1. Selfe’s 1999 article addresses the reluctance (and sometimes outright resistance) to incorporating technology in the composition classroom. In 2018, do you still see this resistance in English classrooms? Why do you think English classrooms resisted (or continue to resist) incorporating technology into the classroom? Is there a certain limit to how much technology should be involved in the teaching of composition?
2. Tobin addresses how we, as composition instructors, must reflect on how we see our teacher-class relationship versus how our students see it. Oftentimes, even if we perceive our relationships with our students to be positive and encouraging, students often feel the weight of authority and perceive themselves to not be in control. How can we find a balance between these two perceptions? Is it even possible for instructors and students to have the same perception of their class/teacher relationship?
Dorothy!
ReplyDeleteI love your first question. From my experience, it's a mixed bag. When I was an English major at Michigan State, I took a course with a bristly professor who spent as much as 10-15 minutes of every 50 minute class struggling to set up her PowerPoint and complaining that she had to do one at all. It was a clear case of technological resistance. Ironically, we had a heavily-weighted PowerPoint presentation project near the end of the semester. At FSU so far, technology appears to be well-embraced, but obviously my perspective is limited to the department.
As for the potential overuse of technology, I imagine we'll have to wait and see if there's ever a breaking point. It's been 20 years since Selfe's article and so much has happened to broaden technology during that period, but then again who knows what the classroom will look like 20 years from now.