Page 27 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of New Media On

XXVi INTRODUCTION

Early 1980s—Rise of the portfolio as a form of direct, authentic
writing assessment (Belanoff & Dickson, 1991).
1984—Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh computer to make
the world of computing easier and more enjoyable.
Macintosh computers become the preferred computer
to teach writing because of their simplicity.

1985—Lester Faigley and others call for performative writing
assessment to evaluate student writers' knowledge and
their composing processes (Faigley et al., 1985).
Mid to late 1980s—Rise of social constructivism in Composi-
tion and the beginning of electronic communities via
e-mail.

1992—Emil Roy produces a prototype computerized student
placement model, the Structured Decision System (SDS),
which maintains face and construct validity but falls
short with concurrent and predictive validity (Lemann,
1995).

1995—Ellis Page and Nancy Peterson update the 1966 PEG sys-
tem to conform to contemporary computer hardware
and software (Lemann, 1995).
1997—Announcement of a "new" essay grading software pro-
gram developed by psychology professors with an in-
terest in psycholinguistics. The Intelligent Essay
Assessor is a joint venture between the University of
Colorado and New Mexico State University.
1997—Forefronting of electronic portfolios as the primary as-
sessment tool for networked writing instruction (Huot,
1998).

1999—ETS begins total computer-generated essay scoring of
the GMAT (ETS, 1999). ETS intends to phase in complete
computer essay scoring for all writing components over
a 5-year period.
1999—Kathleen Blake Yancey suggests a "fourth wave" ahead
for writing assessment to address textual changes
caused by computer-assisted writing instruction
(Yancey, 1999).