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Teaching with Technology

The UMass Amherst Writing Program encourages the appropriate use of technology that supports the Program’s goals and serves a clear pedagogical purpose. In recent years web-based communication tools, such as blogs, wikis, and web pages, have become more readily available and easier to use. Teachers in the Writing Program have found unique and exciting ways to use these tools, in addition to campus-based technologies like SPARK, to augment in-class teaching and learning (see technology options at the end of this statement). The Writing Program’s Tech Fellows Program has also provided our teachers the opportunity to develop and incorporate a range of technology based projects into the writing classroom.

The use of technology, especially in relation to Web-based tools, offers novel ways to approach the Writing Program curriculum; but the Program also asks that such uses reflect the curricular and teaching philosophy of the Program, which distinguishes between writing for personal purposes for an intimate audience and writing for public purposes for distant audiences. The writing process outlined in the curriculum, for example, begins with personal writing, moves to sharing that writing in a closed circuit of responders where trust has been built, and finally onto products that might be published and circulated in a variety of ways depending on the intended audience of the writing. In line with the curriculum, then, the use of technology in the writing classroom ought to balance the developmental need for students to grow as writers in closed networks of known readers, with our rhetorical emphasis on audience and civic writing. In an effort to support teachers’ continued development of innovative and effective technology-related teaching strategies, and to assure that the use of technology in the Writing Program supports Program goals, this statement was developed to help guide teachers’ use of technology in and out of the classroom.

Putting Pedagogy First

The basic rule of thumb in employing instructional technologies is that it should be pedagogy-driven: that is, if a teacher chooses to use a technology simply because it seems more “fun” or offers a different medium, that is not a pedagogical rationale. As you think about how technological writing spaces offer something different for your students, consider how you can best maximize that potential, and what you might need to add or change about your teaching to accommodate the goal of using a specific technology. For example, if your pedagogy requires that all students publish a given essay on the Web because of what you want to teach about audience, then you may not want to give them a choice about publishing. In such an instance, then, your pedagogy should account for all the uniqueness of writing for that audience (e.g., how to get attention, the rhetoric of links, etc.) If the purpose of publishing on the Web is to simply heighten the stakes for a more specific or public audience, then it may be that more choices of where and how to publish (poster vs. Web, class magazine, etc.) are possible.

One way to approach this topic is to consider what ways technology can support and extend the pedagogical goals you already have in a print-based classroom as well as what new goals its use might introduce. The Technology Coordinator of the Resource Center Staff is always available to discuss and work through these issues with you. Some questions to consider include the following:

Students’ Right to Privacy

As the questions above indicate, choosing technological options that circulate student writing beyond the classroom also brings up ethical questions about students’ rights to privacy and intellectual property that need to be balanced with your pedagogical goals.

Students’ Right to Privacy

The Writing Program supports FERPA regulations holding that all effort should be made to ensure students’ right to privacy in order to create an effective learning environment. It is a violation of students’ federally protected rights to share publicly, without written permission, any information about student progress, assessment, or grades. Further, their attendance in a particular class is considered private information so that others cannot locate them in a particular time and place. This means that any public use of technology should not include first/last names or specific information on the class meeting time and place. Similarly, even in password protected sites, you need to consider what kinds of feedback might be shared with the entire class and which need to remain private. A good rule of thumb is to avoid sharing anything that includes assessment and/or could be interpreted by the students or others as evaluation leading to a grade.

Intellectual Property

Although students are writing for our courses, the ownership of their writing remains theirs. Thus, how their writing circulates (beyond the specific requirements of the class as in peer responding or publication) is ultimately their choice. Writing shared on the Web without password protection or specific directions about use implicitly gives permission for others to comment, link, and otherwise appropriate the text in ways the writer cannot control. Such circulation to multiple audiences is one of the chief benefits of the Web, but it also means teachers taking advantage of such circulation should directly address questions of intellectual property with students.

If you choose to employ a pedagogy that requires students to share writing widely or publicly, we recommend that you ask students for voluntary, informed consent in writing and/or provide choices over the venues and medium of publication. Consent should lay out how their work might circulate and what potential risks that may involve for them. Such written permission must also inform students that they have a choice in the matter and that choosing to keep their work within the closed circuit of the classroom will not affect their grade in any way. Remember to keep the implicit (and explicit) power relations between teacher and student in mind as you create these documents. You can find a sample permission form in our online teachers’ database. You can revise this form to suit your needs or use as a guide in composing one of your own.

