Step 2: Incorporate Technology with Strong, Sound Rationales
Ideally, composition instructors embrace technology by choice and with defined pedagogical rationales. Unfortunately, the leading rationales for adopting online spaces in higher education, including courses and support centers, are often fiscal and competitive (Cook 2005; Cuban 2001; Garrison and Vaughan 2008). Neither of these rationales should drive educational decisions, yet they do. Many institutions are rushing to follow online trends (Wahlstrom and Clemens 2005). Kelli Carlyle Cook (2005) wrote that the desire to create online writing spaces often has little to do with pedagogy. Although the use of a virtual classroom might be forced upon a composition program or individual instructor, we still have a responsibility to apply our best pedagogical practices and ideals within these spaces. As Cook argued:
Concurrently, the availability of technology to deliver courses online and the enthusiastic marketing of this technology have encouraged administrators to migrate university instruction to the Internet. Another compelling force behind this movement is the market for online education itself—a workforce whose educational needs continue to grow. (50)
Adoption of Online Writing Courses
The administrative embrace of online education and academic support represents a response to the challenging financial environment in higher education (Anson 1999; Cook 2005). For-profit institutions have become models of online efficiency by serving large communities with part-time instructors. Developing inclusive courses likely asks yet more of a faculty receiving minimal technical training and support.
For a public university illustration of the pressure to migrate writing instruction and supports to virtual spaces, consider the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Political leaders in Minnesota established a formal goal of migrating a quarter of course credits earned by undergraduate students to online settings by 2015 (Ross, 2009). The university administration believes first-year writing courses and writing lab supports are ideal candidates for virtual spaces at Minnesota campuses, as these courses do not require laboratories, studios, or other physical spaces. First-year composition classes are, from this viewpoint, among the easiest courses to migrate online and meet the new state mandates for units earned online.
Technology trends are often sudden and disruptive. Although scholars had forecast the rise of online writing instruction and virtual writing labs, few predicted the sudden shifts we have witnessed within the last five years. In 1999, the National Center for Educational Statistics predicted that 54 percent of universities and colleges would offer online courses by 2000 (Cook 2005). Instead, we are approaching near-universal adoption of online education and supports. Designing effective and inclusive online spaces requires the investment of time, money, and human expertise. If the adoption of online spaces in higher education is driven by the desire to maintain or increase course enrollments, then the investments in designing virtual writing spaces is justified readily. The best online designs serve the broadest community of students. However, we should acknowledge that verifying virtual writing spaces comply with regulations and inclusive ideals requires testing and ongoing evaluation of designs (Seale 2006).
Pedagogical Rationales
Virtual writing spaces enable alternative views of what constitutes a text and the teaching of composition with digital technologies (Bernhardt, 1993). Our composition pedagogies often embrace these new forms of writing. When we consider the web, ebooks, smartphone apps, and more, texts have evolved toward hyperlinked, interconnected, and interactive experiences readers shape (Bolter 1991; Bolter and Grusin 1999; Kalmbach 2004; Kress 2003; Wysocki et al. 2004).
One key to online pedagogies is the ease with which we can tailor our feedback and discussions to particular classes and individual students. Writing scholars recognize that students perceive writing instructors as wielders of red pens, not as the mentors we seek to be, so we must reassure students that we are working with them (Conrad and Donaldson 2004; Garrison and Vaughan 2008). Because research indicates that frequency and quality of input from instructors correlates with student perception and satisfaction, virtual composition courses with active discussion forums and online chats nurture this desired connection with instructors and tutors. As Angela Eaton (2005) reported:
The two least-liked features of the online classroom are the lack of face-to-face interaction with classmates (selected by 59 percent of respondents) and the lack of face-to-face interaction with professors (65 percent). (36)
Collaboration online does not erase differences, but it can mitigate differences if composition instructors mediate discussions and offer positive interactions. In asynchronous virtual composition courses, disabilities are in the background if the course is effectively planned and managed.
Writing instructors should adopt technologies that complement a pedagogical foundation and guide students toward clear learning objectives, regardless of the physical or cognitive challenges a student might have. Although we often have technologies chosen for us, we should use only those features of online classrooms that align with composition pedagogies and do not isolate students with special needs.