Fanderclai and Faigley

Last semester in Teaching College English with Dr. Barton, the class read a number of tech-related articles, two of which are immediately relevant to this course: Tari Lin Fanderclai's "Like Magic, Only Real" and Lester Faigley's "Beyond Imagination: The Internet and Global Digital Literacy.” Incidently, I also created PowerPoints for both of these articles to present in Dr. Barton’s class; unfortunately, however, I could not find a way to upload these straight to blogspot (although that’s not to say there is no way to do this, only that I could not find that way in a couple minute’s worth of tinkering). Before elaborating on how I see their articles relating to our Computers, English, and Pedagogy class, allow me to properly cite the articles for any readers who wish to seek them out and read them:

Faigley, Lester. “Beyond Imagination: The Internet and Global Digital Literacy.” Concepts in Composition. Ed. Irene L. Clark. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003. 509-520.

Fanderclai, Tari Lin. “Like Magic, Only Real.” Concepts in Composition. Ed. Irene L. Clark. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003. 521-533.

Faigley had some interesting points. He contends that teachers still have a role in the classroom despite the insistence from some that technology will replace us. He says we need to make our voice heard: technology cannot do everything teacher’s do, it is not a golden ticket. It is a tool and nothing more. The issue of cost that my previous blog deals with is also raised by Faigley. His concern with the cost of technology is understandable, but the models he explicates as business-driven education have already appeared and faded into the background. Faigley does state that misinformation is one of the greatest dangers in using the web in education, but I see misinformation as a great opportunity to teach students analytical skills to determine authority and credibility.

Fanderclai’s article was amusing, especially considering that Dr. Moberly (one of my professors last year) knows her, and her name is all over our course material. It’s no surprise, because she is one of the leaders of the MOO pedagogy movements. Her article outlines the benefits and hindrances and anecdotes of her MOO-in-class experiences. While the major emphasis in her desire to utilize this technology seems to be upsetting traditional classroom hierarchies, she also notes other relevant teaching issues, such as getting students excited about learning, communicating, and interacting in an educational setting.