Writing Skills in the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities-A Review of Applied Linguistics, Educational Technology, and Composition Studies Literature

Writing today has an entirely different process and product, completely reimagined because of new digital technology. The ability to write on a computer and then save, copy, and share the writing, as well as having access to social media, easier messages and group work with cloud programs, not to mention the newer writing assist programs that employ AI and machine learning to help, writing has become more digital and more differentiated than ever. This paper analyzes and studies both the good and the bad that the digital age has brought to writing. It discusses the diminished focus on grammar andThe more this technology is used as a crutch, the more it is used, in turn creating a bigger concern for plagiarism. However, this technology also has given writing the ability to be more multi-media, collaborative and instantly edited, published, and given feedback, all of which extend the scope of digital writing. The paper uses recent studies in Applied Linguistics and Educational Technology and Composition to show how this potentially positive technology can be a more constructive and educational resource in the classroom. The paper presents potential future classroom exercises designed to promote critical digital writing.