Department of English, Foreign Languages, Journalism

School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Missouri Western State University

Dr. Jane Frick, English Professor, and Prairie Lands Writing Project Director

Spring - 2008

6:30 – 9:20 T - JGM 119

Email: frick@missouriwestern.edu

Faculty Web Page: www.missouriwestern.edu/EFLJ/Faculty/frick.asp

Office: Eder 201 (Prairie Lands Writing Project)

271-4315 (MWSU); 232-3695 (home)

Office Hours: M 2-4; T 9:00-11 and 6-6:30; W 9-12 Th: 9-11

Other Times by Appointment

 

Course Syllabus for ENG/EDU 512 Teaching Writing with Technology

 

Class closed Web site at  http://webboard.missouriwestern.edu/: (ENG 512)

Password = 512 (until you change it); User Name = Your Last Name and Initial of First Name – FrickJ

Catalog Description

ENG/EDU Teaching Writing with Technology (3 credits) In this course, participants will learn how to use technology to improve writing and learning in their classrooms. Students will investigate, experiment with and use word processing, spread sheet, electronic images, presentation software, and web pages. With these technologies, students will

            Design writing assignments that follow the writing process

            Review software and Web design considerations

            Critique their own designs as well as existing software and Web programs for possible incorporation into their own curriculum

            Learn how to harness the power of the Internet to create writing and learning communities

            Develop a CD portfolio of course lessons and assignments for use in their teaching

Prerequisite: Senior standing at MWSU with successful completion of EED, SED Junior Experience or BS or BA degree. Participants should have a basic understanding of computer applications.

 

Basic Assumptions about Writing/Teaching Writing (adopted from the National Writing Project: www.writingproject.org)

 

Writing is pivotal to learning, to academic achievement, and to job success

 

Writing instruction begins in kindergarten and continues through university

 

Effective teachers of writing regularly write themselves

 

Writing is fundamental to learning in all subjects

 

Course Format

 

What does it mean to teach writing effectively in a digital age? What do email, IM, myspace.com and facebook.com have to do with teaching? As teachers we understand and value a writing process which involves multiple drafts and time for reflection, but we also recognize that for many of our students, communication is instant and online. In fact, American teenagers are the largest group of Internet, email and instant message (IM) users in the world.[1] In this course, we will focus on how we can connect our students’ enthusiasm for an ever-increasing use of technology in their out-of-school lives to using technology for literacy acquisition in our classes.

 

This three-hour graduate course counts toward Prairie lands Writing Project’s (PLWP) Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing. PLWP is one of eight National Writing Project sites selected nationwide to test and disseminate information about what it means to “write, learn, and teach in a digital world,” 2005-2008.[2]  We will use the National Writing Project’s teachers-teaching-teachers model in that PLWP Teacher Consultants who have participated in the National Seed Sites Technology Initiative will join our class as guest presenters. Each session will begin with a lesson demonstration, writing, and reflection/discussion. After a short break, participants will have lab time to work on digital teaching projects.

 

Course Objectives

 

To know how to use computer technology to enhance writing instruction and learning, including:

           Designing writing assignments that follow the writing process

            Reviewing software and Web design considerations

Critiquing designs as well as existing software and Web programs for possible incorporation into one’s own curriculum

            Learning how to harness the power of the Internet to create writing and learning communities

            Developing a CD portfolio of course lessons and assignments for use in one’s teaching

  

Class listserv: You will be joined to eng465@list.missouriwestern.edu

 

Use the [P] Drive or your personal flash drive.  Be sure that you have stored all of your writings/projects for this course in a folder in your [P] drive or your own personal flash drive, so that you can access and print them in class as needed and/or post them to our class Web site.

 

Course Grade Points will be awarded for all projects. At the end of the semester, I will divide your points by the number of possible points and award grades on the basis of the following percentages:

90-99% Course Grade A

80-89% Course Grade B

70-79% Course Grade C

60-69% Course Grade D

Below 60% Course Grade F 

 

I anticipate the following number of possible points  and projects for the semester:

 

Up to 500 possible points for in-class activities (e-journal writings, critique participation, reading logs, weekly log, quizzes, etc.) which will be allocated in 5 - 50 points per activity. No make-ups or late work will be accepted for these activities and assignments.

