Dr. Harrington’s Blog

This chapter is from the text W510 students have been reading, Teaching Writing with Computers: An Introduction, edited by Pamela Takayoshi (an IUPUI alumna!) and Brian Huot. Janet Carey Eldred and Lisa Toner, writing for an audience of people who are just starting (or soon to be starting) to teach writing, outline ways writing technologies not just “augment” our traditional ways of teaching, but (potentially) transform ways of teaching instead. The chapter opens (33-36) with their argument. You’ll see (again!) the influence of Cynthia Selfe’s arguments about “paying attention.” Remember what we talked about in class: don’t just walk away from what appears to be repetition, convinced you already know it. Look at it this way: Eldred and Toner read the same piece by Selfe you did, and it has led them to think and write. See how the influence worked out.

Some particular things they took from Selfe include the notion that “students….are coming t our classrooms having been changed by new digital technologies….teachers who are educated in and committeed to print culture” are sometimes resistant to the “new digital literacies” they bring to class (34, the first quotation is Selfe’s words, the second term is Eldred and Toner’s words). Eldred and Toner seek to outline ways we might think about technology playing a role in writing classrooms (focusing on traditional classrooms, like ours).

The bulk of their piece looks at aspects of writing that might be changed with technology:

• Beginnings (36 ff)
• Generating Ideas for Research (38)
• Drafting (38-39)
• Peer and Instructor Reviewing (39-40)
• Editing (40-41)
• Publishing and Grading (41)
• Whole Classroom Management (42)
• Pilots, Resources, Planning (42 ff)

Their notes and bibliography are valuable resources. As you read, think about what kinds of activities you have experienced with technology, and what kinds of experiences you dream about for school (or your own writing). This article is addressed to teachers, so many of you will see ideas here you might adapt for the future. Those of you who aren’t planning to teach, though, are students. So see this piece through student eyes. What would you think of this teaching approach in your classes?

This should also help you with your plans for the Really Useful Technology (or Teaching Strategy) assignment. There are plenty of ideas here for things to do and learn.

We talked in class about a possible change in the blog format. Unless you have a uniblogs blog, you’ve gotten feedback from me about your blog (uniblogs feedback to come this weekend, servers willing!). Especially if you’re Ryan and the notes on line are working well for you, keep it up. But if you want to explore some other possible approaches to blogging, you may. You might prefer to respond to one of the arguments in the text, or you might extend one of the arguments or outline an application of the text, for example. Or, you might address a leading question provided by me each week. We’ll use them to jump start discussion next week.  Remember, this portion of your grade–the first assignment, blogging–is about your careful reading and class preparation. I’m interested in seeing a) that you are doing the reading and b) how you are working with the ideas in the reading as you get ready for class.  So keep that in mind as you blog and comment.

Leading Questions for Blogs: How, specifically, have you been changed by your experiences of technologies? What do your digital literacies lead you to expect in school? What kinds of literacies do your teachers expect in school? What kinds of technology experiences have seemed useful to you in your previous schooling?

Blogging Buddies: Read the blog of one other student, and use the comments to have a little dialogue during the week (at a minimum, leave one comment each on the blog–you can comment on your own blog after your buddy leaves a comment). The buddies are:

• Becky-Ryan-Alan
• Alissa/Amanda M
• Robert/Britt
• Mica/Amanda R.
• Cherilyn/Glenn
• Trent/Amanda C
• Heather/Ashley

This week’s rabbit trail: You may be interested in Janet Carey Eldred’s varied career: I linked to her department profile in the first paragraph. She’s written articles on teaching, theory, and technology, and she’s also published a collection of essays, Sentimental Attachments (reviewed here), ruminating on personal and academic themes. You can see one of the essays, about her experiences of motherhood and adoption, in an earlier form here.