course.goals
materials
assignments
grading
attendance
electronica
ethics
disability

 

instructor kevin eric depew
office bal 4042
phone 757.683.4019
e.mail kdepew@odu.edu
web.page http://www.odu.edu/~kdepew
office hours m & w 3:00-4:00pm & by appointment
im kerdepew
skype k.e.depew


quick links

calendar
blackboard (email, collaboration, and readings)
online class (adobe connect)
resources


course.goals

Most distance education infrastructures are arguably designed to accommodate lecture-style instruction. However, this pedagogy is rarely conducive for teaching writing courses which tend to be more successful when students have the opportunity to write and collaborate. We will examine general theories of distance education with a critical eye towards what translates well to writing pedagogy. Then we will immerse ourselves in the conversations about teaching writing at a distance as we develop our own curricular tools.

In this course you will learn ...

  • the history of distance learning and how writing pedagogy fits into this history
  • the issues and ideologies surrounding the teaching of writing from a distance
  • practical strategies for teaching online
  • hueristics for designing pedagogy to be taught from a distance
  • the praxis of developing distance education pedagogy
  • how to assess a distance learning program or course

prerequisites

English 664 (Teaching College Composition) or English 720/820 (Pedagogy and Instructional Design) are encouraged


course.materials

Writing Across the Distances & Disciplines: Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning
Joyce Magnotto Neff & Carl Whithaus
Routledge
2008
ISBN: 0805858571

Teaching Writing Online: How & Why
Scott Warnock
NCTE
2009
ISBN: 9780814152539

Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers
Kelli Cargile Cook & Keith Grant-Davie
Baywood Publishing Company
2004
ISBN: 0895032953

Other readings will be retrieved from...


major.assignments

Blog Entries (50 points) & Community Analysis (50 points): By reading above and beyond the assigned readings, you will have the opportunity to further acquaint yourself with the literature about teaching writing from a distance. For this assignment, you will find and review five academic articles/chapters related to teaching writing at a distance. Your research should be geared towards a problem or issue you are interested in and should inform the work you will do in the subsequent assignments. After you have completed the blogs you will examine yours and your peers entries to determine how well you all formed a community with the assistance of this technology; you will use specific examples from the text to support your argument.

Project Proposal (50 points): Early in the semester, you will draft a proposal outlining how you will fulfill the course requirements. Not only does this give you the opportunity to see if the work you want to do is feasible, the proposal gives you the opportunity to focus your inquiries for the semester and receive guidance from the instructor.

Pedagogical Tool Review (100 points; PhD Students only): You will select and review an instructional tool that can facilitate the teaching of distance education with the intension of helping others in the class determine whether they should adopt it for the contexts they teach in. You will compose a 1500 word review and do a five to ten minute presentation about this tool's value.

Pedagogy Project & Rationale w/e-poster (250 points): Taking into account sound pedagogical practices and contextual exigencies, you will develop the teaching materials for a course, a unit, or a workshop–preferably something that you anticipate putting into practice in the near future. In addition to the pedagogy, you will submit a 2000 (2500 for PhDs) word rationale that theoretically justifies the pedagogical practices of your materials. You will develop an e-poster to display both the pedagogy and rationale.

Three Means of Failing the Course related to Major Assignments

  • Not completing a major assignment
  • Major assignments will be given no credit if the assignment is not turned in prior to the instructor returning the respective assignment to the class. This becomes the equivalent of not completing a major assignment
  • An act of plagiarism (or other forms of academic dishonesty)


grading

Major Assignments

I will be looking for evidence of each student's progress towards professional level work. More specifically I will be looking for evidence of...

  • well supported and "original" work that responds to a specific context
  • an understanding of theories related to writing pedagogy and their application to the distance context
  • an ability to generate sound teaching materials and justify their pedagogical use, especially within a specific context
  • an ability to demonstrate a contribution to an academic conversation
  • addressing your audiences' expectations appropriately, including fulfilling generic expectations
  • professional and scholarly persona
  • prewriting and planning
  • professional quality work, in terms of mechanics, design, and protocol

Quizzes

While there are no quizzes scheduled for this course, the instructor reserves the right to introduce them into the schedule if it becomes apparent that the course readings are not being done.

Grade Scale

Your final grade (400 points for MAs; 500 for PhDs) and assignments will be graded on the following point scale* :
  A =92-100 % A -= 90-91.9 % B+ = 87-89.9 %
  B = 82-86.9 % B- = 80-81.9 % C+ = 77-79.9 %
  C = 72-76.9 % C- = 70-71.9 % D+ = 67-69.9 %
  D = 62-66.9 % D -= 60-61.9 %  
  F = 0-59.9 %    

* = The instructor reserves the right to adjust this scale based on the students' performance throughout the semester. Any adjustments will 1) apply to the entire class and 2) never deny a student the grade that s/he earns based upon this posted scale.


attendance

Students are required to attend every class. If you miss a class, for whatever reason, you are responsible for making up any missed work.

