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.