Teaching English and Computer
Literacy:
How Faculty in All Departments
Can Capitalize on What Students are Learning
March 30, 2000 - 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Student Center Forum Room
| Carole Papper | Rich Rice | Web Newbold |
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| English | English | English |
Almost all BSU students take classes in the English Department and about 95% of writing courses are taught in computerized classrooms. The Writing Program also encourages students to use a variety of computer tools. This session described some of the tools used in writing classes and the writing program:
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MS Word - All writing classrooms have MS Word installed and students are encouraged to use it for many different tasks. |
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First Class - This "environment" is both a web-based tool and an intranet program. It allows students to post work (written in MS Word or other word processors), asynchronously receive feedback and interact with others in the class, and offers other features to support learning to write. It is Very fast, stable system being used in about 70% of the composition courses (1999-2000 academic year). Cost is about $5 per user. Faculty should contact Rich Rice if they are interested in exploring its potential.. |
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Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment - This environment supports writing, chat, and other tools to support writers. Expensive. It is used by about 10% of composition classes. |
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CommonSpace - This tool is column based: The document is in one column and each reviewer has a column. Used in about 5% of composition courses. One drawbck is cost - $200/user. |
| OWL (Online Writing Lab) - students post papers and receive comments from cyberproctors. The cyberproctors do not re-write the paper - They suggest ways to improve it. |
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StorySpace - Hypertext tool that is useful for storyboarding. Only have reader at present. |
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Acrobat Reader, Power Point, and other tools are being used with increased frequency. |
Faculty who are interested in learning more about computer tools that aid writing and writing development are encouraged to examine the following books:
Computers and the Teaching of Writing in American Higher Education,
1979-1994 : A History (New Directions in Computers and Composition Studies)
(1996) Gail E. Hawisher, Paul Leblanc, Cynthia L. Selfe, & Sibylle Gruber
[available in hard cover, paper cover, and PE1405.U6 C66 1996]
Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century : The Importance of
Paying Attention (Studies in Writing & Rhetoric)
(1999) Cynthia L. Selfe, & Hugh Burns
[available in paper or LC149.5 .S45 1999]
and web sites:
BSU
First Class
Writing, Computers, and Literacy
Initiative
Kairos
author and copyright : Darrell L. Butler, last update 04/07/00
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