In both articles, the instructors argue how writing has shifted from print, to a more digitally processed techne. In Teaching Digital Rhetoric: Community, Critical Engagement, and Application, the author claims how in the first week of the class the students gave examples of how the digital world converged to their daily lives by giving examples of GPS's, digital alarm clocks, digital thermometers, and even a virtual girlfriend. By the end of the semester, however, the students had "produced" their own digital technes. The question that raised and disappointed me several times while reading the article was "how?" which I believe we will learn during the semester.
I found Andorson's presentation way more intriguing and effective than the Teaching Digital Rhetoric article. The presenter had integrated text, videos, images, and sound tracks to into his instruction which to a large extent had the same content as the first article. Still, the presenter introduced the digitally modern ways of making writing (and in most cases writing pedagogy) more effective, but I believe we need to get more familiar with the software which can back us up in digital rhetorics and producing more effective technes of communication and instruction.
Dancing
14 years ago
I think thinking about how we access texts (and other non-verbal communications) can have a very pratical application in the classroom. However, I wonder if students are learning "something equivalent" to the writing of research papers. Especially if they will be expected to do the latter in other disciplines that are very reluctant to incorporate technology into the classroom. I think Alderson's pedagogy is designed to build on our students' strengths--technological manipulation--and should be utilized in a college setting where students will be given the option of being prosumers throughout their academic careers. This would guarantee better videos as a student progresses through college, the way writing papers throughout college prepares you to write the senior thesis. But if technology is not a part of this college setting, we're not really helping to create a better student--just a student who will have to (and hopefully be able to) switch between the two different mediums.
ReplyDeleteAnd how often can a writer be a good painter and vice-versa?