virtually an essay spaces and frameworks for digital assignments siân bayne higher and community...
TRANSCRIPT
Virtually an essayspaces and frameworks for digital assignments
Siân BayneHigher and Community EducationSchool of Education
‘Assessment methods and requirements probably have greater influence on how and what students learn than any other single factor.’Boud 1988
‘Writing matters not only because it is still the primary mode of student assessment but also because of the value placed on authoritative texts in academia.’Lea 2001
‘Writing is integral to the process of learning. It is not merely a transparent mode of representation which carries along content but the very act of writing constructs bodies of knowledge within the different contexts of HE.’ Lea 2005
the ‘black boxing’ of pen, paper, printMorgan et al 2002
‘The printed page should stand to its thought as a fine crystal goblet stands to the wine it contains…the best style is the style not noticed’ Warde 1956 quoted in Lanham 1993
The house was quiet and the world was calm.The reader became the book; and summer night Was like the conscious being of the book. …The words were spoken as if there was no book, Except that the reader leaned above the page, Wanted to lean, wanted much to be The scholar to whom his book is true…Wallace Stevens 1923
‘“Essay” is really institutionalised shorthand for a particular way of constructing knowledge which has come to be privileged within the academy.’Lillis 2001
Essays as exploration or argument?some simple web essays
Teacher as reader or writer?more web essays
Essays as image or text?an essay as a space
On what terms do we assess?criteria for assessment
Essays as exploration or argument?some simple web assignments
Birds and Death
The American Dream
‘A text can make a claim on you even if it does not support a particular proposition or present a particular abstract structure of argument’Kolb 1994
‘the argument comes into focus gradually, as a whole’Kolb 2004
‘If hypertext’s greatest educational strength as well as its most characteristic feature is connectivity then assessed exercises must measure the results of using that connectivity to develop the ability to make connections.’Landow 1997
Teacher as reader or writer?more web essays
Editing stretchfilm
Can e-learning meet the needs of non-traditional learners?
‘For Barthes, the readerly text… presents itself as a transparent window onto “reality”. The writerly text, however, self-consciously acknowledges its artifice by calling attention to the various rhetorical techniques which produce the illusion of realism. Barthes insists, “the goal of literary work is to make the reader no longer a consumer, but a producer of the text”.’Keep 2000
Essays as image or text?an essay as a space
The Learning Game
‘The logic of the image dominates the semiotic organization of the screen’Kress 2003
writing as temporal, image as spatial
On what terms do we assess?criteria for assessment
Ventura 2002
Landow 2004
McKenna 2007
— Using the visual to make arguments, rather than as background
— Logical organisation— Achieving the standards
the class established for successful public art
— Writing descriptively, colorfully, and correctly
Ventura 2002
Landow 2004
McKenna 2004
—Adequate number of links—Following links is satisfying —Coherence— Individual lexias should satisfy
readers and yet prompt them to want to follow additional links
—Multiple lines of organization
Ventura 2002
Landow 2004
McKenna 2004
—Persuasive writing —Good development and
structure—Logical and critical —Excellent handling of
multimodality —Incorporates linking with skill—Coherence
Ventura 2002
Landow 2004
McKenna 2007
MSc in E-learning
Knowledge and understanding of conceptsEngages critically with the main concepts and theories dealt with in the course.
Knowledge and use of the literatureUses most of the key references in the reading list, has drawn on other sources, and has integrated the ideas from this material into a sound and critical framework.
Constructing academic discourseQuality of the writing, rhetorical effectiveness and expression of ideas are consistent with the quality required for publication in an academic/professional journal. Conventions of referencing are attended to, and any media-specific deviations from conventional discourse are acknowledged, reflected upon and rationalised.
Some self-nominated criteria
Usefulness as a framework to continue to develop and apply to other e-learning projects
Antithesis of core criteria #2: non-use of course literature and references where they are not felt to have direct and useful relevance to the discourse (i.e. namedropping)
Produce collaborative work, with successful negotiation to produce something meaningful for both team members
Evidence of active learning, knowledge construction Production of a deliverable that other members the community can benefit of and eventually build upon for future years
Evidence of ability to set up a weblogIncorporating hyperlinks within text
Relating content to a relevant, current work situation
Visually interesting
Personal
It should make you smile at least once The relationship between technology and content – does method of delivery aid the effectiveness of the argument?
Innovation – is the assignment novel in its issues or manner?
“The great drama of the next few decades will unfold under the crossed stars of the analog and the digital.”Johnson 1999
