Page 52 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

INTERNETWORKED WRITING 19

tagonisms created by standardized or traditional writing assessment
methods. In varying degrees depending on the methods used, writ-
ing assessment frequently leans toward establishing conflict-filled
relationships between professors and their students. Reducing the
opposition between teacher and student is a radical step in changing
the cultural climate of the Composition sequence at many colleges
and universities. Once the hostility levels with students are de-
creased, however, the evaluation process becomes more difficult for
the instructor. As the professor begins to view both herself and her
students as writers working toward a goal in a given context, ap-
praisals take on a different quality. No longer does the top-down dis-
pensing of advice and grades hold in this new environment; rather,
discussions about writing become a dialogic exchange between two
or more writers. Treating students as colleagues in a writing experi-
ence dramatically challenges the identity-building process that usu-
ally occurs with the exit essay or final portfolio development.
Instead of asking students to construct a false academic identity for
their writing on a timed essay or in a reflective portfolio letter, com-
puter-mediated writing invites students to compose assignments
that correspond to various facets of the students' personalities. So,
for e-mail, students may adopt creative pseudonyms like "book-
worm" or "jiveturkey" or "blahblahblah25," whereas their web sites
reflect more focused career or avocational interests that illustrate
the students' curiosity. As a result, many instructors begin to see
their students as complex, inventive rhetors who establish identities
that fit specific discourse situations.
Although concepts like curiosity, creativity, and consideration are
currently beyond the scope of writing assessment practices, as Hunt-
ley and Latchaw (1998) observed, these ideas are vitally important for
strong online communication. These authors' research (Huntley &
Latchaw, 1998) suggests that Composition needs to consider modify-
ing its current assessment practices, not only to accommodate the
cognitive changes in a writer's knowledge base when she composes
electronically but also to adjust to the shift in the interpersonal rela-
tionships that writing teachers establish with their students.

ELECTRONIC WRITING AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT

Writing in a public sphere like a classroom motivated by technologi-
cal convergence alters what it means for compositionists to evaluate