21st Century Writing (21CW) is a faculty development/market development project designed as a service to faculty and students, extending a year at a time, providing print elements, electronic elements, and support services which should help add to the number of writing courses taught nationally in a computer-intensive environment.Instead of a textbook, we might think of 21CW as a text beyond the confines of a book. The print elements and electronic elements will include descriptions of how to work in an electronic environment (for teachers) and analyses of the rhetorical changes we are undergoing (for teachers and students).
The goal is to create a powerful program of faculty-development over a year, along with a student text that is pertinent both to this moment in time and to the course they are taking. The print elements will be provided by the publisher and most services will be provided by the Alliance.
Key to the success of the project will be the active involvement of teachers who make use of the materials and services -- evaluating the usefulness of elements provided, suggesting ways to revise elements, adding new material, new ideas.
Computer technology is not, and may not be for a long time, "mature." That is, it changes rapidly. Like computer documentation, 21CW should be updated as the technology changes. 21CW clients need to be alerted about changes that affect them, or opportunities they can benefit from. They also will need on-call support and consulting during the first year of their work in a computer-intensive environment.
The system concept we are describing here is a closer partnership between publishing and a larger segment of a research community than has generally existed before: but, it is simply a series of means for communicating ideas and expertise. Given the state of our current rhetorical upheaval, where new kinds of change become evident daily, weekly and monthly, this system has to exist as a kind of "hot-line" or "hot lines."
This is obviously a labor-intensive undertaking. I believe the labor is necessary, but, still, who will do it?
Any ACW member interested is invited to contribute. Here is a first take on the breakout of chores:
The publication will be produced in parts. We'd like to see the first parts ready for distribution by next fall (95).
- Alliance 21CW team:
- provides pool of consultants -- 50 volunteers who agree to be on-call during two non-contiguous weeks of the year (the consultants will be recruited from the community at large, not just from the contributing/writing team)
- writes the vast majority of the print elements (some print elements will be from vendors, from workshop organizers, and from other sources)
- participates in maintenance of knowledge resources on ACW Internet node (these resources will almost all be available to regular ACW members as well)
- moderates 21CW listserv (open only to subscribers)
- provides overall direction and coordination of 21CW
- Publishing 21CW team:
- edits, prints, stores, and distributes the print elements of 21CW
- maintains the database of subscribers to 21CW
- collects necessary fees, maintains records, distributes funds as agreed in the contract
- maintains phone, or mail/e-mail response, for referral to all 21CW resources
- markets 21CW
- coordinates with Alliance 21CW leaders
The project, as we see it now, doesn't have a logical ending place. As long as it is having a good effect and earning income, and as long as those involved can keep up with the work, we hope it will continue. We will re-constitute the teams supporting 21CW from time to time.
A Scenario
Leslie, a teacher at Jones College, subscribes to 21CW for AY95- 96. Her intake sheet indicates she's taught writing for 18 years but is at the word-processing level in computer expertise.Her school wants to create a lab for the English Department. She's been asked to head up a committee of 5 to get a lab up and running. She has funding in hand and a designated space but is unsure how to design either the facility or the usage of the lab.
Her interest this year is to get the lab set up in the most useful way for her campus, get training for herself and a couple of other colleagues, test the software, and plan for the following year of implementation.
She receives from 21CW the print elements tailored to her technical expertise and years of experience teaching, and to her technological environment (in this case, none, so the elements consist of guidelines about choosing technology).
She also receives:
She calls the publisher, gets the name and phone number and e-mail address of one of the on-call consultants for the day, calls her, and spends 45 minutes talking to her.
- access to a 21CW listserv
- access to all the information available on the ACW file server, especially information about training opportunities, meetings, conferences, seminars, and other learning opportunities for her and her colleagues
- a list from the regional ACW of computers and writing contacts in her zip code and adjoining zip codes; especially, lists of experienced c&w users willing to host a visit by her and her colleagues
Armed with information from her consultant, Leslie is able to choose a good training workshop available later in the semester, and also contacts a nearby experienced c&w person and arranges a visit.
During the rest of the year, by checking back with 21CW consultants, enrolling for the workshop, visiting the nearby c&w person, and following other paths made easier for her by 21CW, she is able to set up her lab and start planning for the following year.
This, of course, is an idealized scenario, for clarification purposes only: few schools will be enlightened enough to give a faculty member a year to set up a lab. In fact, usually the lab is already in place and faculty are playing catch-up. 21CW Proposal