In this class, you will do a lot of work and engage in the discussion of ideas in the classroom. Therefore the attendance policies are:

  • you are allowed the equivalent of the two absences, excused or unexcused. More than two absences will result in failing the course. The following criteria is used to determine equivalency:
    • being late to class will be marked as a tardy and noted when your final grade is tallied.
    • students who miss between fifteen and ninety minutes will receive a half-absence
    • students who miss more than ninety minutes will receive a full absence

    You are not only required to to attend every class, but you are required to come to class prepared. If you do not come to class prepared, you will receive an absence–whether you stay or not. Therefore, it is recommended that you pay attention to the calendar.

  • submissions due the day of an absence
    • if you plan to be absent the day a submission is due, you are encouraged to make arrangements to submit the work before the class
    • if you cannot submit the work prior to class you are encouraged to submit it at your earliest possible convenience, especially through email
    • the last day to submit work for credit is the first day that you return from an absence

To learn what work you have missed consult the instructor or the calendar.

As a general rule, a student missing a class assignment because of the observance of a religious holiday or participating in any official extracurricular activity shall have the opportunity to make up missed work by following the guidelines above.


electronica

Electronica refers to technology-related issues.

E.mail Accounts
Having an email account is required; a lot of information for this class will be exchanged via email and Blackboard including some assignment submissions and class updates. You will want to establish a consistent email account that you will use throughout the entire semester.

Because Blackboard's "Send Email" function "talks to" your ODU account, it is recommended that you work with this account. At the very least, you are required to forward your ODU mail to the account you use most. To get an ODU account go to OCCS.

You are responsible for making sure that files and messages are successfully received by the instructor and your peers; other email providers cannot provide this security. Also you will want to be aware that some evaluated course work will be returned via email; if you are concerned about other parties reading these messages, please develop an account that is dedicated to just you (or come talk to the instructor).

E.mailing Protocol
When emailing the instructor or the class list make sure that you include a subject line that characterizes the nature of the email. A subject line, such as "assignment" is vague. Instead be specific and state whether it is an "assignment submission," "need assignment clarification," or "assignment problem."

Also use the priority setting rhetorically; in other words, make your email message stand out when you really need to draw the recipient's attention to your message. Do not use the priority setting on your standard assignment submissions.

Protecting Your Work
Backup your document files frequently. Also save all email transmissions for this course. Keep your files on your home machine, floppy disks, cds, and/ or flash drives. You can also email documents to yourself as a means of backing up your work. The excuse "that was my only copy" is not a valid one. Some tips for protecting your work–and yourself–are:

  • Save all English 795/895 work until the course is over
  • Maintain copies of drafts and work-in-progress
  • Create folders on your hard drive and in your INBOX (email) for this class.
  • Keep copies of your email messages related to the course as a record of your work. For all messages that you send to the instructor, you should either have the message sent to your "Sent" folder in your email account or cc: yourself the message so that you have a copy for verification

Electronic Ethics and Respect
Electronic media allows us some freedoms that print media does not allow. Consequently, it is also subject to abuse. Please be respectful of your peers throughout the semester by not displaying, viewing, or posting web pages, files, or emails that may make others uncomfortable. Violations of this respect can be considered harassment according to university policy and will be handled as such.


ethics&plagiarism

As per the University's Honor Code, you must do your own original work in this class–and appropriately identify that portion of your work which is collaborative with others, or which is borrowed from others, or which is your own work from other contexts. Whenever you borrow graphics, quote passages, or use ideas from others, you are legally and/or ethically obliged to acknowledge that use, following appropriate conventions for documenting sources. In this class, the most serious form of academic dishonesty is to recycle another individual's major project under your own name.

If you have doubts about whether or not you are using your own or others' writing ethically and legally, ask the instructor. Follow this primary principle: If in doubt, ask. Be up front and honest about what you are doing and about what you have contributed to an assignment.


documented.disability

If you have a documented disability, make sure you register with Disability Services (757. 683.4655). Once you do so, feel free to talk to me about any special accommodations that you may need to fulfill the requirements of this course.


course.evaluations

At the end of the semester, you will have an opportunity to evaluate the instructor and the course. This is very important for helping the instructor and the department assess the course. Please take the time at the end of the semester to do these online evaluations.

last.updated 5.5.10