Using online workshopping to teach the writing of short fiction: at the threshold of digital pedagogy

Face-to-face workshopping is a favoured method of teaching creative writing and it has received significant attention as a pedagogical tool. Approximately 80% of the students studying writing at the University of New England (UNE) do so as online students. As face-to-face workshopping has been seen to be an integral tool in teaching the writing of fiction, this was an inhibition to including fiction units in UNE's repertoire. A new short fiction unit was introduced in 2014 that pioneered the use of online workshopping using selected forum groups on Moodle at UNE. This paper reports on the implementation of workshopping in the teaching of the writing of short fiction in an online environment where students have not met face to face and only interact in online forums. While the results overall were successful, there were some downsides when students found themselves outside their comfort zone or perplexed at the relative freedom of expression permitted in a unit where the assessment requirements were demonstration of their creative activity. Students were also encouraged to engage with a range of online activities separate from the forum groups and open to all. They took to these with gusto and the overall student satisfaction for the unit was very high.