Can Web writing assignments enhance the effectiveness of courses in which community service is a key element? In these courses, much is already expected of students; the extra commitment of time required by the service component of the course and the time required to reflect on the experience itself are added to the reading and writing assignments of the course. Is there time left to teach students to create a website? What kind of website assignment might help students develop insights into the meaning of their community service experience and thus feed back into the goals of the course?

One function of the website might be to provide students with a space for teaching others about what the students themselves have learned. That is, the website can supplement the private reflections that students have about their experience by enabling them to tell others—fellow students and community members—about the issues they learned about and the effect that community service had on them. In this way, students are taking what they learned and educating others, extending the scope of their potential influence.

An example of an assignment that accomplishes these ambitious goals is found at The Call of Service Learning, an introductory freshman seminar course offered by Cynthia Novak and Lorie Goodman in the fall semesters of 1998 and 1999 at Pepperdine University. The design and rationale for the course are explained in an article published by Novak and Goodman, entitled "Safe/r Contact Zones: The Call of Service Learning." The course website provides an overview, stating that the course "links academic exploration of complex social issues (e.g., homelessness, poverty, education, racism) with service opportunities in diverse Los Angeles communities" ("Overview" link). The course website also provides links to sites that students created.

All of the students' sites begin with a collaboratively written page that provides information on the focus of the students' community service (e.g., homelessness, tutoring), links to additional resources on this topic, and links to personal statements written by each student about what he or she learned as a result of the community service experience. Reading the sites, it's clear that the students are making good use of the Web to educate others about the community problem that they learned about. Students include statistics about homelessness, for example, and links where readers can find out more about the issue and about how readers themselves might get involved in their own communities. In essence, the students become teachers, having learned first-hand about a specific problem that exists in their community and in other communities.

These sites—especially the individual personal statements—also function very effectively as testimonials. For instance, writing about the weekend they spent at the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles, fall 1998 students Annalise Brock, Chris Van Reusen, Elizabeth Walters, and Dennis Garcia write:

We left our 40 hour stay feeling that we had received a great deal more than we had contributed. While we gave but a miniscule portion of our time, they shared with us all that they had: their stories, problems, and dreams. In the end, we left drained of all emotions. Those three days took us on an emotional ride, where we encountered hopelessness, pity, compassion, and faith. All of these helped in realizing that we too have a part in solving the problem of homelessness ("Responsibility" link).

Although there are technical glitches with some of the students' sites, it is a moving experience to read them; the students have not only learned from their community service but have taken on the task of educating their readers and exhorting others to get involved.