 

 

250 possible points for Electronic Portfolio Assessment # 1 to be completed in class on Tuesday, March 4.  (By this date, you will have completed a PowerPoint presentation (100 points) and a teaching memoir (100 points) which we have workshopped together using Word’s editing tool. In class on this evening, you will participate in a class BLOG reflection about your completion of these two projects and the progress of other course workshops/presentations to date (50 points).

 

500 possible points for Electronic Portfolio Assessment # 2 to be completed during the final exam period on Tuesday, May 6: (The projects in your electronic portfolio will include at least one PowerPoint presentation, multi-genre memoir, professional web site, I-Search paper, and Electronic Lesson Plan/Teaching Tool. In class on this evening, you will participate in a BLOG reflection about your completion of these projects and the way your teaching may/may not change as a result of focusing on the use of teaching with technology in this course.)

 

Document Format Requirements

Unless instructed otherwise, print all documents in 12-point Times New Roman, double spaced. In the upper-right hand header, put your first and last name and page number. Under your name, include the date you print the writing.  Add a title, centered, at the top of the first page of text.

 

Attendance Policy

Come to class. There are no makeup points for work completed in class as this course requires your participation in our technology community.

 

Due Dates

Papers and projects are due at the beginning of the hour on the assigned date. Late submissions will be lowered points equivalent to one letter grade per day late. If you miss class because of an emergency or illness, contact me regarding a possible exception regarding imposing the lowered point penalty. Do not schedule doctor’s appointments, job interviews, and/or work schedules during class time. These will not be excused absences which allow you to make up work.

 

Students with Disabilities

Any student in this course who has a disability that prevents or hinders the completion of class requirements must notify me immediately so that provisions may be made for any assistance which is needed.

 

Honesty Policy

It is expected that all students will submit their own work. Plagiarism or cheating on papers or tests is not acceptable. The first instance of plagiarism will result in a failing grade, or 0-60% of possible points, on the assignment. The second instance of plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course.

  

Tentative Course Plan

 

Detailed assignments, handouts and materials will be available to you for downloading and printing from our Webboard web site at   http://webboard.missouriwestern.edu (ENG 512). Reading assignments, to be completed before class, will be available from the Internet.

 

T 1/15              The Web 2.0 world and its implications for teaching

 

T 1/22              The Web 2.0 world and its implications for teaching

“Using Microsoft Word to Energize Revision” http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/techfiles/dierking/index.html

 

T 1/29              Guest Presenter: Mary Lee Meyer: “Publishing an “I AM” From Poems in Power Point” http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/techfiles/meyer/index.html

                       

T 2/5                Guest Presenter: Amy Miller: “Wiki Wild: Using a Classroom WIKI for Collaborative Prewriting” http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/techfiles/miller/index.html

 

T 2/12              Guest Presenter: Stacia Studer: “Opening the Doors of our Classrooms: Blogs” http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/techfiles/studer/index.html

                       

T 2/19              Guest Presenter: Heidi Mick: “Podcasting a New Review            http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/techfiles/mick/index.html

 

T 2/26              Guest Presenter: Valorie Stokes “ Using Web Resources to Explore Graphic Novels - Not Your Parents' Comics” http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/techfiles/mick/index.html 

           

 

T 3/4                Portfolio Check # 1 (Complete drafts of PowerPoint and Memoir Assignments) will be finished by this date. You must commit to the topic of your I-Search paper by this date.

 

T 3/11              NO CLASS spring break

 

T 3/18             

                                   

T 3/25             

 

T 4/01              I-Search Papers drafts ready by this date

 

T 4/8               

 

T 4/15              Electronic Lesson/Teaching Tools posted by this date

 

T 4/22             

 

4/29                 Study Day – NO classes

 

T 5/06              Final exam period: Portfolio showcase session; final drafts must be posted of all projects.