Computers and the Internet in English Composition and Literature Implications for What We Teach and How
Michael Day
Assistant Professor of English
Northern Illinois University
Are you frustrated and upset with computers
and the Internet and all the hype government and administrators are making
about using technology? I am!
"Partisans of the digital revolution protest that the Internet … is interactive, not passive. But to the extent it is geared to quantity and speed of communication, it is interactive vacuity, a reciprocal fix to keep thought at bay, producing a global village of village idiots." -- Richard John Neuhaus FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE
Take EVERYTHING I say today with a grain of salt, with the idea that we need to be critical of computers, Internet and web technologies, especially when the push to use them in our classes comes from outside.
Everywhere we read about "where technology is taking us," when maybe we don’t want to be taken where they are going.
AT&T uses the "Have you ever?" "You will!" slogan in their ads to brainwash us into believing that all this use of technology is good. I don’t know about you, but I WON’T!
As Cynthia Selfe insists in her 1998 CCCC
address, we teachers of English need to PAY ATTENTION to the ways in which
some big businesses, politicians, administrators, and government agencies
insist on our using certain technologies without providing the time or
training for us to develop effective approaches. FULL
TEXT OF ADDRESS
First, the computer has become the primary tool and medium of writing in the home and workplace. More families have computers and use e-mail than ever before, and almost all businesses where our students may end up working use both for writing and communication.
Second, word processing software makes the revision process easier to visualize if students can see how words and blocks of text can easily be deleted or rearranged on the screen.
Third, word processors now come with some fairly sophisticated software for spell checking, grammar checking, and style analysis. How many of you have used one of these grammar checkers? What did you think? Can you guess what the grammar checkers said about the Gettysburg address? Most of them called it bad writing and suggested simplifying the style. But then we end up with Microsoftened and Wordperfected language, which has had the individual style homogenized out of it.
Though by themselves the grammar and style checkers can be dangerous and misleading crutches for students, they can be used just to flag certain structures, like "to be" verbs so that students can make their own choices based on what they have learned. We just have to be sure to provide proper guidance for the students.
Fourth, the Internet can provide real audiences and contexts for writing for our students if they create web pages or engage in e-mail discussion or chat. Some students pay more attention to the style and tone of their writing if it’s for an audience other than the teacher. Indeed, some say that network-based writing fosters a "decentered" classroom that helps students use their own expertise to engage with and help the class.
Fifth, there is a synergistic process that can occur in developing ideas collaboratively when students use networked computer mediated communication. They help each other come up with some amazing ideas for projects and papers through collaborative brainstorming in electronic environments.
Sixth, if we value writing, we should note that even though much writing on the Internet isn’t polished essay quality, it is writing all the same and may provide a good bridge from oral discussion to formal written communication.
Seventh, you can almost always save a transcript of any writing that occurs on the Internet, and save ideas to work with in a word processor or on paper later.
Eighth, you can use networked communication for role playing activities that require students to assume the persona of a literary or historical character, or take a position in a controversial debate.
But, you have all heard of the downside of role-playing in the problems with students and grown adults faking the identity of another for fun, profit, or mischief.
Just consider that: "On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog!"
Ninth, you and your students can do a lot of research on the web, if you know how to search,if you know how to evaluate webbed sources, and if you balance webbed research with conventional resources. Of course, you may end up on that dog’s web page (how credible a source could that dog be?), so we need to teach critical web page evaluation. But we’ll get to that later.
My Tenth and last reason, and there are many more, has to do with professional development and survival as a busy classroom teacher. I would not have lasted as a teacher without the support of my colleagues all over the country with whom I keep in touch. I use e-mail discussion groups like the ones mentioned below to ask for feedback and advice, troubleshoot problems, get technical help, and to support others as best I can. The community of English teachers who use the Internet in classes is a wonderful safety net for those of us in danger of burning out because we care so much and work so hard.
Not only do we keep in daily contact by e-mail,
we also keep up web pages full of information (see below) and have weekly
chats to discuss issues and strategies in real time environments called
MUDs and MOOs. See the Netoric Project link below for more information
about the weekly Tuesday Café.
1. Ideas for English class activities, stand-alone or non-networked computers:
Lorrie Felts’ compilation of activities from the Teacher to Teacher mailing list
Strategies on how to organize equal sharing of one computer in the Language arts classroom.
