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2008A23Ricks

Technological Transformations: Distance Education and Writing Centers
Reviewed by Antony Ricks
tricks@fsu.edu

This session included two presentations on technology in Writing Center tutorials, one on online composition instruction, and one on universal design in Writing Centers.

First, Tammy Conrad-Salvo and John Spartz discussed the Purdue Writing Center’s use of the Kurzweil software program to assist students with the process of revision. According to Conrad-Salvo and Spartz, many individuals with learning disabilities—including those with, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder—as well as English Language Learners have found Kurzweil’s text-to-speech features and writing tools to be beneficial. Spartz noted, however, that Kurzweil is expensive, and many of its features— speak-aloud in human-like voices and textual markup—also exist in other applications like Microsoft Word.

Second, JoAnn Griffin discussed the use of tablet PCs in Writing Center asynchronous online tutorials at the University of Louisville. A tablet PC has an electronic pen tool tutors can use to write comments on the screen to send back to the student. Based on the work with tablet PCs at Louisville, Griffin observed that “tablet PC’s may magnify consultant control and/or suppress writer engagement.” In any computer-mediated session, writers are less able to express themselves, noted Griffin. When communicating online with students, tutors need to heighten their efforts to communicate in open, encouraging, and friendly manners, Griffin said. Despite this concern, tutors and students were generally satisfied with tablet PC tutorials, and Griffin suggested that students often prefer online tutorials due to their increasingly busy schedules.

Next, JoAnn Liebman-Matson discussed the online first-year composition program at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. She said that critics have argued that: online classes differ from traditional ones because they’re more likely to be taught by multiple persons than by one teacher; online classes are disembodied—students and teachers do not know or see one another; and online classes are more time-consuming than traditional classes. In response to these criticisms, she argued that online courses may be valuable for various reasons, for example they increase the amount of reading and writing students must do in the course. Based on a recent survey of online classes at Arkansas-Little Rock, Liebman-Matson echoed Griffin when she cited that many students at her institution prefer online classes due to their busy schedules. For example, 78% of students surveyed at her university said that their job commitments made it difficult to attend classes on campus. Liebman-Matson then presented statistical research on Little Rock’s program that documents how teaching composition online is positively experienced by students at her university.

Lastly, Sue Dinitz focused on principles of universal design in Writing Centers, sharing examples from the Writing Center at the University of Vermont. There are nine principles of universal design (originally seven published by the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University—see [http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/]), with the overall goal to design spaces and services that can accommodate a wide range of student needs and abilities. It is not a “one-size-fits-all” design, but rather one that is context-specific and adaptive to situations. Originally, the concept aimed at accommodating disabled students, and Dinitz’s explanation suggested that the principles might serve as a heuristic for accommodating all student needs and abilities. Dinitz then explained how she and the writing tutors at the University of Vermont have implemented these principles. For example, the first principle is “equitable use,” or trying to be aware of individual and situational needs of students so that everyone has equal access to services, for example handouts should be in reach of persons in wheelchairs and online sessions should be available for circumstances such as bad weather days. Other principles of universal design aim at communicating in simple and intuitive manners, including making print materials in the center perceptible for all visitors and creating a community of learners. Dinitz convincingly argued that universal design is a principle from which all Writing Centers could benefit.