Page 73 - Composition in Convergence The Impact of the New Media on Writing Assessment

40 CHAPTER 2

is a process akin to evaluating an exit essay or portfolio. This is not a
view I share. As I see the situation, technological convergence trans-
forms the idea of what a text is in four distinct ways that affect writ-
ing assessment:

1. Interactively
2. Graphically
3. Perspectively
4. Theoretically

Theorists, writing scholars, and practitioners over the last de-
cade have argued successfully that e-texts have greater inter-
activity than their paper cousins. In response to this claim, many in
Composition Studies nod their heads in agreement or cock their
heads in skepticism. Few, though, question what interactivity is
and how it distinguishes e-texts from conventional paper texts.
Writing specialists need to more carefully (and critically) under-
stand the interactive capability of e-texts so they can focus on how
assessment should be modified for an age when students will com-
pose regularly in a digital format.
Independent researcher Paul Gilster advanced a good, clear expla-
nation of interactivity in his book Digital Literacy (1997). Whether
one visits or authors web sites, hypertexts, or MOOs, interactivity is
what allows a reader or a writer to "influence the way a particular
situation is handled" and to "choose your own path through the
site" (Gilster, 1997, p. 138). But, as Gilster suggested and
compositionists should also consider, interactivity additionally re-
fers to the mental processes writers must possess to construct a net-
worked document (1997, p. 139).
In electronic environments, then, writers must learn new rhe-
torical strategies and techniques (techne) to create shorter, often
more fragmented but still interconnected pieces that comprise a
larger work. This process currently differs greatly from how most
compositionists recognize the unfolding of the writing process in
academic writing. To illustrate this point, here is a familiar example
for most writing instructors. A 10- or 15-page student research pa-
per is a fixed object. The student gathers her research in some man-
ner, compiles it in a prescribed order, word processes it, revises or
edits a draft, and turns in a sheaf of paper. The instructor may skim
sections, focus on specific subsections, or read other sections with