CU Boulder Program for Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) instructor Michelle Albert believes in preparing students to write, "... in the 21st Century!聽...聽This is what I like best about teaching."聽 Last year, students nominated Albert for an ASSETT Outstanding Teaching with Technology Award for her teaching of Writing 1100.聽 The class is designed for first year students who could use extra help with extensive writing and is capped at 15 students.聽聽"Good writing needs small group work and one-on-one ..." says Albert.聽聽"[Students] feel like they can experiment and explore and聽try new things and know they'll get support." 聽In聽nominating her for the award, one student wrote: "[Albert] introduced me to Google Docs, iMovie, Prezi, Wordpress, and she really made it a successful class and gave me a lot of confidence in my writing abilities."
As she聽designs her classes, Albert considers, "What does it mean to be literate in the 21st Century?聽... What literacy practices do students need to be able to use to communicate effectively now?"聽 So guides her courses: "The emphasis is ... on composition meant to be read in a multimedia environment," says Albert.聽 She explains that, "One of the PWR's overall goals is to ...聽learn write for a variety of audiences."聽 Therefore, Albert聽coaches students in making digital creative presentation聽choices.聽聽She says that she is, "... helping [students] develop useful academic skills that they can use in the rest of their college career ... I think that聽it's a crucial skill for students to leave college knowing how to compose in聽various digital聽environments."聽聽Albert encourages聽students to聽create their own YouTube videos,聽Prezi presentations,聽or聽Wordpress websites when appropriate:聽"In the intro class [Writing 1100], I introduce聽[students] to Prezi and web design tools ... and show聽them a range of tools and have them choose a tool for their purposes."聽聽When students are聽deciding which聽medium to use聽in their own writing,聽she asks them to consider: "'What am I interested in? ... What audience are you appealing to, and why?'" 聽Albert tells聽students that, "A public audience can be real if you choose,"聽and聽students often choose to聽create websites or YouTube videos聽that they share聽publicly.
Creating Class Websites
Albert also creates her own class websites to communicate assignment guidelines.聽 "I use Wordpress for my class management tool," says Albert.聽 "It helps keep the class clear and organized."
Albert's class websites also serve as聽the venue聽for her students聽to share their writing online.聽 Albert assigns topics for blog posts, and,聽"[Students] can all write posts and comment on each others' posts."聽聽Keeping in mind the digital environment, she may聽set a minimum number of hyperlinks for students to include in their writing.聽聽On creating a class website,聽Albert explains, "It takes time and saves time;"聽class聽websites聽require the instructor to聽spend some聽time before the semester to set up, but they聽also聽help students keep track of what's due when!聽聽She still uses D2L for confidential correspondence about聽grades, attendance, and personal feedback.
When聽Albert is not teaching students, she serves as the PWR Information Literacy Coordinator.聽 Albert shares聽best practices for teaching with technology with the department.聽聽"I design materials to help professors integrate those digital literacy tools into their classrooms."聽聽She leads, "... new faculty trainings," and聽ongoing instructional sessions聽about information literacy聽for聽instructors.聽聽Albert says that she enjoys balancing this coordinator聽position聽while teaching small writing courses: "I like the combination, and they both inform each other ... I can learn a lot about where students are coming from and what they know and don't know.聽 I like variety."