Jeanine DuBois: Going Solo: Creative Ideas for the One-Computer Classroom
Good ideas for having students use online resources such as almanacs and encyclopedias, create multimedia presentations, and even games.
Serena Roberts’ One Computer Classroom
A theoretical overview, as well as activities using skills tests, college test preparation banks, brainstorming software such as Inspiration, and a link to a bank of collaborative activities you can borrow.
Janine Lim’s The One Computer Classroom
Information on using offline browsers such
as WebWhacker, ideas for class projects, links to educational software
sites, teacher aids, and class management tools.
A case study and model web site for those interested in using the Internet in high school English classes. Be sure to look at some of the published reviews, look through the course syllaweb, and browse through some of the amazing online reference materials.
Nancy Patterson's Middle School Student Web Sites
Like Ted, Nancy is another pioneer in using the Internet and the Web to their fullest in the secondary language arts classroom. Check out what her students have done!
Michael Day’s Writing in the Matrix: Students Tapping the Living Database on the Computer Network
Although the design of my page isn’t great, this site provides an example of how to let students take a peek at some of the conversations, ranging from highly technical and intellectual, to pure flaming, on the Internet. More advanced classes can actually participate in the discussions, but it’s a great exercise just to analyze the discussions too.
Pedagogies in Virtual Spaces: Writing Classes in the MOO, edited by Michael Day
A group of seven articles with my overview that may provide ideas for using synchronous (real time chat) textual environments for writing classes. Most of the articles give fairly specific instructions, advice, or examples.
An Informal Rationale for Using Chats in the Composition Classroom
My set of answers to those who wondered how to explain why we use chats in writing classes.
Donna Reiss: Teaching Online for the First Time: Email in the Composition Classroom"
Some great ideas for letter-writing activities for English classes!
A scenario with some suggested strategies for dealing with students using the web uncritically.
Critical Thinking and the Internet Links Page
A page for a workshop I give several times
a year for educators interested in combining critical thinking with Internet
activities.
Alan Liu’s Voice of the Shuttle English Literature Main Page
Exhaustive; use this page as a starting point for all kinds of literature resources!
Carol Kotlas and Lori Mathis’ English Literature Resources Page
Includes technical writing, electronic texts, and hypertext resources.
Check this out if you have not seen it. Electronic
text of many books in the public domain. Excellent resource if you want
to search a text for keywords or put a passage on your own web site.
The National Council of Teachers of English Home Page
Links to standards, position statements, guidelines, articles, references, discussions, and much more.
Teacherfest, the National Council of Teachers of English Online Conference
Links to presentations and discussions from a recent conference; lots of good ideas and guidelines for common English class concerns here. Click on HyperNews Sessions and MOO Transcripts to get a feel for what asynchronous and synchronous discussions look like.
The NCTE Assembly on Computers in English
The group within NCTE concerned solely with using computers and the Internet. Check out the links to the ACE Journal.
The Alliance for Computers and Writing
A group of mostly college writing teachers who use computers and Internet in their classes. Most can be found at the yearly Computers and Writing Conference.
Originally funded by the Annenberg/CPB Foundation, another source of good strategies for integrating technology into your classes.
Contains information about weekly Tuesday Café meetings for English teachers.
The Modern Language Association
See particularly the links to Reports and Publications.
Epiphany Field Guide Glossary of Internet Terms
If you did not understand some of the terminology
in my talk, please visit this site.
Roger Easson’s Evaluating Web Sites Page
A thorough set of links to criteria and examples for evaluating the credibility of web pages.
Michigan State’s Research Station "Six Tickets to Web Evaluation Page
Another set of criteria, probably more appropriate for younger students.
Keith Stanger’s Internet Resources
Check out Keith's guidelines and especially his sample web pages for evaluation!
A sample lesson on evaluating web pages
This site, although poor in graphic design,
gives you an idea of how to generate a rubric for evaluating web pages
with your class. Take a look at the example pages!
TechRhet: Follow instructions on the TechRhet home page.
NCTE-Talk: Follow instructions on the NCTE List page.
Teaching Composition Discussion Group: Follow instructions at the Teaching Composition Web page.