As yet there is no consensus about the purpose of OWLs. There is general agreement that they are a resource medium but there exists doubts about their potential to become online tutoring sites. As resource mediums, OWLs are just another tool available to writers. However, as tutoring sites, they may profoundly alter the way writing centers operate. Although asynchronous online tutorials have the potential to take the focus away from the writer and place it on the product, they may re-establish many of the characteristics of the f2f tutorial. Online tutorials may alter pedagogy, but at the same time, they still rely on the principles of f2f tutorials. They are beneficial in that: writers are more willing to share their frustrations with writing and in so doing, initialize the reflection process that is so crucial to improving as a writer; they promote writer-centered tutoring for they aid writers in developing critical facilities essential to meaningful revision, a process which may begin even as writers prepare for the tutorial; and they place more responsibility on the writer who is forced to ask questions in the process of articulating his/her needs. Even the challenges for the tutor-the need to maintain an online presence but not become overly and solely directive-can be beneficial by encouraging writer responsibility. The hypermediated online environment is an additional benefit that is unique to the online tutorial. Hyperlinks in the form of pop up screens can be used, along with questioning, to provide information-based direction. If tutors adhere to the principles of f2f tutorials, and successfully balance their active involvement in the tutoring process with the need to ensure that the focus remains on the writer and the process, they will avoid many of the pitfalls of online tutoring. This writer adopts a very optimistic view of online tutoring. While admitting that there are challenges to online tutoring, he shows ways in which these potential disadvantages can be converted into benefits. He implies that, depending on the way in which they are used, OWLs can conform to either the instrumental or substantive view of technology.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Potential of Online Tutoring
Jackson, J. A. “Interfacing the Faceless: Maximizing the advantages of online tutoring.” The Writing Lab Newsletter 25.2 (2000): 1-7. Oct. 2008 .
As yet there is no consensus about the purpose of OWLs. There is general agreement that they are a resource medium but there exists doubts about their potential to become online tutoring sites. As resource mediums, OWLs are just another tool available to writers. However, as tutoring sites, they may profoundly alter the way writing centers operate. Although asynchronous online tutorials have the potential to take the focus away from the writer and place it on the product, they may re-establish many of the characteristics of the f2f tutorial. Online tutorials may alter pedagogy, but at the same time, they still rely on the principles of f2f tutorials. They are beneficial in that: writers are more willing to share their frustrations with writing and in so doing, initialize the reflection process that is so crucial to improving as a writer; they promote writer-centered tutoring for they aid writers in developing critical facilities essential to meaningful revision, a process which may begin even as writers prepare for the tutorial; and they place more responsibility on the writer who is forced to ask questions in the process of articulating his/her needs. Even the challenges for the tutor-the need to maintain an online presence but not become overly and solely directive-can be beneficial by encouraging writer responsibility. The hypermediated online environment is an additional benefit that is unique to the online tutorial. Hyperlinks in the form of pop up screens can be used, along with questioning, to provide information-based direction. If tutors adhere to the principles of f2f tutorials, and successfully balance their active involvement in the tutoring process with the need to ensure that the focus remains on the writer and the process, they will avoid many of the pitfalls of online tutoring. This writer adopts a very optimistic view of online tutoring. While admitting that there are challenges to online tutoring, he shows ways in which these potential disadvantages can be converted into benefits. He implies that, depending on the way in which they are used, OWLs can conform to either the instrumental or substantive view of technology.
As yet there is no consensus about the purpose of OWLs. There is general agreement that they are a resource medium but there exists doubts about their potential to become online tutoring sites. As resource mediums, OWLs are just another tool available to writers. However, as tutoring sites, they may profoundly alter the way writing centers operate. Although asynchronous online tutorials have the potential to take the focus away from the writer and place it on the product, they may re-establish many of the characteristics of the f2f tutorial. Online tutorials may alter pedagogy, but at the same time, they still rely on the principles of f2f tutorials. They are beneficial in that: writers are more willing to share their frustrations with writing and in so doing, initialize the reflection process that is so crucial to improving as a writer; they promote writer-centered tutoring for they aid writers in developing critical facilities essential to meaningful revision, a process which may begin even as writers prepare for the tutorial; and they place more responsibility on the writer who is forced to ask questions in the process of articulating his/her needs. Even the challenges for the tutor-the need to maintain an online presence but not become overly and solely directive-can be beneficial by encouraging writer responsibility. The hypermediated online environment is an additional benefit that is unique to the online tutorial. Hyperlinks in the form of pop up screens can be used, along with questioning, to provide information-based direction. If tutors adhere to the principles of f2f tutorials, and successfully balance their active involvement in the tutoring process with the need to ensure that the focus remains on the writer and the process, they will avoid many of the pitfalls of online tutoring. This writer adopts a very optimistic view of online tutoring. While admitting that there are challenges to online tutoring, he shows ways in which these potential disadvantages can be converted into benefits. He implies that, depending on the way in which they are used, OWLs can conform to either the instrumental or substantive view of technology.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment