Distance Learning

Right on the first page of Leslie Blair's website on Online Learning I found an interesting statement, "Having taught freshmen composition both in the classroom and online, I have noticed a unique learning advantage for students who participate online. Students who take an online composition course learn to communicate through writing because it is their only medium for communication. The practice they receive through writing to communicate with their instructor and peers can be as influential to their writing skills as major essay assignments." I think that this is an advantage of online learning that is often overlooked. Many people, myself included, believe that the only way to improve your writing is to simply write. A teacher can explain process and grammar until they are blue in the face with no improvement in students' writing. However, if students are constantly writing their papers seem to improve. For this reason, online learning certainly presents an advantage over traditional learning. When students would normally speak to teachers, in online learning they write instead. Students normally enter college able to communicate orally with few problems, and for that reason, explaining something in a classroom setting is not a challenge for them. However, if they are only able to communicate with peers and instructors through the written word, then they are constantly writing and this will undoubtedly improve their ability to communicate through writing.
So why is this advantage of online learning overlooked? People seem to fear online learning for many reasons, the most prevalent being the lack of face to face interaction. The thought that a benefit or advantage may arise out of this commonly perceived failing may be hard for some people to grasp. I do not want to discount face to face contact between teachers and students; yet, I think it is important to recognize that there are both positives and negatives to this situation that many fail to recognize. The failure to perceive the benefits that arise out of a lack of "normal" interaction seems to have led to an unwillingness to incorporate online learning into writing courses.

Diversity in Multimodal Composition

I found this weeks readings on minorities in cyberspace very interesting. I think it is important, when teaching computer-mediated composition, to recognize students will undoubtedly have different experiences with computers. It is not enough to simply recognize that some people will have used computers frequently while others will have not, but we also need to consider the reasons for this discrepancy. I thought all the articles for this week addressed important issues in the cyber-community especially concerning discrimination and bigotry. The article I found most interesting, probably because of my own relation to it, was "IM Me" by Shayla Marie Thiel.
In my highschool years, IM became the most popular form of communication, especially because cell phones were not yet a common thing for teenage girls to have. I can relate to many of the IM conversations or situations in Thiel's article as they are similar to ones from my own life. She frequently talks about how girls use IM to investigate their identities; but, I want to take this a step further. Is IM actually forming identies (both on and off the internet) for these girls, that would never have been formed otherwise? Does the freedom from parents, teachers, and control give these girls a way to not only explore who they are but actually discover it. Despite the many strides in feminism, girls are still expected to talk, act, and look a certain way. If these normalities are no longer required online, are young females discovering unique identities sooner? Or is IM just another way for girls to continue the catty social exercises that go on at school from the safety of their own home?
The other article that I found most interesting was "But I'm Just White" by Samantha Blackmon. It was very interested to see how self-exploration could be transferred into multimodal composition. I am not sure if she actually does this, but I think the most beneficial part of this class would be other students getting to view their peer's projects. If the class is as comfortable as she claims, then it seems students would be willing to share their projects. And I think for many young students it would be very beneficial to view the perspectives and projects of their diverse classmates. This is a great opportunity for growth in the academic, personal, and social sense.

Assessing Multimodal Composition

One of the many issues instructors have with incorporating multimodal composition is their ability to assess students compositions. However, once teachers become comfortable grading a website or video they will slowly become accustomed to this kind of assessment. The problem is not that there is not enough to grade or that it is too subjective, but rather, that instructors are simply not used to grading anything but words on a page. If these instructors think back to their first semester teaching, they will likely remember similar feelings that were then directed at writing. The problem of assessing multimodal composition is more a problem of fearing new rather than the actually absence of material to be graded.

 In Sonya Borton and Brian Huot's chapter "Responding and Assessing" they explain: "we have observed that teachers who have learned to design and produce at least one web site are more effective in structuring assignments that help students create and evaluate web texts" (103). This supports my idea that along with comfort, comes effective instruction. If teacher's are able to understand a students struggle, then they will also know how to help this student. Also, the more they create websites or other forms of composition on their own, the easier they will recognize how much students have done to improve their composition. 

When it comes to assessing multimodal composition, teachers will need to accept the fact that they will not be comfortable at first. However, the transition can be made easier if the old way they assess writing is compared to a new way to assess multimodal composition. Things like transitions, theses, and topic sentences are not entirely forgotten. However, they take different forms as navigation, home pages, and titles of pages within the site. We are not forgetting what our field has been teaching for so long, but instead taking what we know and applying it to something new and exciting. This process of change should not be viewed with disdain, but instead with excitement. Now composition teachers are being challenged to apply what we have taught for years to something new. This can be seen as an opportunity to expand our own personal knowledge while expanding the field we hold so dear.  

As I read through Jay David Bolter's "Writing Space: Hypertext and the Remediation of Print" I began to think about possibly multimodal assignments for a class.  To introduce my students to the power of images, I would like to have their first assignment be creating a webpage that only had images. The purpose of this webpage would be to give a biography about themselves, however, they could only use pictures to explain their life.  I think it would be both challenging and interesting for students to explain who they are without using words. It would be important to point out that it is not only the images they select that will define who they are, but the layout and background of the website will contribute to their image biography as well. 

I think this would be a beneficial first assignment because it will allow the teacher to get to know their students better. Also, because it will only be a single page, it would not take up that much time (students could spend 2-3 weeks on it in class).  When I think about forming my own website I realize that a lot of time can be spent on images. I have tried to pick images that directly and obviously reflect the text of my technology autobiography. I think by taking my students ability to use text away, it will force them to immediately consider how to use images to portray different things about themselves. It is also possible (and probably preferable) that later in the course they can use this webpage or the images from the webpage in later assignments that do include text. 

Remediation: the teacher's problem.

As I read through "Writing Space: Computers, Hyptertext, and the Remediation of Print" I was struck when Bolter said, "Digital technology is turning out to be one of the more traumatic remediations in the history of Western writing. One reason is that digital technology changes the 'look and feel' of writing and reading" (24). I certainly identify that this is (and will continue to be) a hard transition for many people. I personally have no desire to read a book on a computer screen; however, my preference for paper is of little importance. I think it is fair to say that most  composition teachers have some attachment to the printed word, and therefore, are having a hard time accepting that reading and writing is going to eventually be primarily represented through digital technology. 

I think our resistance is futile, and as composition teachers, we simply need to turn to our students for evidence. Even though my students are only about 6 years younger than me, I can see a big difference in how they use computers and how I use computers. I use my computer for school, communication, and sometimes entertainment (youtube, facebook, cnn). In comparison, my students use their computers for EVERYTHING. These people are not even a decade younger than me, and I think they would have little trouble with the remediation process. Later in Chapter 2 Bolter claims "what all media and media forms have in common for our culture is the promise of immediacy" (26). For this reason I think reading and writing will become primarily digital. Authors may jump on the band wagon of bands, and start leaving publishers (as opposed to record labels) in order to reach the public through the internet. This will allow authors to receive all the profit, and allow them creative freedom to do what they want. Further, instead of waiting in lines for Twilight or Harry Potter (like many of our students have) they will  simply wait until midnight of the release date and click their mouse to the screen to immediately receive their favorite author's new book. I think if we look to history, and realize that no one goes backward to older, less immediate forms of technology (especially in concern to reading and writing) then we should recognize it is time to accept the remediation process. Print will turn digital with or without the field of compositions support.

My Experience with Distance Learning

When we were originally assigned the distance learning assignment I was interested in how it would go because I have never taken an online course. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went, despite a lack of communication at the beginning of the assignment. I can see how easily it would have been for a group member to forget about the assignment, and then leave the rest of the group to pick up their slack. Luckily, this wasn't a problem in a graduate level course, but I wonder if it might frequently become a problem in an undergraduate composition class. Further, I thought facebook was an easy way to communicate, although I think if we had used email everyone would have been involved in our conversation earlier. 

The thing I really liked about this assignment was that the conversation we had was documented. Days after Christine and I began communicating, I could go back and refresh my memory by reading the discussion board. Also, because I am a visual learner and have to read something in order to retain it this worked well for me (even better then face-to-face interaction would have). Some people, however, may prefer to communicate through speech rather then text, and for them online learning may present some obstacles.  If I was going to teach an online class I would want to provide students with both audio and visual aids. If a student is in a traditional classroom they both hear the teacher explain assignments, and receive an assignment sheet. I think in an online course this would be beneficial as well. Perhaps a power point would be sufficient for students, but an actual video lesson would probably be ideal. I think when teaching an online course the teacher really needs to take all types of learners into account, and try to provide students with as much support as possible. 

Real conversations will also be beneficial for students and teachers in online learning. If I were to teach an online course I would try to hold "office hours" a few hours a week, where I would be on some form of chat (AIM, facebook, gchat) so students could have the chance to have a moving interaction with me. Email will always be an option, but an actual conversation--where students can ask questions and propose problems to the teacher and receive immediate, personal feedback--will give students the support they need in a composition class. 

Advantages of Multimodal Composition

As I read through Mickey Hess's "Composing Multimodal Assignments" I was debating whether I could create multimodal assignments, when I myself have had very few of these assigned to me. As this idea was wandering around my head, I came upon Hess's statement: "And although both teachers and students come to the classroom with prior experience in, and habitual approaches to, composing alphabetic essays, it would be unusual for them to have had similar extensive experience, or developed such sedimented habits, with video and audio composing. Thus, assignments that ask students to compose in multiple modalities can encourage both teachers and students to take creative approaches to making meaning." I then began to wonder, if teachers do have extensive experience, and students do not have habits set in stone, wouldn't teaching composition multimodally be a lot easier than teaching alphabetical composition? I wonder this because if there are no set habits, like there are in alphabetical composition, and no preconceived notions about composition, would it be like learning a new language without any previous knowledge or experience with another one? I ask this because it appears that the longer a person has used one language the harder it is for them to learn a second or third (easier for children to learn multiple languages than it is for adults). I make the comparison between foreign language and multimodal composition because they are both different ways of communicating ideas, so maybe learning trends will be similar. This brings me to my next point, if this is the case, then won't younger people, say college students, learn multimodal composition easier then older people, say tenured faculty? Perhaps multimodal composition will allow for the study of composition to continue and grow in a way previous generations never saw possible. 

My First Experience with Discussion Boards

Because today's reading was about design of classrooms and courses, I really wanted to take some time to talk about how my perceptions of technology in the classroom has changed since the beginning of the semester. After reading about all of the different designs for computer labs and classrooms, I am pretty sure that I have the best possible scenario in my laptop classroom. Not only can students move around freely with their computers, but the laptops can also disappear as easily as they are utilized. I have never been in a composition classroom that was in a computer lab before. But I think laptop classes eliminate some of the limitations of designed computer labs.

 On Monday I asked my students to develop and then post their theses and proposed audience for the next essay on blackboard. Then my students replied to the 2 students theses below theirs. I also replied to every student's thesis. This took the whole class period because students took a lot of time to develop their theses. Then they each when back and edited their post/thesis. 

The next class, we put the laptops away and formed a circle in the middle of the classroom using desks. Before moving to a discussion about parts of an argumentative essay, we discussed how the last class went and what they liked about the discussion board. Turns out, they loved it! This was the most energized and positive I had seen my class. Not only did they like the online interaction, they felt they all received really useful feedback from both their peers and myself. 

The reason I included this little anecdote, is to illustrate how beneficial laptop classrooms are. Not only do the students/instructors have the same benefits of a computer lab, they also have the work space of a traditional classroom. One day we can be in a computer lab setting, and the next we can sit around a circle and have a discussion just like in a traditional classrooms. I really think I will have a hard time going back to a traditional classroom after this experience. 

The Lack of "Rational-Critical" Debate

I found the reading "The future of rational-critical debate in online public spheres" by Matthew D. Barton very interesting. I especially enjoyed how he compared present forms of rational-critical debate to the bourgeois. However, as I began to think about the blogs and wikis I have read that debate public issues,  I became less sure these are comparable forms of rational-critical debate. Of course hot topics can be discussed in both forums, however, face-to-face conversation  requires a certain level of propriety that wikis and blogs do not. As for rational, the following is a response to a debate following a video of Matt Damon talking about Sarah Palin: 

"Believing that dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago is far less demeaning and asanine than believing the pure rhetoric that Obama spews...Only a complete idiot would but the snake oil he's selling, financial experts all agree that his proposed trillions in new federal spending would cost taxpayers dearly..."

