Deconstructing Rhetoric

I’ve kept every assignment I’ve created for my composition classes over the past few years. Occasionally, when I want a fresh approach to an assignment, I whip out this notebook and take a brief trip down memory lane. I left myself notes on the assignment sheets so that I can create better assignments as I progress with my teaching. As it stands, I have two (of about 30 assignments) that I’ve scrawled–in red Sharpie–ENGAGEMENT! These are the assignments that really “worked” for my students. These are assignments that, for one reason or another, students were eager to come to class and talk about, where students approached me after class and asked for a final read-through before they sent it off for publication. Both of these assignments were for a different class, a different semester, and on a different topic. But I pull them out every time and try them again with my students. They continue to better engage my students in their writing. These are the assignments that strike a chord.

When my colleagues ask me for assignments to engage their students with, I offer these two up readily. But my colleagues are shocked at the content of the essay and often respond with a breathless “You wrote this.” I sigh and reply, “Yes, I wrote this.” They aren’t surprised at the writing of the assignments, but rather at the lack of my techno-enthusiast pedagogy involved in these two engaging assignments. I am the technology guru in my small department and my colleagues seem to have this vision of my classroom that somewhat resembles a scene out of a Sci-Fi movie.

I won’t deny that specific facets of new technologies, or e-technologies as I call them, have the ability to create better writers, but this process does not occur overnight and students cannot be forced to like the technologies. Josh Keller at The Chronicle of Higher Education spoke specifically to this point last summer.  Jeffrey T. Grabill, director of the Writing in Digital Environments Research Center at Michigan State says their study specifically demonstrated that students viewed social writing “as more persistent and meaningful to them than their in-class work was” and goes on to credit the increase in social media as a reason for this view.

Does that mean we should immediately pull e-technologies into our pedagogy? NO! Requiring students to blog or create a wiki does not make them better writers. A student who blogs on a regular basis will not necessarily be enthused about blogging in class. She may be an “A” writer on her blog and turn in “C” papers for her classes. While she is getting the experience of writing in her own way–and while this experience is aiding her writing improvement–the scenario is different. When she’s blogging, she has chosen to do so on a topic that engages her. As instructors, we must tap into this engagement. We must find ways of creating assignments that engage our students and not continue to require perfunctory writing assignments. Gail Hawisher and Cynthia Selfe made this point over a decade ago, and it continues to ring true in our bustling e-world. e-technology is not the “cure” to the disease.

Students who compose messages for an audience of their peers on a social-networking Web site were forced to be acutely aware of issues like audience, tone, and voice.

This quote should strike a chord with all instructors of writing. I spend four months trying to help my students learn to assess the audience, tone, purpose, and the appropriate voice for their writing assignments. It’s good to know that these lessons pay off–even outside the classroom. However, I still need to pull these articles into the classroom. To do this, I don’t necessarily need assignments that force blogging or podcasting, but I do need to keep these technologies in mind. I also need to keep in mind, as Christine Hult pointed out, not all students are experienced computer users.

What we need is the creative mind to create assignments that deal with real audiences on topics that matter to our students. One of the assignments that I’ve found frequently engages my students is relatively vague. Students choose an audience they are familiar with and a problem the audience is facing. Then, they use whatever medium they are most comfortable with to persuade the audience to consider a solution the student decides is the best for the problem. Essentially, it is a standard “problem-solution” essay, but by allowing students a good bit of leeway with their topic and their medium, I can engage them in learning writing skills they will carry with them into their personal and professional lives.

e-technologies have their place in the composition classroom and I am a full supporter of this transition. However, before we consider using any of these technologies in the classroom, we must consider our pedagogy. Why this technology? What do my students think of this technology? How do they use this in their real lives? How will I use it in the classroom? How does the technology supplement student engagement? What skills will the students learn using this technology? Can these skills be applied to their real lives? These are all good questions to keep in mind when considering new technologies. Also, keep this in mind:

The calculator did not make math fun. Why should we expect the computer to make writing fun?