Page 108 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

WHO OWNS THE WORDS? 75

ers and their affect on student writing; they also question who really
retains control over the text. Undoubtedly, this shift raises chal-
lenges not only to how instructors define their writing assessment
practices but also to how writing instructors conduct the assess-
ment. With the importance of visual rhetoric and the implications of
having a global audience for one's class writing, clearly older theo-
ries and practices about what is or is not good writing are put into
dispute in networked contexts.
Still, the questions of whether a student truly ever owns her own
e-text and whether an instructor can evaluate effectively a student's
e-texts haunt us. One of the promises implied in much of the early
literature on computers and composition was that students would
take more control and possession of their electronic texts. Since the
mid-1980s, essay after essay in computers and composition litera-
ture has claimed that students become more empowered in their
writing when introduced to online coursework. This idea has be-
come more than a mantra in Composition; it has become a meme.
This meme of student empowerment has extended to writing assess-
ment as well, as following reflects a common claim: "Electronic
portfolios support pedagogical goals of students' control over the
organization of their portfolios and the kind of metacognitive
awareness often associated with the reflective material found in tra-
ditional writers' portfolios" (Wickliff, in Yancey & Weiser, 1997, p.
337). But how is this done? Broadly painted statements like these oc-
cur throughout much of the computer and composition literature,
but is "control over" the way a portfolio is organized or "meta-
cognitive awareness" in reflection real student ownership of the text,
whether it's in electronic or paper form?
Many writing teachers, including some of the leaders in e-portfo-
lio use, still fall back on teacher-directed writing portfolios. Trent
Batson, writing in Syllabus Magazine (December 2002), described his
use of portfolios that compares with most teacher-directed models
for portfolio use: Students collect their assignments and revise the
best work until they whittle away to the finest writing they can pro-
duce. As Batson (2002) noted, the large web-education conglomer-
ates like WebCT, Blackboard, SCT, and others are developing
e-portfolio tools as add-ons to their course-in-a-box programs.
What becomes apparent is that in each of these instances, the com-
puter becomes little more than a gimmick for the same old writing
assessment delivery systems of indirect evaluation through an in-