Page 173 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

6
Chapter

Access Before Assessment?

The preceding chapters discussed a range of theoretical, political,
textual, and practical issues connected to the convergence of com-
puter technology with writing assessment in Composition. Each
chapter attempted to link internetworked writing's creative meth-
ods and processes to the various factors that influence assessment
in the culture of Composition. In this chapter, I turn to concerns re-
garding changing the university culture to make it more hospitable
for Composition's convergence to take hold completely. These mat-
ters center on the idea of access and how it affects students and their
writing in an age of technological convergence.
These days it seems that no one can discuss computers, assess-
ment, or higher education without addressing access. Access is the
metaphorical elephant on the table; everyone sees it, knows its pres-
ence, and offers suggestions on how to work around it, but no one
can make that elephant get down from the table. Although I cannot
presume to make the elephant budge in this chapter, I do hope to
nudge it a bit so other writing specialists can take up the discussion
and push the elephant a little closer to the edge of the table.
In her 1997 presentation to the CCCC Special Interest Group in
Computers, Cynthia Selfe noted that before assessment can take
place in the computer-enhanced writing classroom, students must
have greater direct access to technology. This is a point on which
most compositionists agree. The conflicts that exist between stu-
dents' direct access to computers—particularly in their early years
of schooling—and the low achievement scores on large-scale writing
assessment tests like the NAEP must quickly be addressed in the age
of convergence. The 1998 and 2000 governmental studies indicate

140