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Rhetoric & composition.

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What Role Should Technology Play in First-year Writing Courses? Anne Becker, Catherine Haar, and Robert Lamphear, Oakland University

Computer technology and the Internet have introduced a new challenge for first-year writing instruction, changing the classroom climate, and affecting the identity rolesplayed by both instructors and students. To better understand the pedagogical issues raised by this technology, first-year composition OU faculty and students from 15 classes took a survey. Questions focused on knowledge of available software, how this software was incorporated into the writing courses, what type of training was available, and how effective the use of technology was in improving overall writing expertise. This presentation will offer analysis of how instructors and students approach technology in the classroom, based on recent composition research and data from these surveys, plus follow-up focus groups and an exit survey where students rated technology used in their first-year writing course. Tech-savvy instructors emphasize technology through digital-based assignments that often focus on visual aspects; this helps to motivate students, but doesn't offer much traditional writing practice. Instructors less skilled in digital technology continue to use more conventional approaches, in part because they don't feel competent enough to incorporate technology into their classroom assignments; however, they do offer students more writing practice opportunities, an important key to building writing expertise.

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