Why Having Computers is Important to Teaching Composition

            For two out of the three years I have been teaching college composition, I have been fortunate enough to have spent at least one class day a week in one of my department’s computer labs. Having this access to computers was great because I was able to give time for the student’s individual exploration of their writing or their research instead of assuming that my students have their own laptops or tablets. This year, I didn’t get so lucky because I ended up teaching Writing II, which isn’t taught in a computer classroom at my university. As a result, I feel like I haven’t been nearly as effective with developing a better computer literacy. My feeling is probably shared by many college composition teachers as a survey conducted in the early 2000s shows “that only 25 percent of the graduate teaching assistants in rhetoric and composition programs have an opportunity to teach writing in a computer-based classroom” (qtd. in Selber 7). Of course, this survey is dated, but I’m sure that many teachers are still in my situation. So, although Selber says that this lack to direct computer access shouldn’t be a barrier in teaching composition, but why can it be?

            I have two basic theories. The first theory is that students don’t have the time or the ability to have the direct interaction with the computers. In the past, I have taught how to do basic research and then allowed them to have some time to do their own research on the university’s computers. Without that ability, I am expecting them to listen to me teach and then go home and remember everything. That is just not realistic for even the most overachieving student. The second theory is that students just don’t see how applicable these computer skills are without actually getting the opportunity to test those skills out. English and composition are often seen as not important because they are not “applicable” in their lives, which is not true. We, as composition teachers, have to push our students to see that despite computers, we can still learn more about composition. However, I dread that with today’s technology-minded students, not teaching composition with computers could be the death knell for the modern composition classroom. Hopefully, composition departments will learn that lesson sooner rather than later.

Work Cited

Selber, Stuart A. Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2004. Print.