Implementing effective training for computer-mediated teaching challenges both individual faculty and department administrators to consider the practical, pedagogical, and theoretical questions related to technology that will shape the entire teaching/learning environment. In an ideal situation, those involved would have the luxury to deliberately and systematically "plan for the people who use the machines: to think about how computers can and will affect departmental communications, change academic roles, alter productivity, modify traditional lines of power and interaction, or encourage different attitudes toward scholarly involvement" (Holdstein & Selfe 96). All too often such time is not available. At BSU, in the summer of 1998, we (department administrators) found ourselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place: the implacable rock of faculty resistance to what might be perceived as top-down, enforced change and the hard place of "if we don't move on this now, we may never again have a chance of this magnitude."
A significant amount of grant money had become available within the state for introducing technology in higher education. Having demonstrated on a small scale that we could successfully write and implement grants for faculty development in teaching with technology, the Writing Program presented the University administration with the opportunity to have a major impact on the student body. (All but a few entering students are required to take courses in the writing program; therefore our president could argue that all incoming students would be introduced to technological literacy in their first year composition courses.)
As always, the bureaucrats wanted the maximum bang for their bucks: if the department could act quickly and propose a viable model for converting the entire first year writing program into a computer-mediated one ? and produce a plan for accomplishing this in one fiscal year ? we would have the money to make it happen. Doing so would mean eight new electronic classrooms where there had been one fully functional one and one limping along in its death throes. It would mean a fully networked department, and networked classrooms with CD-ROMs, VCRs, Elmo overhead projection units, a variety of writing environment software, and laser printers; it would also mean a faculty lab with five PCs, a Macintosh G4 with DVD, a scanner, and a laser printer to which faculty could also print from their offices. In short, this grant offered the potential for faculty and students to be able to teach and learn, create and compose in a technology-rich, multi-media environment. It would also mean new or nearly new computers for all Writing Program faculty offices. And the most important component: we wrote into the grant the financial means for faculty training and support. Given such an opportunity, we jumped at the chance to acquire the physical fiscal means to provide Writing Program faculty and students with state of the art technology and classroom space.
Then we had to deal with the everyday reality of implementing such a sweeping change. Making the transition from traditional knowledge technologies and familiar pedagogies to the new and innovative entails substantial effort on the part of everyone involved.
Our Rationale
The explosion of growth in communication and information technologies has created a demand for people who possess both the immediate skills and knowledge of how to employ available technologies, and, even more importantly, for those people to be capable of making informed decisions about the ethical and social implications of using technology in their communities. We believe that every teacher should have the opportunity to work with technology in the classroom because every student at Ball State needs to understand how to use technology in the service of acquiring literacy in a technological age. Further, we believe that every teacher needs to be introduced to different teaching technologies in order to make informed decisions about which-if any-technologies would support or enhance their teaching.
In examining his own difficulty making the transition in reverse, Charles Moran points out that teaching goals and strategies, of necessity, change in response to the physical environment of the classroom. Both teachers and students operate differently in computer-equipped classrooms than in traditional classrooms. And the students success in learning, is "at least in part a function of the teacher's comfort with, and engagement in, his teaching" (Moran).
Recognizing this as true, we wanted to make our teachers as comfortable as possible with their choices, and by offering them a wide variety of options, encourage their personal engagement with whatever technologies they felt most enhanced their individual teaching styles.
Moran also states that “In the computer classroom, community just seems to happen. Of course it does not--we make it happen.” And establishing this sense of community was a central goal for WCLI.
WCLI was initially proposed as a grant called "Computer Connections" in May of 1998. Departmental faculty development needs were re-assessed after two successful grants and subsequent grant extensions for two years of training. With seven new electronic classrooms coming toward the end of the summer of 1998, and an eighth classroom a year later, there was much to prepare for. Read the original website to learn more about the resources and the Writing Program's definition of literacy. The introduction to the now "historical" piece tells it best:
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Within the past few months, this department has taken great steps towards integrating
technology into the heart of its teaching mission. Under the auspices of our new
Writing, Computers, and Literacy Initiative (WCLI), we have accepted the responsibility
for computer competency and literacy at Ball State University, and we hope to continually
explore how technology can help us to improve even further on our tradition of excellent writing
instruction. Over the summer, the University built the department five new computer classrooms and agreed to build more by next fall so that all first-year writing classes will be taught completely within these new facilities. Further, the University has committed to helping the department continue its efforts to train and support faculty teaching in these new electronic environments. If you would like to setup an appointment--at least two days in advance--to work with a WCLI consultant, send Ralph Rife an email. Indicate your need, your phone number, when you're available for a session, and any time-deadlines you're under. Please help us improve the writing program by taking the WCLI Post-Semester Survey, available 23 April-7 May. We are interested in your honest opinions, whether they are positive or negative. Please answer all of the questions. Thank you very much; we appreciate your help! Please see the other documents about WCLI listed to the left. Also, know that the English Department will host Pedagogy, Practice, and the Technology of Writing: The Ball State University Institute for Teaching with Computers on August 4 through 7, 1999. This is an opportunity designed for elementary through university-level teachers, school administrators, and curriculum designers. Through this institute, participants will discover ways to integrate their unique teaching styles and curricular objectives with the possibilities computers and computer-mediated environments offer. |