Use of Computer Labs

Thanks to a partnership with OIT (Office of Information Technology) we are able to provide all sections of College Writing the opportunity to hold several class meetings in a computer lab throughout the semester.  Occasional use of a computer lab can provide not only a welcome break from the regular classroom setting, but enables you to do things with your class that you cannot do within the traditional classroom setting.

The computer classroom has several advantages over the non-computer classroom. With access to the internet, students can do various levels of research from a simple Google or Wikipedia search to library database searches. You can also easily bring in images, YouTube videos, and current issues into the classroom for discussion and analysis. Since students are more comfortable composing directly on screen, the computer lab provides them with the opportunity to draft in a supportive environment. With the capability of saving their work on UDrive or through email, students will see that their time has been productive since they now have a draft they can begin revising outside of class.

The writing process we work our students through (generating, drafting, revising, response, reflection, publishing/circulating) provides many opportunities for computer lab days. During the generative writing stage some preliminary internet research may provide generative writing opportunities. Having the students actually begin writing a draft in class provides you, and the other students in the class, the opportunity to provide the writer with feedback during the composing process. During the copyediting stage students could use track changes to edit one another’s texts. Asking students to post their final versions to SPARK before class could provide a publication/circulation day; students could spend a portion of the class reading one another’s essays and posting comments/reactions. The detailed calendar provides some suggestions and your course director groups will also be a good source for ideas. Our Technology Coordinator is also available to help you.

Scheduling Computer Labs
At the beginning of each semester (or shortly before) you will receive information from Heidi Terault (our scheduling rep) about how to schedule your days in the labs. There are many different ways to use your allotted time in the lab. You may decide to use the lab for copyediting for each unit. You may decide that for each unit you want your students to have a drafting day where they begin or revise a draft during class time. You may decide that for each unit you will use the lab differently—one for drafting, one for a generative writing exercises, one for a publication/circulation exercise. Or you may decide to use most of your computer days together for one specific purpose—putting together a publication or doing a multi-media project for your TBA assignment. It is up to you how best to use these days.

 
Temptations
For teachers
Since there are computers in the room there is a temptation and the pressure to have students work on the computers for the entire class meeting. As you develop your lesson plan for the class, consider your pedagogical goals for that particular class. In some cases it may be productive to have the students use the computer for the entire class meeting—for example during the Adding to Conversation unit when the students are beginning their research. However for some classes it may be more productive for the class to be a mix of computer time, whole class discussion, and small group work. Planning one activity that involves internet research, or drafting, or sharing of work through SPARK that lasts only a third of the class can be more effective and productive than asking students to work on the computers for their entire class meeting because they are there.

For students
Sitting in front of a computer screen is tempting. It can be too easy to check email, Facebook, the latest posting on YouTube, what’s going on with the Red Sox. The internet provides a way for students to be physically in the room, but their attention elsewhere.  Make an announcement in the beginning of class asking students to resist temptation. When having a whole class discussion and/or when you speak to the group as a whole do whatever your room allows you to do to physically distance the students from the screens and the keyboards. In some labs you may be able to ask the students to leave the computer stations and sit around a table. In others you may only be able to ask the students to turn away from the screens. Do what ever it takes to have them turn their full attention away from the screen. When the students are working circulate around the room. If a student is checking his/her Facebook page they will close it when you walk by. They will quickly realize that you are aware of what they are doing.

Technology Options

As you think about the use of instructional technologies, consider the many different things you can do, from straight information sharing to publishing on the Web and everything in between (peer response, generative writing, discussions, etc.). Keep in mind, however, that the Program only provides technical support for UMass-specific technologies like SPARK and UDrive. If you choose another option, the Program may not be able to help you with technical problems, and it is your responsibility as administrator to ensure your class materials are removed in a timely manner from the server.

