From The C's

Moodle and Excel Not Strictly BW, But. . . .Part 1

One of the most interesting sessions I attended at the C's took place in the Exhibition Hall.  While not explicitly directed at Basic Writing instructors,  both are fine examples of the kinds of things we can be doing in the classroom, whether it be virtual or face-to-face.

The first speaker, Jessica Schreyer, from the University of Dubuque,  thoroughly and thoughtfully explained the ways that she uses Moodle as the web platform for her courses (In fact, The University of Dubuque , it should be noted, uses Moodle as its course platform for all of its courses). What I was most impressed with was that she used Moodle to encourage her students to collaborate on projects from papers to discussions to peer reviews and class feedback.

Jessica described Moodle as being a "shared space" more than anything, in which student, teacher, peers and course materials formed a dynamic cycle in which each interacted with the other.  She has taken advantage of many of the communications features in the program which enable the participants to collaborate both through formal assignments and through discussion lists, to name a few.  She creates a program flexible enough so that each student chooses his own degree of participation, though the teacher, through public response and praise can certainly motivate students to become frequent users. 

Using Moodle has given students more access to "classroom" resources, whether they be course materials, college links, outside links, or the instructor and other students. And it is this last group that has been most significant as the students develop the confidence to become each other's resources.  And they become partners with the instructor in revising the course in that Moodle affords her the ability to post a ten -item questionnaire at the end of each unit, so that the students can give her immediate feedback.

"Exposing Some Basic Realities: A Conversation About BW Strategy from Portfolios and Stretch Courses to Studios and Mainstreaming"

My day began with a very energizing session given by Jenifer Fennell, Kathleen DeVore and Gill Creel of Minneapolis Community and Technical College.  The group shared  their department's  experience of moving from timed-writing to portfolios, offering this thought:  perhaps portfolios aren’t the last word on assessment, but instead are the opening gestures of an ongoing discussion, "raising more issues," than solving them. To what degree should error reduction play a part in portfolio evaluations?  Should a second language student be expected to rid her writing of all traces of her first language in creating her portfolio?  How can pedagogy guide changes in the classroom or of the structure of the class itself?

And that’s what I brought back from this engaging session—that portfolio assessment is and should be subject to ongoing discussion and scrutiny as student populations and faculties change on our respective campuses.

Gill, as the first speaker, provided some background to the college’s portfolio system.  Like many schools, MCTC used to expect students to pass both the course and the exam in order to move to credit-level writing.  The timed writing, as all three presenters pointed out,  resulted in superficial, empty writing which didn't seem to have any relation to the student, the class, or even the institution. As the department developed the portfolio program, it also created assignments that engaged students and resulted in stronger writing by the semester's end.  Examples of the assignments are on Gill's web page, and I encourage you all to see the exciting work they're doing.

The second speaker, Kathleen, discussed what the next step should be in using portfolios. She noted that the topic of error correction kept "creeping" back into the discussions of writing, and more importantly, the switch from tests to portfolios did not result in all of the department members becoming ardent compositionalists-- to be fair, she added, not everyone in their depart ment of 31 was trained to be one--many members having MFA or lit degrees.

So, what is the next step?  Kathleen suggested that the answer should be found in the hows and whys of infusing the writing classes and portfolios with an examination of critical literacy though she reminded the audience that community college instructors don’t have time to research things with the same depth as our university colleagues, as we are hired to each 5/5 or 30 hour loads. Despite making this point, her presentation was impressive for all of the work she has done.

Jenifer, the last speaker, spoke about the ways that critical literacy and portfolio use influenced changes not only in assignment we give, but also in the way we shape the courses. The writing that she and her colleagues have seen from their students has been incredible--in writing and talking about issues connecting with their own lives, the students have been creating texts that are much more developed and reflective than in the past.  In terms of assignments, she asked how can we create work that results in a student-focused activity rather than an assignment sheet that is not only teacher-centered but which results cookie cutter essays that lack original idea and insight. Regarding our own assignments, she asked, "How can it be critical literacy if it is all the same?" If we expect students to write critically and from their own lives, is it fair to expect second-language learners to "eradicate all traces" of their home language? 

So what are the ways some of these changes may come about on a course-level?  Stretch, studio and intensive models were offered as possible shifts in structure. 

That their discussion struck a nerve was evident in the comments and questions posed at the end of their presentation.  And if I were writing an article for the Basic Writing Electronic Journal, I would cover these questions in greater detail, but as a blogger at a convention, I'm discovering the real world limitations between time for writing and time for attending.  I will say that the time spent at this particular session was extremely useful, and I encourage you to contact the presenters as they have so much to offer--much more than can be said here.

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