From the Editor's Notepad
This issue of Inkshed focuses our attention on the complex intersections
between writing, teaching, and technology. The newsletter opens with Dale
Jacobs' call for a critical praxis in the use of technology in our classrooms;
he urges us to continually question why we are using technology and what
happens when we do. This call to questioning is taken up in articles by
Doug Brent, who critically examines the implications of using WebCT as
a platform for delivering on-line course content, and by Graham Smart,
who discusses the motivations for and effects of responding on-line to
students' writing. In the closing article, John Killoran explores self-presentation
in web pages and laments the ways in which issues of personal security
and personal legitimacy have contributed to stifling "the full democratic
flowering of discourse that compositionists might have hoped for" on the
web. Finally, from the last CASLL conference comes a contribution from
Laura Atkinson, Pat Sadowy, Karen Smith, and Stan Straw--a look at reasons
teachers give for resisting technology in their classrooms.
Over the coming months, it's your turn to write. We've set a January
31 deadline for proposals for the May 2001 Inkshed conference (see the
call for papers on the last page), and we're inviting articles for the
next issue of the newsletter, which will focus on writing across the curriculum.
Send your newsletter contributions to Barbara Schneider, who will take
on the lead editorial role (baschnei@ucalgary.ca).
Happy holidays to Inkshedders one and all,
Back to Winter 2000 Contents