SPARK

SPARK is the course management system maintained by the University. SPARK provides easy access to discussion technologies (discussion boards, blogs, and real-time chat) as well as content delivery in terms of handouts and other class materials. SPARK also includes several options for peer response. SPARK is password protected and only accessible to class members. Through SPARK you can create a secure and safe “classroom” environment where your students’ right to privacy is protected while still allowing for interactive, dynamic peer-editing, conversation, and publishing within the circuit of the classroom.

UDrive

The UDrive is a web storage system hosted by UMass to which all students with NetIDs have access. Files can be uploaded to and downloaded from this system from any computer with a web browser. Files and folders residing in your UDrive can be shared with others (with read-only or read/write access). The UDrive system provides hyperlinks to these shared files which can be copied and pasted into emails, web pages and instant messenger clients. The UDrive system also allows for multiple versions of individual files to be maintained. UDrive allows you to create folders to which others can upload files (i.e., a sort of dropbox), enabling you to create individual, group, or class-wide shared folders, offering the option to share texts written for the Web in draft form before circulating them publicly. Since all users of the UDrive system have the same set of functions available to them, students can also share files and folders with each other without teacher intervention. It can also provide a work space (as can any of the password protected sites above) for writing for the Web where students can, once finished, decide whether to publish or not.

Email

Common though it is, those looking for discussion spaces and/or an easy way to share papers for peer response might find email the best option. Email lists for discussions are easy to set up through SPIRE; exchanging papers via email among only group members (with a potential “cc” to you) limits the circulation of drafts while still offering a different venue for feedback. The limitations of email, however, are that there is little shared classroom space for content-delivery means, discussions cannot be threaded and tend to lose focus more quickly, and each person must keep his/her own record of the conversation.

Blogs

Blogs are a great venue for information-sharing within the classroom community as well as between students and teachers. They are perhaps the easiest web technology to use, allowing students to quickly publish their work and directly link their writing with other texts. Thus, blogs can be an ideal option for those students eager to write in a public venue. Moreover, teachers also have a role to play in teaching students how to write blogs effectively. And since blogs frequently come with pre-packaged designs, teaching the visual and interactive elements of web writing becomes all the more essential. If you do decide to incorporate blogs into your course, it is important to remember that public blogs may not be the best choice for sharing personal writing as a requirement. Despite the diary-like use of many blogs in the public sphere, choosing to share and being required to share such content are two very different things. You might also consider how public you want your class blogs to be; you might create blogs that are completely public (and searchable), ones that are public but not searchable, or blogs that are password protected.

Wikis

Many wikis are completely open (think Wikipedia), which brings up a host of privacy issues, but their advantage is that students can add web pages to a class site themselves and a better record is kept of contributions through the “history” function. Since wikis are web interfaces themselves, they also help support web writing better than, say, WebCT, but the interface of wikis varies widely and typically requires more work on the teacher’s part to assemble a course space from scratch. Some wikis offer an option of password protection (e.g., pbwiki or TWiki), but not all do.

Collaborative Writing Services

There are online services that provide free interactive and collaborative writing spaces for free, such as Google Documents and Spreadsheets (formerly, Writerly.com) and “Basecamp.” Such services allow writers to create private collaborative spaces, exchange files, and so on in a way that gives version control to the files. Writers can create documents and then invite people to edit them; only those “invited” have access to the files. Although these services duplicate the functionality of UDrive, they do provide interfaces that can be easier to use and are more accessible from off-campus. With them, students can set up a project, assign tasks, and then create, for example, a Basecamp account. As work rolls in—an index.htm page, a key content page, a flash video, a podcast—those elements can be uploaded to Basecamp so writers can access them, work on them from outside the lab, and then check them back in.

Pedagogical Support

The Writing Program is committed to providing our teachers with pedagogical support for the use of technology in the writing classroom. The Technology Coordinator in the Resource Center staff is available to work one-on-one with teachers to design and help implement any type of technology based project. Since the Technology Coordinator’s office (Bart 307B) contains a range of hardware and software, the tech coordinator is able to help teachers explore the options suitable for their projects. The Tech Fellows program not only provides the space for our teachers to develop their own technology based projects, but former and current fellows serve as a resource to our teaching community. The Tech Fellows office is also located in Bart 307B. We encourage you to take advantage of their office hours.

Next section: Working with Second Language Writers

 
UMail / UDrive / Spark / Spire