Technology Theory and OWLs

Blythe, Stuart. “Why OWLs? Value, Risk, and Evaluation.” Kairos 1.1 (1996). Oct. 2008.


Blythe examines some of the pros and cons of OWLs as well as some of theories that have been brought to bear on the functioning of OWLs. Practitioners normally adopt either an instrumental, substantive or critical theory of technology. These are theories of technology that have been developed by Andrew Feenberg. The instrumental theory places emphasis on the way in which the technology is used and stresses that the efficiency of the technology should be judged on the way it is used. Because the technology is viewed as a tool, it does not necessarily alter practice. Those who apply this theory to online tutoring may argue that it replicates f2f tutoring and may focus on how the technology is used and not on how it may alter the student-tutor relationship. In contrast, the substantive theory places emphasis on the technology and posits that the technology fundamentally alters practice. Those who apply it to writing center practice argue that online tutoring changes the nature of the student-tutor relationship. The critical theory of technology agrees that technology changes practice but maintains that technology users can determine what kind of practices they want and choose technology during the design phase that would support these practices. In this way, they would be using the technology in an instrumental way. After technologies are implemented, it is difficult to alter them or work against them, short of rejecting them outright. Hence it is essential that users of influence technology design. Computers can act as tools that help design texts and store information or as environments that create a virtual space in which students and tutors interact. When these two functions are combined, the computer becomes a medium that “enables certain practices while suppressing others.” This article gives insight into the theories that are most commonly applied to technology use as it relates to OWLs. It also implies that the critical theory of technology may be the most useful one for writing centers for writing center personnel to adopt.