A Collaboration

In reading Lindemann's "Teaching Writing with Computers," she states "Most writing today requires that students apply both language and technology skills as they arrange ideas to communicate successfully" (280). Computers definitely provide a resource that is invaluable, because it allows the student to quickly refer to online sources such as: Purdue Owl in order to look at practical examples of mechanics, MLA format, and how to develop a thesis. Although computers have proven to be a beneficial resource, it does not arrange ideas for the student. I would incorporate technology into my teaching by presenting the computer's use as a tool in order to enhance student writing, but the writer (the student) still composes the text. An example would be the doctoral student I have been working with. According to the comments by her professor, she has problems with comma use, run-on, and fragmented sentences. We looked at some examples in one of her previous papers, while also referring to Purdue Owl for practical examples of "Comma Use." In this case, by using technology, the student was able to recognize pitfalls in her writing regarding comma use, in order to draft her next paper where she made a few, but not nearly as many mistakes that she had previously made. Writing is never replaced by technology, but the balance and collaboration between the two aids in the construction of enhanced composition. In the process of writing these blogs, I am learning more about what my teaching philosophy is. In the area of teaching writing with computers, I see the student as the ultimate navigator in the composing process. Understanding how to use technology usefully will save the writer time, and produce confidence when revising. We live in an age where technology is at our fingertips, but it is my conviction that successful composition begins with the writers' knowledge of understanding first, how to compose. Composition is a process, one where computers do not provide a quick fix. Walt Whitman says it best: "The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment--to put things down without deliberation--without worrying about their style--without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote--wrote, wrote...By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught."