Publishing podcasts, writing digital stories with "choose your own adventure" endings, and collaborating with students around the country through wikis, Skype, and VoiceThread, Julie D. Ramsay never imagined that she and her fifth grade students would be forging a new frontier using technology to support writing lessons.

In a school district with minimal resources and a prescriptive curriculum that makes originality a constant challenge, Julie could have continued teaching grammar and writing skills in isolation. But when she realized how hungry her students were for "real" writing...