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Why Teach Writing in a Computer Classroom?
3Feb2005 Filed under: teaching, technology Author: Marcia Hansenin CCR 711, Network(ed) Rhetorics
The collected responses to Why weblogs? are very encouraging; however, this post also made me think of an even more basic question I will undoubtedly have to answer if I want to teach writing in a computer classroom here at Mizzou:
Why would you want to teach writing in a computer classroom?
Possible Answers:
Why Use Computers to Teach Writing
The Master Load of Links:
English Matters, Links by Brian Barker
A Proposal:
Proposal for Computerized Writing Instruction at SCSU
A Comparison:
Use of Emerging Technology in the Writing Classroom: Comparing Your Options
Rationale and Resources
The Online Writing Classroom
Urging caution:
It’s a Writing Class, Not a Computer Class
2 Responses to “Why Teach Writing in a Computer Classroom?”
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About m2h blogsMarcia Hansen works by day as a marketing manager in social media. At other times you'll find her traveling about speaking, writing, and learning. And, if she's lucky, it's on her Honda Shadow 1100.
Please note -- the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent my employer's positions, strategies, or opinions. If you want to know more about me, you can visit my About Marcia Hansen page above, or my home page at MarciaHansen.com.
Yep,
mike
February 9th, 2005 at 9:15 am
RE: “It’s a Writing Class, Not a Computer Class.” Good advice in the first sentence: “Remember to keep your focus on writing.”
This is the crux of my hang-up with the “practice” of technical writing. It’s a long and sordid debate ¨C do you focus on the ˇ°technicalˇ± or on the ˇ°writingˇ±?
I like to tell the engineers in my writing section that for a lot of years, the only ˇ°technologyˇ± technical communicators had to work with was a pencil. But then there I am minutes later talking about single-sourcing, XML servers, and document reusability. How do you keep the focus on the writing? And what does that focus entail?
Marcia
February 10th, 2005 at 8:26 am
One answer might be to have them write process documents, job aids, etc. about how to use the technology.
Technical writers need to know the technology or it’s capabilities well enough in order to explain it to the common user.
Engineers need to realize that writers are just trying to help people use the systems they create and be more receptive to questions. So, maybe teaching that skill would involve practice sessions using various communication tools (email, phone, fax, IM, videochat, etc. Of course, I don’t know the structure of your class, but since you commented, I’m just throwing ideas off the top of my head. In my experience, developers aren’t very receptive to questions about their products and getting them to comment their code is like pulling teeth.