Writing Across Distances and Disciplines: Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning PDF
Preview Writing Across Distances and Disciplines: Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning
Writing Across Distances & Disciplines Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning ER9462.indb 1 7/24/07 8:32:57 AM ER9462.indb 2 7/24/07 8:32:57 AM Writing Across Distances & Disciplines Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning Joyce Magnotto Neff Carl Whithaus Lawrence Erlbaum Associates New York London ER9462.indb 3 7/24/07 8:32:59 AM This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue 2 Park Square New York, NY 10016 Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Lawrence Erlbaum Associates is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑8058‑5857‑0 (Softcover) 978‑0‑8058‑5856‑3 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Neff, Joyce. Writing across distances and disciplines : research and pedagogy in distributed learning / Joyce Neff and Carl Whithaus. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978‑0‑8058‑5857‑0 (alk. paper) 1. English language‑‑Rhetoric‑‑Study and teaching (Higher) 2. English language‑‑Composition and exercises‑‑Computer‑assisted instruction. 3. Distance education‑‑Computer‑assisted instruction. 4. Interdisciplinary approach in education. I. Whithaus, Carl. II. Title. PE1404.N434 2007 808’.0420711‑‑dc22 2007011832 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the LEA Web site at http://www.erlbaum.com ISBN 0-203-87716-0 Master e-book ISBN Contents Figures and Profiles vii Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii 1 Influences and Confluences: Distributed Learning, the Business of Education, and Writing Across the Curriculum 1 A Landscape of Terminology 5 Clash of Cultures: Business, Higher Education, and Information Technology 7 Distributed Learning and Workplace Training 12 WAC and WID’s Potential for Distributed Learning 14 2 History Lessons: Tensions Between Customization and Efficiency 21 Customizing Delivery and Curriculum 23 Balancing Efficiency With Customization in Software 28 Past Tensions in Software Tool Development: A History of Errors, Correction, and Writing 33 Future Tensions 36 3 The Transition to Distributed Learning: A Research Perspective on Pedagogy 39 Recent Studies 40 Trajectory of Change in Research on Distributed Learning 47 Revising Paradigms for Distributed Learning Research 52 4 Teaching With WAC: A Redesigned Act in Distributed Learning 57 Pedagogical Considerations 60 Teaching as a Redesigned Act 72 Maintaining Balance While Redesigning Your Teaching Techniques 75 ER9462.indb 5 7/24/07 8:33:01 AM i Contents 5 Process Scripts for Active Learning: WAC in Distributed Environments 81 Process Scripts 82 Interaction and Active Learning 88 Communicative Interaction and Active Learning: Differences Between Liberatory and Process-Focused Pedagogies 92 Communication as Alternative and Resistive Discourse 93 Structuring Asynchronous Communications 94 Evaluating Asynchronous Communications 96 Moving Closer to Process Scripts 98 Using Collaborative Learning and WAC in Distributed Environments 99 6 Complementing and Customizing: WID in Hybrid Environments 105 Complementing Face-to-Face Courses 106 Customizing Course Content for Individual Learners 110 7 WAC, WID, and the Business of E-Learning 117 The Value of Workforce Training and Lifelong Learning 119 Writing in Business and in School 125 Situated E-learning 129 Electronic Delivery of Learning 130 Learning From WAC, WID, and Writing at Work 133 8 The Future of Writing in Distributed Learning 137 Writing Across the Curriculum 137 Distributed Learning 138 Bridging the Divide 139 Higher Education in the Future 140 Researching WAC and Distributed Learning 143 References 145 Appendix A Glossary 159 Appendix B Resources 163 Appendix C MLA Endorsement of AAUP Statement on Distance Education 165 Appendix D MLA Guidelines 167 Appendix E CCCC Position Statement 169 Appendix F Matrix Templates 175 Index 179 ER9462.indb 6 7/24/07 8:33:01 AM Figures and Profiles Figures 1.1 Collaborative Decision Matrix for a Program Delivered via Interactive Television 2.1 Two Consecutive Pages from English 2600 3.1 Matrix of Change as Writing and Writing-Intensive Courses Are Converted to Distance Media 5.1 Measures to Evaluate High and Low Structure Groups F.1 Collaborative Decision Matrix F.2 Matrix of Change as Writing Courses Are Converted to Distance Media ProFiles 2.1 TOPIC at Texas Tech: A Paradox of Customization and Efficiency 3.1 Cultural Ecologies as Research Methods for Understanding IT 4.1 Open University as an E-University: Access and Quality 5.1 SAGrader: Using Software as a Process Script to Prompt Communicative Interaction 6.1 Profile of New Century College: Integrated and Customized Learning at George Mason University 7.1 Tidewater Tech Online: Providing Access Based on a For-profit Model ii ER9462.indb 7 7/24/07 8:33:02 AM ER9462.indb 8 7/24/07 8:33:02 AM Preface Writing Across Distances and Disciplines: Research and Pedagogy In Distrib- uted Learning has been taking shape for more than a decade. It began when Joyce Neff stepped into a small TV studio in 1991 to teach a first-year composition course to high school seniors who were concurrently enrolled at the local com- munity college. The students could earn three college credits by attending class on Wednesday afternoons once their regular high school classes were over for the day. In many ways, getting the attention of tired 17-year-olds was more worrisome than the technology. The course went about as well as could be expected. Some students produced college-level essays, and some did not. Some class discussions were energetic and purposeful; some were not. For the teacher, there were good days and mediocre ones. Most important was the meta-analysis that took place during and after the semester ended. Because the context was new, Joyce kept teaching notes and posed questions about what she was teaching, how she was teaching it, and whether she and the students were meeting course goals. What role was technology playing? Why was the studio designed as a teacher-fronted classroom? Who picked the software? What did production values have to do with learning? What did research into distance education have to say? How might information technologies developed for distributed learning be adapted as teach- ing tools that would complement traditional, onsite courses? The experience was not unlike traveling to a distant country. Joyce could take her expertise and con- tent knowledge with her, but the cultural context was different. In the years since that first interactive televised course, each of us has taught from a distance numerous times using a wide range of delivery media. As reflec- tive practitioners and researchers, we continue to analyze those experiences. This book is a compilation of our meta-analyses of writing and writing-intensive (WI) courses taught in distributed learning environments. What have we learned about the histories of distance and distributed learning? What does our research and that of others tell us? Can we mine the collective wisdom of composition scholars and experts in writing across the curriculum (WAC) and writing in the disciplines (WID) as we travel in new territory? As for the technology, how do we take a critical approach, and what can we learn from workplace training initiatives in which teaching with technology is routine? ix ER9462.indb 9 7/24/07 8:33:03 AM
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