Page 185 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

152 CHAPTER 6

tion in the same way it was just a few years ago. As a January 2003
New York Times article indicated, colleges and universities have in-
vested heavily in creating digital classrooms (Marriott, 2003). Yet,
ethical access is still a concern. First-year composition classes at
some institutions are shut out of computer labs, whereas at other
campuses the entire student body is using wireless networks for all
classes. Ethical access in the cyberclassroom carries with it the expec-
tation that "classroom borders are opened and new parties admitted
into the rhetorical and social mix" (J. Porter, 1998, p. 3). But, as
James Porter asked, what happens when student access buts up
against campus computing policies (1998, p. 4)? Or, to extend Por-
ter's argument, what happens when student discourse or e-texts
clash with campus academic policies or codes of student behavior?
What limits, if any, should instructors pose to curtail access? And if
we decide to curtail access, how will our actions (and our students'
actions) affect the assessment process?
James Porter, in discussing Lyotard's recognition that no one can es-
cape obligation and judgment (J. Porter, 1998, p.53), pointed us toward
a guiding direction for determining what ethical access is for these dual
technologies. Writing instructors should take into account the "local
we" (J. Porter, 1998, p. 53) in the shaping of a cyberclassroom's ethical
access. The "local we" mirrors, in some sense, the standards that civic
communities set for art, obscenity, and so on. In the "local we," there is
a commitment that all members make to language and the technology
used as well as to each other. This "local we" also influences the stan-
dards developed for writing assessment.
The "local we" extends access beyond the ability for students gain-
ing time at the computer. As D. Porter (1999) stated, a significant but
underdiscussed point in ethical access is how participants are wel-
comed in networked environments. For compositionists to generate
ethical access to networked environments in the classroom, time
must be spent considering how all students are included in discus-
sions and online activities. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to
suggest that not all students feel welcomed on class listservs, blogs,
and chat. These students either withdraw completely from discus-
sion or decide to undermine discussions with reactionary points or
underlife conversations. Neither situation benefits the "local we" or
the instruction at hand. Yet, every student must feel a part of the on-
going writing in the internetworked discussions so his or her work
can be judged as fairly as the next one's. That is why the entire class