THE DISTRIBUTED LEARNING PROCESS
Training Video Transcript
(c) The Writing Academy, LLC.

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When we teach writing, one of the most important things we can remember is this: learning is not a one-and-done event. That idea is at the heart of the Distributed Learning Process.

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Distributed learning means that instead of teaching an important skill once, in one isolated block of time, we intentionally spread learning and practice across multiple opportunities. Students encounter a concept, practice it, return to it, strengthen it, and then apply it again in increasingly complex ways.

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And nowhere is this more important than in teaching the writing process.

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Think about what can happen when writing is taught in isolated units. We might spend one week teaching prewriting, move on to drafting, then teach revising, followed by editing, and eventually leave those individual lessons behind. But that is not how authentic writing works.

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A writer does not simply prewrite and never think about planning again. A writer may begin drafting, discover a better idea, and return to planning. During revision, the writer may recognize that the organization needs to change. While editing, the writer may revise a sentence because correcting it reveals a better way to communicate the idea. Writing is recursive.

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That means students need repeated opportunities to return to the definition, purpose, and application of the writing process while they are actually building a paper over time.

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We can think of distributed learning in writing as a continuing cycle: Define. Apply. Return. Build. Repeat.

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First, we define the process so students understand what writers do and why.

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Then students apply that process to authentic writing.

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Next, we return to previously learned steps as the writing develops.

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We build upon what students already understand by adding new strategies, greater sophistication, and increasing independence.

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And then we repeat the cycle with new writing experiences.

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Each return is intentional. Students are not simply doing the same thing again. They are revisiting familiar learning with greater knowledge, greater independence, and a new opportunity for application.

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That is why The Writing Academy, LLC adheres to the Distributed Learning Process when teaching the all-important writing process.

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We do not believe the individual stages of writing should simply be taught as isolated units, checked off a pacing calendar, and left behind. Instead, we intentionally return, reinforce, apply, and build.

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Students continually revisit what writers do as they develop ideas, draft, revise, edit, and strengthen their compositions over time.

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Because the goal is not simply for students to remember the steps of the writing process. The goal is for students to eventually think and work like writers.

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And that kind of learning is not built in one lesson. It is distributed, strengthened, and developed, over time.

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Once learned. Always used.