Ewriting Spaces as Safe, Gender-Fair Havens

The Tulley/Blair piece on Ewriting safe spaces really helped me come to a more specific understanding of my philosophy of teaching with technology. While the article as a whole was quite thought-provoking, I was particularly struck by the notion that the fulid, non-linier nature of hypertext does allow for the expression of multiple "voices," and it also provides a useful opportunity to experiment with combining the personal and the academic in writing, something that isn't easy to accomplish in a linier text.

One thing that has troubled me about using sophisticated technology in writing classes is how to assess student projects fairly. Some students come into the course with all kinds of technical skills while others come in with very few. Given the nature of the course - writing - it becomes difficult to zero in on student "writing" when many are so busy struggling with the technology that they struggle with the "writing" aspect of a given assignment. The Tulley/Blair article recommends using portfolio assessment as a solution to this issue, and I think it is a great idea. This allows students to work at different rates, so those that need a little extra time to figure out the technology can take the time and not feel rushed when it comes to the critical thinking of writing and/or crafting whatever the assignment is asking them to do. Having read about the theory behind this notion of assessment and participated in class like this, I feel strongly about its effectiveness as a means of providing fair and accurate assessment to all students.