Call For Papers
Computers and Writing 2009 seeks papers that explore the complex social, pedagogical and institutional dynamics around ubiquitous and/or sustainable computing. Because computing technologies continue to extend their reach, we encourage proposals that explain the impact and challenges of ubiquitous and sustainable computing in different contexts: in educational settings, in workplaces, and even into (real or virtual) leisure spaces. We are especially interested in accounts of how teachers and students, workers and writers use computers and other technologies in their lives at school, at work and at play.
When Computers and Writing began, the desktop revolution was just beginning and mainframes were a not-so-distant memory. Since 1983 computers have gotten smaller and faster and more portable, and have therefore become more embedded in our lives. Computing has become ubiquitous. We find computers in more homes, in more workplaces, and in more schools, though the uses and meanings of technology can differ greatly across these contexts. Our interactions with technology have also expanded from the keyboards, mice, and screens of desktop computers to cell phones, microphones for speech to text input, PDAs that recognize handwriting, digital cameras, digital audio recorders, GPS navigators, and other ever-emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs). Today's ubiquitous computing is not quite the utopia imagined by Howard Rheingold or Mark Weiser nor is it the dystopia predicted by Clifford Stoll or Philip K. Dick; it is a rather more interesting, nuanced, and complex world than we’d imagined.
Ubiquitous computing has produced a series of challenges for educational institutions. Sustainable computing means finding ways to meet current technological needs without sacrificing future innovation. As teachers and scholars of writing, how do we avoid the curse of technological obsolescence, even as computing rapidly evolves and expands into new corners of lived experience? How do our uses of technology move beyond short-term interventions, and contribute to sustained and sustainable learning across the life-span of our students? Finally, how do we employ these technologies ethically, given their potential impact on a local and global scale? Ultimately at stake is not just the sustainability of computing, but also how computing can help us lead more sustainable lives.
Submissions Open: Monday, April 28, 2008
Submission Deadline: Friday, September 19, 2008
Submit Proposals (2000 characters or less) at Closed for submissions
Themes for Computers and Writing 2009
Ubiquitous and Sustainable Computing
@ School, @ Work, @ Play
@ Schools: How have recent advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) impacted the teaching of writing in elementary, middle, high school and postsecondary environments? How have ICTs been incorporated (or excluded) from writing assessment? How have first-year college composition programs changed because of new ICTs? At your institution, has first-year composition begun to include more multimodal forms of writing or has first-year composition become more focused on alphabetic literacy? How do educational institutions sustain faculty expertise to engage students in creating these contemporary compositions? What about open knowledge and academic publishing? How is the professional writing and publishing environment changed for faculty because of the ubiquitous web? To make this question concrete, we will recycle a question that has appeared on WPA-L: Do you put your academic blog on your c.v.? Computers and Writing has often focused discussion on students' use of software delivered via desktops or laptops: What other computing devices are being used in composition courses? What other devices will be used in the next five years? the next ten? How do we shape the development of these technologies?
@ Work: How have professional writing and technical communications changed because of ubiquitous computing? Are we seeing new forms of workplace literacy? If so, what are they, how do we describe them, and how do teachers prepare students for the types of writing they will be asked to do at work? Computing and communication technologies are changing the fields of bio-tech and medicine; documenting these changes and their social and economic impact is clearly a charge for scholars of writing and technologies. What are the ethical responsibilities of computers and composition scholars in terms not only of sustainable ICTs but also in terms of the high rate of disposable IT on the natural environment? What sorts of recycling programs should be taught as part of any computer-intensive writing course? Are there new software tools that are displacing Microsoft Word in workplace settings? For instance, is Google Docs reshaping professional writing practices? Do the different interfaces of Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Open Office matter for writing processes in professional environments? If so, can we describe these differences?
@ Play: Students' lives are often full of music and games. While Napster has died, iPods and pod-casting are rich cultural areas of inquiry. Is a playlist on an iPod a composition? Is it a reflection of identity? How does playing World of Warcraft or other multiplayer online games shape a player's sense of self? Outside of the classroom, students and faculty upload photos to flickr, play in SecondLife, and maintain Facebook profiles. These forms of composing identities and sharing aspects of our lives engender questions: Where are the boundaries between private and public spheres? What sorts of responsibilities do academic researchers have toward their research subjects and their subjects' privacy when those lives are revealed online? How do playful uses of ICTs change academic literacy practices? Does play (e.g., txtmsging) negatively impact school literacy (e.g., spelling on an in-class essay)? If so, does it matter? Do the interfaces of Wiis, PlayStations, and Xboxes suggest other ways in which we might compose texts? Do some forms of play suggest that the keyboard could go the way of pen-and-paper (not extinction but into a second-class citizenship of a sort)?