Thursday Morning Half-day Workshops, 9-12

A -- Devereaux Library Basement Lab

Abstract: Intended for instructors at all levels (K-college), this half-day workshop provides participants with in-depth knowledge about how to use the latest version of Microsoft Word in combination with Netscape or Explorer to teach writing. The session will consist entirely of practical, hands-on exercises designed for participants to replicate in their writing classes. We will demonstrate exercises for each stage of the writing process from prewriting to proofreading. We will focus especially on using Word together with a Web browser to facilitate both peer feedback and instructor response--in other words, we have devised a Web-based system for writers to share drafts and to comment on these drafts in a robust way without the use of specialized software.

Participants will leave the workshop with a URL that outlines step-by-step each of the exercises we explored. They will also learn about a number of other Web sites which provide similar information about practical "stuff you can do on a computer" (as the original ACW-L post that lead to this workshop suggested).

Thursday Afternoon Half-day Workshops, 1:30-4:30

B -- Devereaux Library Basement Lab

Abstract: This workshop is for people comfortable with MOO programming. Our experience teaching, programming, and interacting on MOOs has shown that the "text only" interface of the MOO is often a source of difficulties for users. These difficulties range from the steep learning curve of new users, to the limited sense of "presence" on a purely textual world. To address these difficulties we programmed a MOO interface using the Pueblo telnet client from Chaco Communications, Inc. The Pueblo client can be programmed to make MOOs easier to navigate as well as to present useful multimedia information.

As an extension of our proposed poster presentation that will demonstrate the Pueblo interface on a more basic level, this workshop will provide specific instruction in the design, implementation, and programming of the graphical Pueblo for MOO servers. This workshop, meant for advanced users, will take a "hands on" approach. We will cover the basics of getting Pueblo to recognize your MOO, how to design an interface that makes it easier for users to interact with the interface and the MOO, as well as answer specific questions that the attendees may have about programming Pueblo. As a result of this workshop, we hope that the attendees can develop their own intuitive graphical interfaces that address the needs of their audiences.

Thursday Full-day Workshops, 9-4:30

C and J (now combined with former D) -- Electrical Engineering Lab (307 EE/Physics)

Coordinators: Dickie Selfe

Institution: Michigan Technological University

Tari Fanderclai

Institution: The MITRE Corporation

Facilitators:
Robert Royar, Morehead State University
Michael Moore, University of Arizona
Karla Kitalong, Michigan Technological University
Susan Halter, Delgado Community College
Janet Cross, California State University, Northridge
Marcy Bauman, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Winnie Wood, Wellesley College
James Inman, University of Michigan
Catherine Spann, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
Barry Maid, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
Sharon Cogdill, St. Cloud State University
Janice Walker, University of South Florida

Abstract:

The facilitators of these two workshops are willing to invest energy in this effort because of some fundamental beliefs:

- We believe that long-term or large-scale research is not a waste of time. - We have a great deal to learn from systematic studies of the cyber-learning, working, and reading processes of students and highly adept cyberworkers. - We understand that projects of this type are very difficult to sustain and complete, largely because institutions of higher education and public education place substantial barriers in the way of motivated researchers. - We are certain that on the whole inter-institutional projects--like the collaborations we hope to see develop from these two workshops--will be fundable. - We are profoundly skeptical, as is Fred Kemp, about finding a single, "research design that would satisfy the calls for methodological rigor I've been hearing for 12 years." Indeed, we are not interested in defining such an ideal methodology. - We believe the synergistic opportunity offered by the virtual and face-to-face Computers and Writing conference each year is the perfect venue for establishing inter-institutional research collaborations.

Research Forum A

Therefore, in the first workshop, we propose to bring together interested researchers and research groups who will give short presentations that summarize their interests and projects. The object of the discussions to follow each presentation will be to provide feedback on and resources for the research itself and to encourage others interested in the issues or methodologies to form collaborative research consortia.

Research Forum B

The second workshop (on Sunday) will tap the energy and interests of participants who have been attending the conference presentations. Although a core of facilitators will be on hand to begin generating research questions relevant to the important sessions they attended, much more time will be given over to workshop participants and their interests and research observations. They will be encouraged to share those observations with the group with the hope that participants with compatible research methodologies or research questions will make alliances. Those groups will be give time to plan and sketch out fundable projects. A final report of project summaries and contact people will be distributed to the Computers and Writing Conference participants.

