Scott E. Kapel

MASTER'S PROJECT

Introduction: "We are in the middle of an extraordinary social experiment: the attempt to provide education for all of the members of a vast pluralistic democracy," observes education reformer Mike Rose. His book, Lives on the Boundary, challenges classical notions of education and literacy by leveling criticisms which cause his readers to seriously reconsider those notions. Rose does not promote that American education is without problems; indeed, to say such would be naïve. What he does promote is a reconsideration of how American educators should apply the traditional canon, and how they should teach the core knowledge necessary to learn the canon. Rose makes one thing clear: a return to a "back to basics" approach, as was promulgated in the 1980s and is still asserted today, is incompatible with the current educational needs of our country. Educators, educational theorists, and even educational reformers, are failing to broaden their view when considering new methods of approach, and tend to focus upon a "tried and true" methodology which has already been debunked. Consideration of radically new approaches must be made to ensure that a workable overhaul occurs. At current, there is only piecemeal consideration of the vast possibilities of electronic resources in education. Electronic literacy and application is swiftly gaining dominance in the workplace (not to mention our daily lives), but electronic literacy and application in educational institutions is woeful, at best.

Précis: The project will research and detail current uses of technology in English classrooms, as well as potential uses of technology in the English classroom. It will suggest a course of action for the most reasonable and most useful processes by which to integrate technology into the English classroom. It will examine, in detail, the benefits, detriments, and issues involving technology in the English classroom, an electronic pedagogy, and electronic literacy. Finally, it will present a model, in usable and accessible form, including research, resources, and examples, by which English educators may themselves migrate to an electronic pedagogy. The project will take two forms, in order to adequately address the issue: An online, internet-posted repository of information, and a text-on-paper, traditionally publishable report and examination.

Scope of the Project: Because issues of an electronic pedagogy, electronic literacy, and technological integration cover a wide range of concerns, the project must necessarily focus itself. The field may be seen as having two distinct poles. At one end is the English educator who simply publishes a syllabus or course outline online. At the other end is the English educator who makes full use of electronic technology, running an entire course online by using resources such as MOOs, listservs, electronic texts, and e-mail. The project will touch upon both poles, but will focus itself on an area roughly in the middle: a technologically immersed curriculum which still values and practices many traditional standards, including face-to-face meetings in regularly scheduled classes, use of hard, printed texts, research in the archaic library, and the occasional text-on-paper assignment.

Product of the Research: As noted, the project will take on two product forms: an online repository and guide, and a text-on-paper report and advisory. The online product will consist of a World Wide Web site which will host the research and application recommendations, including a 'starter kit' for online pedagogies in the English classroom. While the web site will initially represent the project, it will be designed to be collaborative in nature, allowing educators who are exploring an electronic pedagogy to include their knowledge and experiences. As well, a ring of web pages, modeling the well-known Webring, will be created to bring together online resources of other researchers and educators into a cohesive and easily navigated whole. The text-on-paper element of the project will take the guise of a miniature thesis, presenting the arguments, research, and support for an electronic pedagogy, as well as examples of the pedagogy at work, and recommendations for how to implement such a pedagogy. This miniature thesis will be approximately 20,000 words in length, and will be a publishable representation of the project.