Classrooms, computer labs, and remote locations: Integrating the three spaces of computer aided interactive writing courses

“Classrooms, computer labs, and remote locations: Integrating the three spaces of computer aided interactive writing courses”

Charles Donelan University of California, Santa Barbara cdonelan@writing.ucsb.edu

Students in computer aided interactive writing courses can benefit from a teaching approach that integrates the three spaces in which they encounter materials and assignments. Where the paper and chalk classroom separates in-class writing from homework, the networked course blurs the distinction between in-class, in-lab and remote writing. Responding to the changes brought about by CAIW will require the redefinition of the spaces in which writing takes place. The networked computer lab is a synchronous space in which students may give and receive feedback in real time, but web-based interactive writing programs make remote participation in online discussions and feedback cycles possible. The remote location is ordinarily the site of asynchronous learning. How does bringing remote students into synchronous activities change what can be done in the CAIW course? What can happen in the synchronous space of the lab when it is opened to access from remote locations? CAIW also affects the traditional classroom. For courses that meet in both traditional classrooms and computer labs, the new CAIW activities, which raise levels of synchronous peer-to-peer and asynchronous remote learning so sharply, are bound to affect the way students learn in the classroom. I will examine some classroom effects of CAIW activities, and then present strategies for using the traditional classroom to frame and reinforce the learning going on in the computer lab and from remote locations. Computer assisted interactive writing requires course designs that take full advantage of its capabilities. Recent work at UC Santa Barbara has explored the use of synchronous feedback exchange, web research, remote messaging, and electronic group work in CAIW classes with positive results. Generally, successful CAIW courses employ three strategies:

sequential, process-oriented assignments,
integration of synchronous and asynchronous communication, and
carefully directed group interaction.

Sequential assignments, used in many traditional classes, become even more important in CAIW settings due to the temporality of on-line writing. The ability to change on-line writing allows students more opportunities for feedback, as well as for revisions of preliminary materials, but can also undermine the decision-making process essential to developing a finished work. However, a dynamic exchange of peer- and teacher review in a CAIW class can allow students to improve their understanding of process considerably. When a sequence of electronic pre-writing assignments replaces the traditional deadline-and-return schedule, students recognize the essential elements of process rather than the external necessities of a course syllabus. Likewise, the full integration of synchronous and asynchronous exchange affords greater flexibility for in-class assignments. Synchronous exchange enables a more efficient distribution of student writing in peer groups and faster communication than most traditional methods. Complementary synchronous assignments allow individual students time to create thoughtful work and assimilate feedback into revisions. Successful assignments in a CAIW environment therefore generally follow an alternating pattern of synchronous and asynchronous responses to develop an effective discourse community. Similarly, assignment sequences require a controlled pattern of individual, partner, and group work, with specific schedules and goals. In particular, collaborative work enhances students understanding of realistic writing situations, when instructors monitor, direct, and critique individual contributions to the tasks of management and production. Employing all three course design strategies successfully has created dynamic, interesting communities of writers.