Grappling with Ownership
In composition, ownership usually means something like (a) personal investment in the project or (b) becoming accountable for an argument or (c) developing self-identification with the process and the product. In a university setting with a minimum-standard laptop requirement, ownership means much more. Students at my university who comply with the computing policy by purchasing laptops through the institution (a majority) select from among two options, a high-end model and a low-end model. Each computer comes with the same basic configuration, the same software, the same networking capacities, and the same 4-year service agreement; the difference boils down to processing speed and memory capacity. My purpose here is not to analyze computing policies or the options given to students who choose to purchase laptops through the university, though there is much to be said on both issues; instead, I want to call attention to the ways this situation plays out in a classroom.
