syllabus
calendar
blackboard
student.email resources

last.updated 6.10.08

 

The New Technologies of Literacy

Purpose

The previously limited repertoire of delivery methods–pen or pencil on paper, the printed page, the typewritten page–has in recent decades become ubiquitous and almost invisible to both writers and readers. Now writers and readers with computer access can produce and receive texts delivered in many different multimodal formats that alter our epistemological experiences. Today we will discuss the pedagogical significance of writing technology's latest iterations and how we might use these tools in the classroom.

Discussion I - Writing/Reading (with) Digital Technologies

The readings for this week prompt us to think about the digital technology's influence on writing and how that shapes our writing instruction. We will discuss the following:

  • What questions do you have about these articles?
  • What are their respective arguments?
  • What did you find most interesting about these readings?
  • Imagine the writers we read for today in a conversation with the New London Group. What would they say to each other?
  • Many of you read Baron's "From Pencils to Pixels" in the Text and Technologies course. Baron, in this article, provides a useful historical account of our perceptions towards new writing technologies. How does his history and his arguments help make policy arguments for using technology in the English Studies classroom, as well as how you actually incorporate the technologies into your pedagogy.
  • Luke wrote her chapter about a decade ago, how well does her argument hold up after ten years of hindsight and the most recent technological advances?
  • Selber and Shipka provide two examples of using digital writing technologies in our writing courses, both to teach the technologies and as an option for delivering their assignments. How might you appropriate or alter their ideas for another English Studies course?

Activity I: Using the Technology for Peer Review

In two groups you will develop a peer review activity that takes advantage of the computer technologies in the class. The group should...

  • look at all of the options that the computer offers
  • think about which technologies would best facilitate peer review for a large project and a small class of advanced students
  • design the activity and develop a rationale based upon the readings for this class
  • present the activity to your peers after 30 minutes

As a class we will decide which version of peer review we will adopt for Activity II

Activity II: Peer Review

You will adopt the chosen peer review method to provide one of your peers feedback on her Pedagogy Project and Rationale. Remember to provide substantive feedback that your peer can consider while revising her work.