Wikifying Writing: From Traditional Limitations to New Possibilities

by Justin Jory

Abstract

In response to the fusion of technologies and writing, the increased focus on technological literacy, and the consequent call for a renewed focus on the pedagogical implications of the electronic applications that have developed as a result of these events, I discuss in this article the possibilities of one Web 2.0 application—the wiki—in the context of first-year writing courses at Colorado State University (CSU). These courses are grounded in a modern rhetorical theory that highlights the social context situating our writing and our writing processes. But despite this theory, as I discuss in the next section, our traditional writing pedagogies and practices—like those found in many classes today—are fraught with complications and limitations that do not fully develop students' understanding of the social processes and dynamics of writing that we seek to illuminate in courses such as these.

Therefore, I will extend the work of scholars Garza and Hern, in their online collaboration entitled "Using wikis as collaborative learning tools: something wiki this way comes--or not!" in which they suggest that what are becoming "traditional" tools for composing such as closed-source software (my argument) "rarely mirrors the real process[es] of writing, [because] the students end up writing for the teacher," (WikiComposition) and thus their writing exists in what we liken to a vacuum. In addition, but contrarily, they claim that open-source software such as the Web 2.0 applications mentioned previously "better serve[s] the needs of writers because writing [with this software] is not done in isolation" (WikiComposition). And finally, they argue that the social "nature of wikis more aptly mirrors the dynamic nature of writing" (WikiComposition) by "help[ing] students see the social processes of writing more effectively" (WikiStory).

By considering these claims in the context of first-year writing classes such as those taught at CSU, I will argue that challenges, complications, and limitations of teaching students about audience theory and collaborative and revision processes of writing can be alleviated through the use of applications such as the wiki. Furthermore, I argue that though "traditional" classroom pedagogies are at odds with writing instruction grounded in social-epistemic ideology, they maintain value, and that pedagogical tools such as the wiki should not replace, but expand, possibilities for writing instruction.

This article contains the following sections:

Computers and Writing, Technological Literacy, and Social Software

First-Year Composition, Social Constructions, and Tradition

The Limitations of Tradition

A Wikified Landscape and New Possibilities

Is There a Conclusion Here?

Works Cited

Also see:

My Notes