D (Now combined with C; please register for C)

Facilitators:
James Inman, University of Michigan
Catherine Spann, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
Barry Maid, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
Sharon Cogdill, St. Cloud State University
Janice Walker, University of South Florida

Abstract:
Six computers and writing teachers and researchers, located all over the United States, spent several months in the summer of 1998 designing a research study to answer the question: Does a collaborative software package foster teamwork among first-year composition students, and if so, in what situations? In the fall of 1998, we will solicit and train eligible researchers who volunteer to carry out our study in their classrooms. These teachers will do the study during the spring of 1999 and bring the results to our workshop.

The purpose of our study is three-fold:

--- to begin to answer the research question

--- to begin the process of adapting quantitative and qualitative methodologies modelled on those used in the social sciences to better fit computers and writing studies --- to provide a model for the development of cross-institutional research projects for carrying out large-scale investigations in computers and writing.

Our workshop will begin with an overview of our procedures and the study itself, and will include enough information about basic quantitative research and ethnographic methods for others to be able to use them. Some of the researchers will present their results in detail and report on their perspectives of participating in this project. We will follow the report of what we did with a discussion of lessons learned and how we will respond to them in upcoming phases of the study.

In the next portion of the workshop, attendees will brainstorm about next steps for this research project--more questions that need to be answered in the same area as this study, other methodologies that need to be used, and so on. Workshop attendees will then break into groups assisted by one or more study designers and one or more researchers, who will guide the group in outlining a cross-institutional collaborative research project of their own. Workshop members will be encouraged carry out the projects they design, either as part of our ongoing project or on their own, as well as to use what they've learned in this workshop to design other cross-institutional collaborations to do research in other areas of computers and writing.

Abstract:
FirstClass® Collaborative Classroom (http://www.education.softarc.com) is a top-down, platform independent intranet which enables students, teachers, and administrators to store, change, and delete information in a powerful and flexible learning environment. FC intranets are an inexpensive choice for institutions seeking usable learning spaces and can be accessed via a client program or a web browser through the Internet. This groupware program is widely used in commercial as well as educational contexts. FC includes email, synchronous and asynchronous message conferencing, drag-and-drop folder architecture, file transfer, and "on the fly" web-pages in one easy-to-learn package. Workshop participants will learn how to use this tool to expand the traditional classroom and design learning modules or environments that fit different pedagogies, course content, and hidden curricula in both face-to-face and distance learning teaching.

Participants will discover the philosophy underlying Emory University's FirstClass® "LearnLinkTM" Program (http://www.learnlink.emory.edu);sdiscuss the University of Wisconsin, Madison's use of the software to teach various fields and subjects (http://www.wisc.edu/firstclass); critically examine the innovative YUwrite Program at York University, Toronto (http://www.yorku.ca); investigate the interactive pedagogy of teachers at Georgian College (http://online.georcoll.on.ca); and reflect on the steps instructors in the English Department at Ball State University have taken to finance, setup, develop, and train teachers and students to use their new FC server (http://www.bsu.edu/classes/rice/FC). Other institutions will also be represented either physically or virtually.

Participants will learn and use the client and browsers to create actual learning environments (via Ball State) which their current or future courses could begin using. These learning environments will continue to grow and be used after the conference as this workshop will encourage inter-collegial partnerships. Participants will learn how to download and install the needed software on their home and office computers, acquire accounts, and browse folders and documents. Teachers will create learning conferences where their students can exchange and peer-review one another's writing, learn how to create the necessary permissions and the philosophy behind this groupware product, practice using FC's synchronous conferencing feature (with real students) and saving transcripts for meta-reflection, and create web-pages through FC's very user-friendly "document to web-page" feature. After creating useable environments each participant will demonstrate to others in the workshop, as if they were faculty or students, how to use their learning space in the context of their curriculum.

F -- Computer Science Lab (McLaury 304)

Abstract:

Larry Wall's Perl has become one of the most important languages for Web-based data collection, editing, and the like. However, the practicality of the language for the writing instructor far exceeds what one may think of when reading _Programming Perl_ or _Learning Perl_. This workshop is designed to introduce the student to some of the ways Perl can be used to automate common teaching tasks, from assignment collection, to mailing evaluation of grades to students, to more sophisticated development of Web pages which use forms and other Perl-powered features.

Mystifications and problems typically encountered by novice Perl programmers will be described and (hopefully) eliminated. We'll offer debugging and learning strategies, and point to effective online resources which may not appear obvious to the Web searching Perl novice.

Target audience is the intermediate to advanced computer user. While access to and familiarity with a Unix environment is not mandatory for effective and practical Perl, it sure makes things easier.

Textbook for the course is _Learning Perl, 2nd Edition, by Randal Schwartz. Obviously, we won't read the whole text this day, but we'll try to offer strategies for using it and point out the most helpful sections.

