ENGL 452: Teaching English With Digital Technology

This course addresses the ways that new technologies are changing the teaching of English at the middle and secondary school levels. We will examine the history of writing technologies and consider the ways that scribal proficiency, the printing press, and computer coding have revolutionized our conceptions of writing and the very nature of literacy itself. We will then immerse ourselves in the digital world, contribution to social networks, blogs, and wikis, and evaluation when and how they should be used in our teaching of language, literature, and writing. We will give careful consideration to the philosophical and ethical concerns that accompany these dynamic and collaborative environments. However, the bulk of the course will be dedicated to developing effective strategies for helping our students read, interpret, and produce alphabetic, hyper-, and multi-modal texts. The ultimate goal is the participants will create digital teaching portfolios that reflect their pedagogical beliefs and revitalize their instruction. There questions will be threaded throughout the term: How do Web 2.0 technologies and their multiple modes of representation affect how our students might approach reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing? How can we, as English teachers, prepare our students to engage both actively and critically in a rapidly changing communicative environment while maintaining our traditional curricular focus on literature, language, reading, and writing? How can we most effectively use the technological resources available to us to foster students' leafing and literacy within 21st century classrooms?