Category: Technology

Technology Access and Use in Writing Intensive Courses

Post author By caitlincholmes
Post date June 14, 2017

By Bree McGregor, December 17, 2015

Part 1: Introduction

The National Council of Teachers of English describes digital literacy as “proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology” (The NCTE definition, 2013), which include utilizing a networked, social approach to designing, sharing, analyzing, and synthesizing information, and the application of ethical considerations that such complex environments require. At George Mason University, we strive to embody an innovative spirit at institutional and programmatic levels:

Tags classroom technology, digital literacy, George Mason University, technology, WAC, Writing, Writing Across the Curriculum, writing intensive courses

Evaluating Writing Reviews Teaching Writing Technology

Course Workload Estimator by Rice University Center for Teaching Excellence

Post author By Emily Chambers
Post date January 25, 2017

How long does it take students work on coursework assignments? In a recently released resource from the Rice University Center for Teaching Excellence, Elizabeth Barre and Justin Esarey created an online calculator of out of class hours students spend on coursework, based on their writing and reading rates.

The online calculator uses various factors of reading and writing assignments to calculate an estimated number of out of class work hours. Researchers Barre and Esarey used several research sources as a foundation and filled in its gaps with their own assumptions. The calculator, nevertheless lets you manually adjust if you disagree with their assumptions. Reading rates are determined by page density, text difficulty, and reading purpose. Reading to survey a text that has no new concepts, students can read about 500 words per minute. But when the purpose is more complex (reading for understanding or engaging with a text), the text difficulty is greater (some or many new concepts), and/or the page density increases, the student’s’ reading rate drops.

Reviews Teaching Writing Technology

“Small Changes in Teaching: The Minutes Before Class” by James M. Lang

Post author By Emily Chambers
Post date September 22, 2016

James M. Lang begins an excellent series on small changes in instruction with an article on making the most of the minutes before class. In this short time, Lang urges teachers to take advantage of the time with students, instead of using it as a time for administration or organization. Drawing from three books or studies, Lang suggests building relationships, displaying an agenda, and wondering with students.

Reviews Teaching Writing Technology

Helpful links: Appalachian State University’s Glossary of WAC terms

Post author By Emily Chambers
Post date April 7, 2016

We’d like to share Appalachian State University’s wonderful resource, a glossary of WAC and WID terms. This glossary (below) may be helpful to faculty in all disciplines who teach writing and work with student writers, as it provides a flexible and easy to adapt vocabulary. Terms included describe the the writing process, the various conventions of written texts, and other aspects of academic writing.

Reviews Teaching Writing Technology

“How to Read a Book”: Paul Edward’s guidebook to reading techniques for students

Post author By Emily Chambers
Post date March 31, 2016

From a piece by Paul Edwards of the School of Information at University of Michigan.

So unless you’re stuck in prison with nothing else to do, NEVER read a non-fiction book or article from beginning to end.

Instead, when you’re reading for information, you should ALWAYS jump ahead, skip around, and use every available strategy to discover, then to understand, and finally to remember what the writer has to say. This is how you’ll get the most out of a book in the smallest amount of time…