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last.updated 10.14.09

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.

Review Presentations

Rachel, Diane, and Sam will present on their pedagogical tools.

Discussion – 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?
• 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?
• Both Kress and Selfe believe that literacy instructors need to expand the semiotic repertoire that we allow students to use. How are their arguments similar? different?
• If Selfe, Kress, Gee, Delpit, and LoBianco were having a conversation, what would it look like? In other words, what connections are there between language policy and the modalities we teach in literacy courses?

Activity – Incorporating Technology into our Pedagogy

The English Studies administration at Pedagogy U. wants to get some general education dollars into their coffers by offering some English courses that will fulfill the university's technology literacy requirement (vaguely defined as the ability to use basic digital programs for composing, communicating, and calculating), a lower division course. You are being appointed to the various ad hoc sub-committees (see below) to develop a curriculum for an English Studies course that also fulfills the general education requirement for technology literacy.

Use Adobe Acrobat Connect (signed in as a guest) to faciliate this meeting. It is recommended that you use the first part of the meeting to discuss how you will use the technology and what role each person will play. Ask your collective selves, what are the outcomes for the class? and what will the students do to arrive at the outcomes?

You have an hour to produce a document that you will present to the department.