G -- Devereaux Library Third Floor Lab

Abstract:
Librarians always have been the keepers of knowledge, be it in the monasteries of the Benedictines or the Library of Congress. They are the catalogers, the bibliographers, the guides to information. In this era of rapidly changing technology, the librarians are the people to whom composition teachers should turn when they are teaching basic research.

Composition teachers should draws upon the expertise of librarians as a resource for the teaching of research skills. Because of their working knowledge of information resources, librarians can help teachers design assignments that will teach students to develop good research strategies and maximize the use of both print and online library materials.

Basic approaches to research remain the same. What has changed is the amount of information available to us and the forms used to distribute it. Students can access library resources from computer terminals throughout campuses and from their homes. Online catalogs have been joined by full text/image databases that enable students to read the texts of books and journals on their computer screens. Selecting and evaluating information resources remains an important component of the research process.

The volume of information available to the student makes this skill essential.

This workshop will offer ways that composition teachers and librarians may work as partners to guide the research process for students.

We will provide hands-on activities in:

1. assessing library assignments 2. designing search strategies that facilitate effective use of library information, particularly electronic. 3. accessing bibliographic and full text data bases available through libraries and campus networks. 4. evaluating electronic resources for their intrinsic value as well a their relationship to other resources. 5. designing assignments to maximize the use of resources and minimize plagiarism.

Emphasis will be on design and assessment. In other words, "if I tried to complete my own assignment, would I be successful?"

Sunday Afternoon Workshops, 2:30-5:30

H -- Electrical Engineering Lab (EE/Physics 307)

Abstract:
Cynthia Selfe, in her 1998 CCCC Keynote Address, suggested that "[w]e need to help all . . . teachers get more education on both technology and use technology in pre-service and in-service educational programs." All too often these programs take the form of workshops that are ineffective for they either showcase students' work or are software and/or hardware demos.

To resolve this problem and to answer Selfe's call, we have created an eight-step process for developing and implementing pre-service and in-service technology workshops for faculty that meld instructional design theory with social constructionism. Our process allows individuals to design and conduct workshops tailored to meet institution, department, and/or faculty needs and philosophies. Additionally, instructors who want to use technology in their classrooms can modify the process for their individual courses.

The facilitators will open the workshop by sharing their experiences developing and conducting technology workshops for the English department faculty at the University of Houston-Downtown and include feedback from past workshop participants. Workshop participants will learn how to apply the eight-step process and ascertain how it fulfills the need to incorporate composition theory with practice with regards to technology use. Facilitators will form small group discussions based on participant's ideas. Groups will then: - assess their current hardware and software applications for use in teaching with computers. - explore the benefits and limitations of teaching in an electronic classroom. - prepare a plan (e.g., goals, methodology) to create a workshop. - develop ideas for activities and ancillary materials that could be used in a workshop. - design assessment tools (e.g., survey, tests) to assess their workshop. - discuss and propose research for scholarship and research in the field.

The facilitators will conclude the workshop by having participants discuss research issues related to technology development as faculty move beyond computer literacy and carefully contemplate how, why, and what technology can accomplish in the classroom.

I -- Governor's Electronic Classroom (Classroom Building 110)

Abstract:
This half-day workshop is designed to attract K-12 teachers. It will be facilitated by Nancy Zuercher, State Director of the Dakota Writing Project; Michelle Gannon, DWP's resident tech wizard and the instructor of DWP's 1998 Summer Invitational Institute; and 2-5 of the Dakota Writing Project teachers who participated in that Institute, which centered on teaching with technology. There will be enough facilitators to provide the one-on-one help that's so much needed in this situation. The DWP teachers have been invited to participate, and, so far, one, Nancy Kampfe, Martin, SD, has accepted.

The workshop will meet in a computer classroom/lab for hands-on experience with e-mail, MOO, and Internet research. As far as possible, we want to replicate DWP's safe, free-to-take-risks, gentle environment and a mini-version of parts of the Summer Institute that focused on strategies for teaching and learning e-mail, MOO, and Internet research. Obviously, that will be introductory. Our activities will offer almost instantaneous success that leads to more challenging activities. For example, we'll set up our MOO for discussion and use basic commands, but provide resources for continuing. Internet research will include instruction on evaluating websites, which each participant will practice using websites that are grade/subject applicable to their teaching. We expect that they will discover new resources as they learn new strategies. We will work this fall to assess what K-12 teachers want and need so that we can better meet some of those needs/wants in this workshop.

Last summer's experience is showing us that most of our teacher-participants are continuing with technology on their own, sharing their knowledge from DWP with colleagues, and maintaining communication with DWP through our listserv. We have the same hopes for the group participating in this workshop.

J -- Computer Science Lab (McLaury 304)

Please see Workshop C