learn more effectively online.