What Writing Students Get From the Net: Using Synchronous Communication
to Develop Writerly Skills
The Gendered Language Unit -- Using Synchronous Communication to Test Social
Theories
In this unit, students were asked to write an argument defending or dismissing
the idea that greater awareness of gendered language is important to the
development of our culture. This meant they would have to have some idea
of what was meant by "gendered language" as well as be able to define "important"
in the context of their essay. We began with some readings and in-class
discussion on the issue of gendered language, and then moved on to a series
of three "chat classes" which students were told to think of as experiments
that would test their early hypotheses related to the assignment. The chats
took place at our regular class meeting time, but students logged in from
a variety of remote locations (e.g. dorm rooms, labs, home) while I chatted
from my office. What follows breaks down the unit step-by-step, and assesses
its success through student response.