Online Public Discourse Communities:
Reconfiguring College Teaching
Presented by Judy Arzt
“Digital technology and new media–for better or
worse–are here to stay … you can’t turn off the
Internet. Digital technology isn’t going away. There
are hundreds of thousands of sites in the World Wide
Web ….Digital technology is part of our lives, a part
of our lives that we know will only continue to grow.
We can’t afford to dismiss it. Rather we must–
embrace it–indiscriminately, but thoughtfully. We
must seize the opportunities to do things we’ve never
been able to do before. Don’t look back!”
Steven Holzman, Digital Mosiac
What does digital mean for
higher education?
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Online bulletin boards for cross-campus
discussions
Web authoring projects
Meshing of theory with praxis
– postmodern and social constructivist theories
– collaborative learning and writing across the
curriculum
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Teaching new literacy skills
Presentation Goals
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Describe exemplary case studies of
classroom practice
Examine emerging theories in the field
Offer examples from my own teaching
International Debate Project
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Linked students from the University of Rhode
Island with students from around the world
Fostered writing across the curriculum,
collaborative learning, and global awareness
Emphasized importance of instructor’s role to
structure the context and provide discussion
topics
Linda Shamoon in Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum
Cross-cultural Project
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Urban, black students at Howard University and rural,
white students at Montana State University
exchanged work online
Howard students were assigned to write about race
relations
The students collaboratively produced a book, On
(the Color) Line: Networking to End Racism
The technology engendered online public discourse
Teresa Redd in Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum
Collaborative Web Site Project
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Students in a computer science class and an
English class developed a college’s Web site
Students invested time in the writing task and
developed a strong sense of community
Michael Strickland & Robert Whitnell, Electronic Communication Across the
Curriculum
Instructors’ Comments
“We like to think of the Web as an ongoing
laboratory with the biggest windows in the world.
When anyone can look in and see what you’ve
produced, your incentive to collaborate and do
well is greatly increased. This is a heady sense
of empowerment and ownership.”
Micheal Strickland & Robert Whitnell
Visual Literacy
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The visual nature of the Internet will
revolutionize the way we communicate
Hypertext juxtaposes verbal and visual,
altering the communication process
Students need to produce “cultural relevant
text,” incorporating the visual
Gunther Kress, “’English at the Crossroads: Rethinking
Curricula of Communication in the Context of the Turn to
the Visual”
Postmodernism
Online classrooms foster studentfocused instruction, collaborative
learning, commitment to task, and
participatory classroom structures
Lester Faigley in Passions, Pedagogies, and 21st
Century Technologies
“Computers embrace
postmodern theory and bring it
down to earth.”
Sherry Turkle, Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet
In networked classrooms students
create the agenda. Their online
composing is the content and
curriculum of the course.
Classroom Dynamics
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The instructor is a “learned coordinator”
The instructor “controls less” and “says
less”
The classroom is a “knowledge-making
enterprise” where an “egalitarian state”
is realized”
Richard Lanham, Carolyn Handa, Thomas Barker & Fred Kemp, Computers and
Community
My Classroom Experiences
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Web-site tools and bulletin boards have
made public discourse and writing
synonymous
Descriptions of experiences with
– first-year composition class
– graduate education class
Time Capsule
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Memorializes historical events from year
2000
Table of contents page lists these events
Items on table of contents become hyperlinks
for entry into the hypertext capsule
Sample Time Capsule Page
Memoirs
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Topics with public appeal
Photographs are incorporated
Juxtaposition of verbal and visual drives
textual revision
Profiles
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Interview people from the college
community
Public nature of the Web makes
accuracy of reporting critical
Final Web profiles inform the public
about the people at the college
Sample Student Homepage
Commentaries
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IEDP allows students to exchange ideas with
students throughout the country
Students gain a broader perspective on
controversial issues
Discussions help students learn how to craft
an effective argument
Reviews
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Study reviews on the Web
Advance Web authoring skills
See classmates’ reviews on the Web
Generate heated class discussions
Research Papers
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Extend commentaries into research papers
Consider topics in relation to public viewing
on the Internet
Use strategies to aid viewers
– break long texts into chunks
– use graphics to underscore ideas
– add links to authoritative sites
Computers in the Classroom Course
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Web sites expand students’ audiences for
writing
The sites provide information about K-12
software and how to use it
Students create individual sites and a class
site
Viewers include educators from across the
country and software publishers
Internet Lessons for K-12 Students
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Easy for K-12 students to do online
work
Parents learn about their children’s
school projects
Sample Internet Lesson Plan
Sample PowerPoint on the Web
Web Sites Empower Students
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Students work on sites after the course
ends
They create sites far more complex than
initially envisioned
Their work exceeds syllabus
requirements
IEDP with Graduate Students
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Found common discussion topics were
critical to the project’s success
Connected the experience to the possibilities
for similar projects on the K-12 level
Gained experience for doing online projects
with their own students
Conclusions
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Students are eager to participate in
online writing projects
Students need our guidance
Our teaching needs to be reconfigured
in relation to what the technology offers
We need to address new literacy skills
applicable to online writing
And More Conclusions
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We must assume responsibility for the
direction that online writing takes in the
future
We need to envision how online
technologies enrich communication,
create opportunities for public discourse
and make writing a publicly critical act