5.29.14: Online Writing Instruction - Social Media and Adult Education

5.29.14: Online Writing Instruction - Social Media and Adult Education

               In their essay, “Adult Education and the Social Media Revolution,” Marvin LeNoue, Tom Hall and Myron Eighmy examine new possibilities for designing and delivering digitally-mediated technologies in adult education. More specifically, they advocate the use of social media technology in pedagogy, and explicitly argue that “social software offers educators more ways to engage learners than any preceding educational technology” (1). Ultimately, they argue that social media technologies, above other pedagogical tools are the most effective for distance learning.

               Beginning with a brief synopsis on the rising popularity of distance learning, LeNoue et al. go on to suggest that there is an exigence for “delivery systems that can maximize learner independence and freedom by supporting open-enrollment and self-paced learning while providing the capabilities for communication and collaboration,” which is demanded by traditional constructivist pedagogy. This collaborative feature, they argue, is simply not readily available in most Learning Management Systems (LMS) and thus, they are not equipped to meet the needs of the contemporary distance student.

               Their main complaint about LMS is that they tend to be heavily institution-and-content-centric, which contributes to the establishment of flattened communication networks and hinders collaborative information flow. They write:

Learning Management Systems are well suited for managing student enrollment, exams, assignments, course descriptions, lesson plans, messages, syllabi, and basic course materials. However, these systems are developed for the management and delivery of learning, not for supporting the self-governed and problem-based activities of students. (2)

               The solution, according to LeNoue et al., can be found in Web 2.0 social media applications. They suggest that the collaborative nature of social media allows for greater involvement with course content because “these applications have provided Internet users with the ability to easily create, contribute, communicate, and collaborate in the online environment without need for specialized programming knowledge” (2). With their foundation thus established, LeNoue et al., proceed to define social software, social media, and social network sites (SNS), and provide numerous examples for each. The list of social applications provided is useful and offer a library of technologies (including some I hadn’t previously considered) that are certainly worth investigating and would seemingly prove useful in writing pedagogy.

               Ultimately, though, the uses for each of the social media applications mentioned is generally very broad. It would have been more beneficial if they had included case studies, or working examples of how these applications were actually utilized in teaching. While I think LeNoue et al. make a convincing argument for the use value of social media in distance pedagogy, I would have liked more specificity as to the practical use of some of the individual applications rather than the repeated insistence of their general use value – a point, which I just do not think has that much opposition anymore. Had individual examples been provided, this essay would have been more personally valuable as I set out to design a distance writing pedagogy unit. Overall, though, it was an interesting essay and is a valuable contribution in support of utilizing social technologies in distance pedagogy.

LeNoue, Marvin, Tom Hall, and Myron A. Eighmy. "Adult Education and the Social Media Revolution." Adult Learning 22.2 (2011): 4-12. Education Research Complete. Web. 26 May 2014.

5.27.14: Online Writing Instruction - The Digital Imperative

5.27.14: Online Writing Instruction - The Digital Imperative

               In “The Digital Imperative: Making the Case for a 21St-Century Pedagogy," Elizabeth Clark convincingly argues for a departure from the “traditional essayistic literacy” that still dominates English composition courses and calls for a “carefully employed pedagogy aimed at furthering students’ digital literacy,” and offers an evolution from the dominant pedagogical model of “process-based composition” (2).

                In addition to citing over 15 well-known scholars, Clark presents the results of her own experiences utilizing just such an “intentional” pedagogical model. At the intersection of compositional as well as digital literacy, Clark’s instructional design fuses writing practice with contemporary digital mediums. The resultant pedagogy is thus, also, inherently distance-friendly as it makes wide use of Web 2.0 technologies.

                Clark makes specific use of ePortfolios, Digital Stories, Second Life, and Blogs. ePortfolios, while modeled on the paper portfolio, are exemplar of how technology can “update an effective and widely used pedagogy” (3). Indeed, online ePortfolios allow students to “experiment with the malleability and interactivity of text as they revise and alter their writing over time” (3). Further, they also offer experience with digital identity, audience awareness, argumentation skills, and can be used for basic writing, composition, and even creative writing courses.

               Digital Stories (multimodal compositions) provide egress into digital rhetoric and help students understand the “shifting nature of writing and rhetorical situations” (5). Clark acknowledges that some students were a tad reluctant in this medium, favoring the more comfortable essayistic assignments, but quickly overcame their apprehensions and went on to compose meaningful works. She writes, “we have found that writing into the images, narrating the story, and bringing the images to life using digital media design tools, creates a powerful medium for presenting a story” (6).

               Clark also utilized Second Life, where she hosted “virtual field trips,” and used Second Life’s world to both reinforce and examine literary topics and themes. For instance, while in Second Life, she and the students discussed/wrote about the literary theme of “utopia” and if/how Second Life functioned as an example. Humorously, one student remarked that her ability to actually have wings and fly around was, indeed, utopic.

               Blogs, like (e)Portfolios, have a bit of a longer history in writing pedagogy and also still have great value in the contemporary composition classroom. As Clark so succinctly puts it, blogs are “quick and dirty argument in action” (8). Further, blogs readily lend themselves to peer interaction and give students experience in analyzing other website’s reputability/usability. They also provide practice in making authorial claims, offer experience with a variety of rhetorical moves in order to influence audiences, and they promote re-visitation, rewriting, and revisioning of their writing.

                What is surprising, perhaps, is that in a mere nine pages, Clark manages to reference a great deal of contemporary, interdisciplinary scholarship and also provide case studies from her own experience utilizing Web 2.0 technologies in her writing courses. Her argument is impressive and overall, Clark’s persuasive call to action, the “digital imperative,” is a call that all disciplines would do well to answer.

               Clark, J. Elizabeth. "The Digital Imperative: Making the Case for a 21St-Century Pedagogy." Computers & Composition 27.1 (2010): 27-35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 May 2014.