Review Conversation
Chapters Two and Three address cultural realities that inform assessments as technological tools. Neal tackles the political pressures placed upon writing program administrators and instructors regarding questions of what and how they employ assessment technologies in writing curricula. Neal relates his own narrative describing the minutia of micro-management in this environment when he talks of his experience with an institutionally mandated course management system. Using his personal trials as departure points to argue for specific implementation and design strategies, he gives a nod to visual learners like me. Neal presents a chart depicting how he has framed general problems with assessment and then lists questions for instructors to ask as we integrate technology into these assessments. He concludes Part One of his text with calls to resist the binary between technology opponents and proponents and to contest defeatist attitudes towards the many political and educational challenges in using assessments as elements of technology in composition classrooms.