Introduction: The Question of Teaching Composition Online

I believe that the reason these discouraging results came so unexpectedly is that online course creators spent too little effort assessing the quality and context of their courses before, during, and after their creation. For instance, at most universities online composition courses—whether hybrid or fully online—are usually only assessed from two standpoints (if at all): 1) Writing program administrators or distance learning administrators simply add online courses to their general program assessments, focusing mostly on existing surveys, portfolio grading, and student evaluations; or 2) individual instructors informally evaluate their own online or hybrid courses based on personal observations and student comments. Neither of these methods approaches the depth of assessment I believe is demanded by this new age of the Internet. Hawisher and Selfe's response to the negative results that come from endeavors with technology in composition is a call "to use our awareness of the discrepancies . . . as a basis for constructing a more complete image of how technology can be used positively and negatively" (1991, p. 62). In other words, one answer to the question of teaching online is systematic thorough assessment.

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