Category: Teaching with Technology


Archive for the ‘Teaching with Technology’ Category

Nov 11 2009

Technology Tip: Tracking Revisions using the File Name

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  • Several organizations (including some government offices) use the file name to track document revisions – for both single-authored and collaborative projects. Here’s an example students could practice:
    • short_title_v1_2009nov11.doc (original)
    • short_title_v3_2009nov13.doc (second revision)

This system allows writers to track how many revisions a document has undergone and when the revisions were made, making it easier to revert to earlier versions or to identify the most recent version. The file name also can be expanded to include the most recent contributor’s initials:

    • short_title_v4_2009nov14_jm.doc (third revision, by author “jm”)

Oct 08 2008

Resources for Teaching and Writing with Technology

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  • The brief Thomson Handbook by David Blakesley & Jeffrey L. Hoogeveen
    • Each tab in the handbook discusses technologies as new contexts for writing. The tabs introduce blogs, Web 2.0, podcasts, social networks, and other technology-based contexts for writing.
    • Technology Toolboxes introduce strategies for writing with technology. Sample topics include project planning, freewriting on the computer, revising on a computer, using the comment function in Microsoft Word, tracking changes to a document, and more.
    • Part 7, “Writing in Digital Spaces,” covers internet-based networking, designing media-rich projects, and understanding rhetorical contexts for writing.
  • Articles about Using Wikipedia for Academic Purposes:
    • Roy Rosenzweig’s “Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past” in The Journal of American History (June 2006) is one of the few scholarly articles that evaluates Wikipedia’s authority within an academic discipline (in this case, history). Along with providing a comprehensive discussion of Wikipedia, this article could be a model for students’ own analyses of the site.
    • In “Dissecting the Web through Wikipedia” (American Libraries, August 2008) librarian Adam Bennington presents a basic structure for using a Wikipedia to teach information literacy. Much of the chatter about Wikipedia and information is happening within the Library and Information Studies discipline; very little information currently exists in the Rhetoric and Composition literature.
  • Computers in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008) provides a valuable overview of the promise and peril of integrating technology and the teaching of writing. You can request a free copy from Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Oct 08 2008

Teaching with Word (Jessie Moore)

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Microsoft Words includes a wealth of tools that students haven’t tried. Students often benefit from an introduction to/review of formatting features (headers with page numbers and hanging indents) and citation tools.

Oct 08 2008

Diigo – Web Highlighter and Sticky Notes (Paula Patch)

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Introduce students to this research tool, which enables them to highlight and annotate web pages. For information about a Diigo education account, visit the FAQ page at http://help.diigo.com/Diigo_Educator_Account_-_FAQ