Re: computers and isolation

[John Bush <bushjb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Karen Degerstrom wrote:
> 
> one can pencil and paper write and face others in the room and even talk and
> share with them while one pauses from pencil composing. the computer seems
> to engulf the composer. there are many ways to process and to make outcomes.

Karen,

I respectfully beg to differ.  One of the best classroom writing
experiences I've had was when wrote a whole-class essay last year on the
similarities and differences between rap and country music.  So that we
could all see the composition as it happened, I hooked up my computer to
a TV monitor via an S-cable and typed away while the students fed ideas
and talked about what whould come next and how the essay should be
organized.  It was a great success, and the computer technology allowed
us to compose and revise in ways that writing on an overhead wouldn't
have let us.  My students from last year still come talk to me about
that, and I'm going to teach this year's bunch the same way, although I
may offer broader topic choices.

In cordial dissent,

John Bush
Brentwood HS
Brentwood, TN
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