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Exploring environmental literature using electronic portfolios.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Field trips naturally enhance class experiences for students of environmental literature; technology, however, is rarely incorporated in such courses. This panel discussion chronicles how using an electronic portfolio to create an "art gallery" encourages literature students to generate writings informed by both literature and art. A significant value in entering the virtual world is that students are able to draw on artists' conceptions of nature in stimulating ways, aiding their understanding of course concepts.

Introduction--Katherine

Taking students outside of the classroom is a natural extension of my environmental literature courses. Classes beside a pond to discuss Thoreau's Walden, or rendezvousing on a hilltop to read Gary Snyder poems--those, I have done. What I have not attempted is the rocky terrain of the computer lab. In composition I employ computer exercises, but the cement block walls of our windowless computer labs have not seemed appropriate class settings for nature literature. In this, I am not alone. Any review of eco-pedagogical articles and bibliographies demonstrates that others also wish to move students into the natural rather than the technological world. A recent survey of members of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment, for instance, indicates that all "respondents include some outdoor activity in their curriculum" while "nearly all ... are reluctant to use on-line instruction" (Erb, 2003 6, 5). Although Erb surveyed only a small percentage of the association's members, studies on teaching literature with an environmental focus confirm that common practice includes taking students outdoors (see, for example, Waage, 1985; Thomashow, 1995).

Indeed, when we read nature essays from writers like Thoreau or Edward Abbey, technology is often the railed-against adversary of ecological practices. Environmental literature faculty have interest in moving away from technology into experiential education (Kraft and Kielsmeier, 1995; Crimmel, 2003). Social justice and service learning, other pedagogical methods that are distant from technology, also play significant roles (Dixon and Smith, 1998). Studies of computer technology in environmentally-related education specify lack of computer training in addition to skepticism as reasons why faculty do not turn to the electronic environment (Bowers, 1995; Selfe and Selfe, 1994; Woodlief, 1994). Certainly both attitude and lack of training influenced my decisions. Out of the wide range of pedagogical methodologies available, computer technology was the very last approach 1 would have chosen for my environmental courses--until I signed up for a workshop on electronic portfolios offered by our school's Writing Center.

Introducing Electronic Portfolios--Sarah

In May 2003, the Writing Center offered a two-day workshop introducing electronic portfolios to interested faculty members, hoping to acquaint faculty with new teaching tools and make them feel comfortable exploring programs they may not have...

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