Techy Tutors

I am from the internet generation. I entered elementary school when AOL took off. I was one of the first kids to use AOL Instant Messenger. I remember when MySpace began. I remember when Facebook started. My papers in high school were typed and emailed to teachers. In college, I've only submitted one hand-written piece of work, ever. The development of the web and online technologies has significantly influenced my life. I grew up alongside the internet. As I matured, it matured. But not everyone's like me, and no one knows my future or the internet's.

Michael Pemberton's article "Planning for Hypertexts in the Writing Center... Or Not" discusses how writing centers should respond to the plethora of new technologies for the computer and on the internet. He proposes different possible response paths ranging from not treating hypertexts any differently than any other writing to extensive training in computer applications and programs. Neither of these approaches appropriately makes space for our technological developments in the writing center. My thoughts...

First, since this article was first published in 2003, many computer and web programs have turned what used to take complicated coding into simple user-friendly tools. Many of the training concerns Pemberton stresses don't hold much water any more. Some students may be involved in projects that require advanced or specific knowledge into a particular program or coding language, for which they can utilize technology services on campuses, but the majority of hypertextual work being done by students is written via programs that all students are very familiar with.

Second, why do we need to make some type of declaration of our ultimate policy? Doing so would both require constant unnecessary adjustments to policy as technology advances but also an unnecessarily dogmatic response to something foreign. It seems like certain requests and situations involving advancing technology in the writing center will be reasonable, others will not, and that it is perfectly fine to leave that to the writing consultants discretion. If it involves deeper understanding then they feel qualified to use, then they should do what they would otherwise, and refer the student to someone with the correct expertise.

Otherwise, hypertexts are familiar territory to student writing consultants, and do not need to be treated any differently beyond accommodating for hypertext specific concerns, such as online citations, hypertext formatting (i.e. no indentations at the beginning of paragraphs), and other technical stuff. The art of writing is the same no matter the medium through which it is presented, and so if the aim of writing consultants is to make better writers, it would seem that we don't have to change our direction very much to hit the same target.