Now I am all for rational-critical debate in the public sphere, but it seems to me that this is not the only use and probably not the most popular use for internet wikis and blogs. I actually cannot remember ever finding a blog about politics that did not have entries like the one above. 

This is also my fears about using a wiki or blog in the classroom. I understand that I can tell my students what appropriate electronic behavior is, but that does not mean they will listen. And, if I am not there to immediately acknowledge the situation and show the other students that it was dealth with, how do I know they will not all start to mimic this behavior? 

Things I take for Granted

When I was reading through Joan Huntley's "The Seven Cs of Interactive Design" I tried to imagine how I could create an interactive website that would somehow aid my students. There are plenty of grammar websites, so I would never feel the need or desire to create another, so what type of interactive website could I create that would benefit the students in my class? I am still thinking about this, and will update this when I come up with a magnificent idea!

When reading through Chapter 1 "1979-1982: The Profession's Early Experience with Modern Technology"  I really found the early history of computers in relation to instruction very interesting. I must say I am very thankful that I was not one of these writing instructors that  created programs for writing on the computer. As I kept reading I really started to think about everything I take for granted when I write a paper. I am not sure I have ever written a paper without the use of a computer, so this honestly was the first time I thought about what that would be like. As I reflected, I realized that I will never say I hate technology again: Microsoft Word should be enough reason for my change in perspective. Below I have listed some of the reflections which altered my opinion on computer technology. 

The first thing I do when I write a paper is research. Without a computer this would be a whole different ball game. I would only have access to the University Library, and if I was doing a composition history paper, this would likely be a huge problem. What if I wanted to do research in the middle of the night, or early in the morning when I woke up? I couldn't. I would have to be ready to research not on my time, but on the libraries. So the first thing I took for granted, thanks to computers and the internet, is convenience. 

Next I would start prewriting, and for this I could get by without the computer. I could write down my quotes and an outline, but I would have had to hand copy any quote I wanted to use when I went to the library to research. 

Next I need to start writing, and I guess I would spread out my handwritten notes all around me and continue to hand write my paper. So when I make changes do I cross things out and draw arrows?

 I know this is not a great new realization; however, I really had never thought about how much easier my student life was made by computers. They have not only made my life easier, but they have saved me time and allowed me to work on a paper whenever I want (24 hours a day!). Even in high school I turned in papers that I had typed on a computer. I cannot imagine what a revision process of a thesis would be like on a type writer! I guess what I am trying to say is I am glad people like Lisa Gerrard and her students were not stopped by sneering engineers who thought writing on computers was "mickey mouse".

Bridging the Gap

There were a few parts of the reading that really caught my attention, and made me think long and hard about the general ideas behind a composition class. The example of David Damon, I think, is far more common than any teacher would like to recognize. David was in college in 1999, and he seemed to be ahead of the times. I have had plenty of students who were unable to leave their computer or phone talk behind when they began writing for class, and as teachers, we need to find a way to deal with this (not by failing them).  Selfe's article seems to point out the fact that David didn't fail because of inability or lack of intelligence, but rather, because his teachers were unable to find a way to connect his life and experiences with what he was supposed to be learning in class. I recognize that text speak and Internet dialog is not considered proper diction for academia, but somehow we need to find a way to bridge the gap between how students write in their personal and professional lives. If people, like David, can be so successful in business and website design, should they be dismissed from a university because they couldn't pass a comp class? David is already doing well, but couldn't he possibly be doing better with a few business or design classes under his belt? It seems that there is something drastically wrong here. Of course I believe that writing is an important tool for every individual, and I think that David gave teachers a glimpse of today almost 20 years ago. Just because students can't form a sentence in a manner that the teacher considers "proper", does that mean the meaning is lost? If students can communicate, and in David's case I would venture to say communicate well, then there is no doubt that we can and should find a way to make room for these people in our classrooms. 

Another thing I wanted to mention briefly, was the activity "colorful handwriting" Anne Wysocki talks about. This idea really excited me! I am not sure I could incorporate it into the class (Eng 111) I am teaching now. However, in the future I would really like to. As soon as I read it I could see the benefits of this exercise--not to mention how much fun it would be. I think it would be an especially interesting way to look at tone. I know that if I was doing this assignment, I would use red when angry, blue when calm, etc. I wonder if others would do the same? Sorry for the tirade, I just really thought that was a neat activity.