Mary
P. Sheridan-Rabideau, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
While I have no crystal ball to tell the future of computers and composition,
I do have the equivalent to a departmental water cooler, and that
is often a more accurate barometer of the trends I see around me.
At this water cooler, Ive observed fewer conversations that
challenge if we teach our students technological literacy and more
conversations about how we teach the complexity of technological literacy.
Sometimes these conversations center on changing conceptions of literacy:
how might we incorporate multimodal literacies across the curriculum?
Sometimes they center on changing conceptions of technology: how can
we look at and not through computers? Sometimes they center on situated
responses to our classrooms, writing centers, or programmatic opportunities:
can blogs help us facilitate productive classroom discussions? Will
OWLS better serve our commuters? Might our work to create a web page
help us re-think our mission? What seems to under gird these conversations
is the move, to paraphrase Gunther Kress, from critique to design.
This move from critique to design has been a hallmark of computers
and composition pedagogy. Redesigning what computers do in a writing
classroom and what composition should mean in the university, our
research and practice has wrestled with knotty real-world problems
that call us to modify existing resources to better suit our needs.
At my water cooler, this commitment to solving problems even if, and
perhaps especially if, we need to re-imagine the solution ourselves
is becoming more overt. I find that encouraging. While I dont
know the forms this re-imagining may take in the future, I am eager
to find out.
Sibylle
Gruber, Northern Arizona University
When I started working on an article for the anniversary issue of
Computers and Composition, I was especially interested in how
the journal influenced our thinking about and rethinking of new information
technologies. Without doubt, scholars publishing in Computers and
Composition contributed to disillusioning us about the initial
utopian perspectives many of us wanted to believe in. As contributors
and readers, we moved into a more critical appraisal of new information
technologies in the classroom, and we pointed out the need for considering
the impact of the real on the virtual, the need for closer analysis
of online interactions, womens positionalities in online environments,
and the reading/writing/viewing/hyper-linking of race and ethnicity,
among others.
We
certainly are not yet finished with our thinking about new information
technologies. New developments in software and hardware, reconceptualizations
of our own thinking about online compositions, explorations of collaborative
efforts with scholars outside computers and composition, and recurring
questions of identity construction online encourage us to approach
new information technologies from different perspectives. When I first
encountered computers, they were fun toys that made it easy to change
typos, switch paragraphs around, and even play with font, underlining,
and bolding. Computers are still fun, with my little MS Office assistant
entertaining me while I correct typos, save the document, and stare
at the screen. But as the contributions to Computers and Composition
and to the field in general have shown, we have certainly moved away
from uncritically embracing technology and are instead working toward
an appreciation of the complex approaches to new information technologies.
I might smile at my electronic office assistant, but I am no longer
fooled into complacency by a tail-wagging, ear-scratching, and document-sniffing
screen embellishment.
Cheryl
E. Ball, Associate Editor 20032004, Michigan Tech University
The 20th anniversary issues of Computers and Composition marks
the highlight of my four years working with the journaland what
a wonderful time it has been! Having the opportunity to work closely
with authors, their manuscripts, and guest editorsand to see
the articles appear in print, especially in this 20th anniversary
yearwill be a touchstone in my editing career. But, perhaps
a more exciting opportunity is working with future guest editors planning
upcoming special issues. And weve got some great ones in the
works, covering both topics that have changed dramatically in the
last ten years, such as distance education, and topics new to the
pages of Computers and Composition, such as global and non-Western
perspectives on computers and writing, new media texts, and the multiliteracy
of sound. My work with C&C has had a profound impact on
my teaching, research, and especially on quelling my publication jittersI
have been able to see the publication process in action and know,
now, that it is not as scary as I once believed. If I had one piece
of advice for teacher-scholars who might feel intimidated about sending
their work to a journal, it is this: Journals need us. They need new,
fresh, innovative work, and editors like (the best editors in the
world!) Gail and Cindy are friendly, responsive, and eager to hear
from us!
Tracy
Bridgeford, University of Nebraska at Omaha
My relationship to the Computers and Writing community
came about through my position as Associate Editor for Computers
and Composition (1997-1999) at Michigan Tech. In this capacity,
I came to know the community through the scholarship of its members.
From the very beginning, I felt that I was participating in the scholarly
practices of a very special community.
This
community began on the periphery of Composition Studies through a
special interest group that met annually at CCCCs. In those meetings,
a handful of teachers, researchers, and scholars launched what has
become a dynamic, vibrant community that explores technological issues
as diverse as gender, space, control, power, and literacy, and does
so with thoughtful zeal. Twenty years later, the Computers & Writing
community has developed into a full-blown community of practice with
a recognizable identity, a vast repertoire of practices, and a mutual
respect for how complex it is to marry technology and writing.
Together,
members of this community have persevered, and continue to do so,
through administrative challenges, uninterested or uninformed colleagues,
and scarce resources both human and technical. Theyve built
a repertoire of practices that grew out of a lot of trail and error,
noble volunteer efforts, and negotiated participation. Participating
in this community means sharing each others experiences of meaning
not only because other
members have also lived the tale but also because they care and are
sincerely interested in those experiences. I look to this community
for inspiration, compassion, and intellectual challenges, and I always
get just that.
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