What Writing Students Get From the Net: Using Synchronous Communication to Develop Writerly Skills

Conclusions

Overall, I believe online elements of writing classes can benefit students, as long as those elements serve some pedagogical purpose. Often, in online environments, wonderful and surprising pedagogical moments come simply from taking students out of an environment in which they are comfortable and putting them in a new environment with new rules and different modes of socializing. Beyond that, as I've tried to show, the ability to get instant feedback to attempts to convey meaning through text alone often gives students new perspectives on their own writing and helps illustrate issues of voice, ethos and audience awareness that often remain abstract for students in other writing situations.

I also believe that online communication, and synchronous communication in particular, can serve other disciplines in addition to writing. In any context, synchronous communication can help students see content with different eyes. Below I've suggested areas where I think synchronous modes of communication might be helpful, either in disciplines outside writing classes, or within writing classes with interdisciplinary themes.
 

Sociology
Experimentation with MUSHes and MOOs could help students examine how social systems are created and maintained.
Psychology
Communicating online after a classroom "community" has already been established could help students see the effects of anonymity on group dynamics. Further, investigating wholly or mostly anonymous social groups, like MUSHes, could also help students develop hypotheses about how or whether individuals behave differently when they are anonymous.
Philosophy
Any engaging and protracted online discussion can raise questions for students about the connections between the self and language. I often ask my students, after a lively chat, where were you when you were chatting? In your chair? On the screen? In the wires? In your mind? Their answers are varied and problematic, and would be a good basis for examining theories about where the "self" resides.
History
Perhaps an obvious use of MUSH or MOO space, having students role-play cultural moments using only text to convey their actions may reveal subtleties that they would  not otherwise notice in traditional readings/discussion.
Government/Political Science
Chat rooms and online social spaces can play a significant role in testing the feasibility of virtual communities and/or political movements. Many students are concerned or anxious about what will happen to "society" as more of our communication is mediated by computers. Playing out some scenarios online might help students think through the implications of "virtuality" for"community."

 
 
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