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Category: Multimodality

Caring for the Future: Initiatives for Further Inclusion in Computers and Writing

DINNER KEYNOTE Computers and Writing 2017 hosted by The University of Findlay in Findlay, OH. Techne: Creating Spaces of Wonder June 1- 4:
http://candwcon.org/2017/

Citation

Butler, J., Cirio, J., Del Hierro, V., Gonzales, L., Robinson, J., and Haas, A. (2017). Caring for the Future: Initiatives for Further Inclusion in Computers and Writing. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 22(1).

Abstract

The purpose of this keynote was to draw special attention to potential strategies and initiatives that C&W can continue to implement in order to further support representation and inclusion in computers and writing scholarship. Six previous recipients of the Gail E. Hawisher and Cynthia L. Selfe Caring for the Future Award will gather together in this roundtable to acknowledge the ways that the field of Computers & Writing has supported and can continue to support diverse approaches and contributions to scholarship in the field. We begin by discussing how our experiences and presentations at the C&W conference have informed our progress, including through networking, publications, research interests/ideas, and other avenues within and beyond C&W networks. We will then invite a conversation to brainstorm new ideas and foster energy and support in continuing to build inclusive practices in the C&W community.

Proceedings

Six previous recipients of the Gail E. Hawisher and Cynthia L. Selfe Caring for the Future Award will gather together in this Town Hall to acknowledge the ways that the field of Computers & Writing has supported and can continue to support diverse approaches and contributions to scholarship in the field. We will begin by discussing how our experiences and presentations at the C&W conference have informed our progress, including through networking, publications, research interests/ideas, and other avenues within and beyond C&W networks.

The purpose of this Town Hall will be to draw special attention to potential strategies and initiatives that C&W can continue to implement in order to further support representation and inclusion in computers and writing scholarship. Based on our experiences as former Caring for the Future Award winners who have returned to the conference in subsequent years, we six will discuss the impact of initiatives such as the Hawisher & Selfe award, the C&W Race caucus, and other efforts to increase diversity and representation in the C&W community. We will examine the efforts that C&W has made to be inclusive and to provide mentoring for graduate students and emerging scholars, and we will encourage conference attendees to contribute to these and other initiatives.

Specifically, each speaker’s presentation was organized around a series of guiding questions:

  • What has been the impact of these initiatives in our involvement and engagement with the conference and with the field of Computers and Writing more broadly?
  • How has the ‘work’ of these initiatives sustained beyond our receiving the award?
  • What impact have these initiatives had on our research?
  • How can Computers & Writing continue to open a dialogue about “promoting and sustaining an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment” (http://hawisherselfe.org/about.html)?

In response to this year’s theme of wondering (potential, curiosity, and reflection) and wonder (awe, interest, and marvel), we will interrogate how those of us in the field of computers and writing can capitalize on the potential of learning through diverse perspectives. Given that efforts of diversity and inclusion are ongoing, we hope to use this presentation to create a reflective space that helps push current efforts forward to continue to imagine futures for C&W. Drawing from our experiences we hope to express a “loving critique forward” (Alim & Paris 2014) that will continue to shape C&W’s community as well as ask what we are interested in sustaining.

Throughout the roundtable discussion, the six speakers hope to unpack the ways in which current and new initiatives can increase rigor and representation at C&W and within the field of writing studies more broadly in the progress towards caring for the future. Attendees at this Town Hall will help develop and shape a list of objectives, reflections, and future plans for helping C&W continue to mentor and support diversity and inclusion. This list and the conversations stemming from this round table will be shared with other conference participants and organizers to continue embedding efforts toward inclusivity within this already supportive space.  

Work Cited

Paris, Django, and H. Samy Alim. “What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A loving critique forward.” Harvard Educational Review 84.1 (2014): 85-100.

Supplementary Materials


Filter. Remix. Make.: Cultivating Adaptability Through Multimodality

Citation

Dusenberry, L., Hutter, L., and Robinson, J. (2015). Filter. Remix. Make: Cultivating Adaptability Through Multimodality. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 45(3), 299-322.

Abstract

This article establishes traits of adaptable communicators in the 21st century, explains why adaptability should be a goal of technical communication educators, and shows how multimodal pedagogy supports adaptability. Three examples of scalable, multimodal assignments (infographics, research interviews, and software demonstrations) that evidence this philosophy are discussed in detail. Asking students to communicate multimodally drives them to effectively filter information, remix modes, and remake practices that are core characteristics of adaptable communicators. Beyond teaching students how to teach themselves as an essential part of living in an information society, contending with new and unfamiliar tools also prepares students for their roles as empathic mediators in the workplace.

Supplementary Materials

State of the Field: Teaching with Digital Tools in Writing and Communication

Citation

Robinson, J., Dusenberry, L., Hutter, L, Lawrence, L., Frazee, A. and Burnett, R. (2019). State of the Field: Teaching with Digital Tools in Writing and Communication, Computers and Composition.

Abstract

Recent rapid technological change has influenced the ways writing and communication teachers and students use digital tools in their classrooms. We surveyed 328 writing and communication teachers about their use of digital resources in the classroom, in planning, and in course management. Our study finds that over one-third of teachers either teach themselves or use their existing knowledge to support digital pedagogy; learning management systems are used overwhelmingly to distribute materials; teachers perform a range of teaching tasks with both digital and non-digital tools; and teachers often depend on familiar, commonly available resources to perform teacher and learner actions. We recommend that the field should offer more targeted training for writing and communication teachers about the use of digital resources, support development of a repository of crowdsourced best practices, advocate for teachers to become stakeholders in the development and selection of digital resources to encourage more deliberate and targeted use of digital tools, and systematically collect information about digital resource use in the field.

Supplementary Materials