I think that Lanham's argument of the philosopher vs. the rhetorician is a plausible one. I agree with the idea that the internet has changed the way we teach and gather information. When Lanham states that he " continue[s] to think that it is the convergence of technology, the arts and letters, and the democratizing of higher education that poses our paramount cultural and educational explanandum" I feel that he is saying that the internet has taken education to a more improved and desireable level. Information is much easier to obtain therefore making it more simple to write papers with multiple points of views.
However, the rise of the internet in the classroom also presents students with more of a possiblility of finding incorrect information and using it for their papers. When a book/magazine/journal enters the library, it is understood that the source is credible and somewhat trustworthy because it is written by someone that is qualified on that subject. The internet is an entirely different world in itself, and just like the real world, there is an evil side to the internet and the faulty information that it could bring to students and therefore transfer into their composititons.
I think that excercises such as blogging would be useful just to get students to start ideas for writing and to have a place to discuss things with fellow classmates, however, there has to be so much monitoring that I'm afraid that teaching a composition class entirely based on internet could be harmful.
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i agree- a composition class solely based on the internet could be very harmful. I think that is another reason I hate the ttu 1301 composition classes. There's very little instructor to student interaction when its online. In theory, virtual interaction should work, but i think for composition, interaction should be more personal.
ReplyDeleteI agree... so many students are really quick to think that sites such as Wikipedia are "scholarly"... I think that is another tool that needs to be taught in the classroom - how to find credible sources. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, there is a section of the TEKS (for those of you not teaching TEKS is the essential knowledge and criteria teachers have to go by when making their lesson plans) that deals with research; I am not sure if it pertains to learning the difference between scholarly vs. not. The internet is a great tool when used properly, but at the same time, some students use it as a crutch... they rely too heavily on it. As with anything, learning to utilize it as a properly is something that needs to be taught in every English class... the benefits far out-weigh the negatives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that the internet has changed how we think, research, and do school work. Before the internet people used the library, as now, most people just sit around and wait for a computer to be open instead of going to read in books. I love reading but then again that's prob. why I am an english major anyways..
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