What Writing Students Get From the Net: Using Synchronous Communication
to Develop Writerly Skills
What Students Can Get From Synchronous Communication
Combining the unique characteristics
of synchronous communication with some common
course/unit goals in first-year writing gives us at least five quite useful
pedagogical "tools," in no particular order:
-
a break from the classroom environment,
which can often loosen them up and create a certain level of excitement
about and engagement with class discussion.
-
a chance to participate in “real-life”
experiments directly related to writing assignments.
-
direct exposure to the importance
of voice/ethos in written communication due to the immediate feedback
students get from what they submit to the group; this feedback is often
most intense when students make mistakes in voice or ethos and must correct
themselves.
-
an opportunity for students to test their
preconceptions about how society “works” by eliminating certain factors
such as appearances or membership in social groups and then examining whether
and how their online society works differently from "regular" societal
exchange.
-
experience creating self and meaning
with language in real time, an idea that students often resist (that
we create ourselves through our self-presentation) until they see it in
action
At least one of these tools would be appropriate to almost any essay assignment,
but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone should use synchronous media with
every essay, or even with every class. The best uses of these tools tend to be
when they are integrated with course themes or threads. The importance of authorial
voice is usually a key concept for writing students. Yet, this goal may not be
best served by immediately jumping on-line. If students have a chance to get used
to the concept by example and by practice through one or two assignments first,
it is likely that they will be better prepared to appreciate the lessons related
to voice in synchronous media.
There are many ways to incorporate this list of "tools" into assignments
and course structures. This site gives details on two examples
that have been successful for me in the past.