Irene Ward – författare

By now it is widely accepted wisdom that the Internet has vast potential as a learning tool for students of almost all ages and levels. But it is less clear how to harness this potential most effectively. What indeed should the "online classroom" mean to teachers? Will the rush to get "wired" mean little more than enhanced visuals or automated lecture delivery-or can it result in innovative pedagogies for improving literacy into the twenty-first century? In this collection of essays, some of the most progressive voices in literacy studies reconsider what it means to be literate in the information age, and offer practical advice not only for getting networked computers into the classroom but also for instructing students and other teachers how to tap into their boundless potential.Essays range in subject from the story of a radical, communal writers' group working together in a networked environment; to an exploration of how utopian notions of the networked classroom don't always hold true, on the basis of the authors' classroom experience of hostile, dysfunctional chat room exercises; to an applied and totally attainable model for gathering support and preparing teachers for new technologies. Together the contributions provide a provocative and much-needed introduction to the constantly shifting subject of literacy theory, paving the way for continued dialogue on a subject that teachers, students, and all writers and readers can no longer afford to ignore.

By now it is widely accepted wisdom that the Internet has vast potential as a learning tool for students of almost all ages and levels. But it is less clear how to harness this potential most effectively. What indeed should the "online classroom" mean to teachers? Will the rush to get "wired" mean little more than enhanced visuals or automated lecture delivery-or can it result in innovative pedagogies for improving literacy into the twenty-first century? In this collection of essays, some of the most progressive voices in literacy studies reconsider what it means to be literate in the information age, and offer practical advice not only for getting networked computers into the classroom but also for instructing students and other teachers how to tap into their boundless potential.Essays range in subject from the story of a radical, communal writers' group working together in a networked environment; to an exploration of how utopian notions of the networked classroom don't always hold true, on the basis of the authors' classroom experience of hostile, dysfunctional chat room exercises; to an applied and totally attainable model for gathering support and preparing teachers for new technologies. Together the contributions provide a provocative and much-needed introduction to the constantly shifting subject of literacy theory, paving the way for continued dialogue on a subject that teachers, students, and all writers and readers can no longer afford to ignore.

This is the first scholarly examination of the use of dialogic theory and pedagogy by scholars and teachers of writing. Dialogic methods have become extremely important to many different approaches to pedagogy. However, no one has yet noted that such pedagogies are being espoused by scholars and teachers who have vastly differing theoretical and ideological orientations from one another. Given the fact that the same kind of pedagogy is being proposed by people from such widely differing perspectives, it is time for a substantial reassessment of the use of dialogic pedagogies in literacy education.Ward's critique of the "democratic" dialogue that expressivists, social constructionists, radical pedagogists, and poststructuralists profess should be read by all compositionists employing collaborative learning in their classrooms. Ward's pedagogy acknowledges and makes room for the differences among students that feminist and social constructionist pedagogies often ignore; it takes into account that social relationships outside the composition classroom can affect the relationships of students within it.