Integrating Technology to Assist English 101

Students with Their Essays

___________________________________________________
School and Population

The requirements for the Integrative Capstone Project took place at a community
college located in Maryland. Involved in this project were one teacher and 17 students taking
English 101. The students and teacher met weekly in a face-to-face setting on Thursdays, 5:00pm
– 7:35pm. The prerequisites for taking English 101 included: EN 50A and EN 52 or ESL 95 and
ESL 99. Upon successful completion of English 101, students earned three credit hours. In
English 101, students were presented with the basic techniques of exposition through the
composing of essays and the study of prose models.

Teaching/Learning Problem

Many English 101 students struggled with the development of their writing skills.
English Composition is an essential college course because it provides a foundation for
providing skills (communication, writing, critical thinking, problem-solving, and time-
management) that many employers require of potential employees. After the completion of
English 101, college students were expected to demonstrate college-level communication skills
by

a. using appropriate stylistic options for a specific subject, audience, and purpose.
b. organizing ideas effectively by selecting and limiting a topic.
c. developing and supporting a thesis with relevant material.
d. employing a logical plan of development.
e. writing essays that are substantially free of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Target Group

Students involved in the Integrative Capstone Project all had plans to earn associates
degrees. The fields of study chosen by the students comprised general studies, nursing, criminal
justice, engineering, and nursing. Taking and passing English 101 was a requirement for each
degree plan. For those students who majored in nursing, they had to earn a grade of B or higher
in order to be accepted into the nursing program.

As was the policy at Community College, all new incoming students were required to
take comprehensive basic skills assessments in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and
study skills before they could be enrolled in credit-level courses. The scores from the
assessments were considered when determining what class levels would meet the individual
student’s needs. Of the 18 students, who registered to take English 101, 16 of them took study
skills assessments, which gauged the following areas: concentration, reading/textbook use, time
management, memory, listening/note taking, motivation, and test taking strategies. In each
category, students earned possible ratings of good, average, or poor. The chart below revealed
the results of the study skills assessments.

Study Skills Results (College, 2011)

Student Concentration Reading/ Time Memory Listening/ Motivation Test Total
Textbook Managemen Note Taking
Use t Taking Strategies
1 Average Poor Good Average Good Good Average Average
2 Average Poor Good Average Good Good Good Good
3 Average Poor Good Good Good Good Good Good
4 Average Poor Good Good Good Good Good Good
5 Average Poor Good Good Good Good Good Good
6 Average Poor Poor Average Good Good Poor Average
7 Average Poor Average Poor Poor Average Average Average
8 Average Poor Good Average Good Good Average Average
9 Average Poor Good Average Good Good Average Average
10 Average Average Good Good Average Good Good Good
11 Average Poor Poor Good Average Good Average Average
12 Poor Poor Average Poor Poor Good Poor Poor
13 Poor Average Average Average Good Average Average Average
14 Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good
15 Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good
16 Good Poor Good Average Average Good Average Good

Rationale

In the first class meeting, the writing process and the development of a five paragraph
essay were discussed. There was open discussion about what was defined as a well-written
college essay. Several students shared that they had not written essays in years and argued that
the requirements for college writing frightened them. Others discussed their feelings of
anxiousness when they took the writing portion of the college placement exams. Overall, the
students unanimously agreed that they dreaded having to write essays because they did not know
how to choose topics, locate relevant support materials, and steer clear of grammatical errors.

In preparation for the second class meeting, students were asked to study their notes
(writing process and how to develop a five paragraph essay) and to be prepared to write a
diagnostic essay in the second class meeting. Moreover, students were encouraged to seek
tutoring (Writing Center) or instructor assistance (face-to-face, Skype, or email) prior to meeting
for the second class.

At the second class meeting, the writing process and the development of a five paragraph
essay were reviewed. There were 16 students present for class. Students were given 90 minutes
to write a diagnostic five paragraph essay about a topic of choice. The results of the task varied.
One student wrote a seven-paragraph essay, eight students penned five-paragraph essays, three
students created two-paragraph essays, and four students did not start the essay due to writer’s
block. After the submission of the diagnostic essays, students were asked to address five
reflection questions:

a. What went well?

b. What did not go well?
c. What did you learn?
d. How do you know you learned it?
e. What assistance will you utilize to help you with your English 101 assignments?

It was the consensus of the students, who were unable to complete the assigned task, that
some form of tutoring or instruct assistance would have prepared them for the diagnostic essay.
With further discussion, the students revealed that time and geographical locations prevented
them from seeking support from the Writing Center. Students were also shared freely some their
reasons for not seeking instructor assistance, ie afraid of technology, forgot to contact the
instructor, too much trouble, etc.

Affect

Writing is an essential skill that promotes communication, critical thinking, and problem-
solving. Students were not only expected to master the key objectives of English 101; they were
expected to communicate what they knew, both in class and in their present and/or future
professions. If the students failed to gain mastery of the objectives, they would be left without
the skills required by many potential employers.

Relative Advantage of Technology-based Solutions

The students involved in the study could not or did not take full advantage of the services
offered by the Writing Center. The instructor offered Skype, a free Web-based technology, as a
method to communicate with students after regular class hours. Skype had four advantages – a)
alleviated physical and geographical constraints; b) offered virtual office hours; c) provided an
avenue for oral peer review; and d) allowed for greater dissemination of information when
compared to regular email.
A second technology-based solution was the free, Web-based tool known as Google
Docs. During the writing phase, students benefitted from continuous collaboration, peer editing,
and revision of their work. Unlike regular email and any confusion associated with it, the
utilization of Google Docs allowed students to upload their essays and receive ongoing peer and
instructor feedback. Students who opted to use With Google Docs worked on any document at
the same time.
Background Research

The decision to focus on writing needs, online word processing applications, and
collaboration was made after reading two published research articles – New Worlds of Errors
and Expectations: Basic Writers and Digital Assumptions and Writing for the Instant Messaging
and Text Messaging Generation: Using New Literacies to Support Writing Instruction.

Writing Needs

Klages, M. A., & Clark, J. (2009). New Worlds of Errors and Expectations: Basic Writers and
Digital Assumptions. Journal of Basic Writing, 28(1), 32-49. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.

Klages and Clark talked about the digital divide and reminded readers that the divide was
once based on unjust economic and educational computer access. However, the term now
addressed the supposition that all students woule come to the class proficient in new
technologies. Since the digital world encouraged grammatically incorrect writing, the authors
argued that while digital natives may be tech-savvy, they still needed to learn writing and critical
thinking skills. Additionally, digital natives had to learn to switch between formal and informal
writing. A third point made by Klages and Clark was that students were quick to compose and
publish. Klages and Clark took into consideration the writing needs of digital natives and had
their students develop digital portfolios. The use of the portfolios helped students to value the
writing process, to offer and receive feedback, and to reflect upon their writing abilities.

Collaboration

Sweeney, S. M. (2010). Writing for the Instant Messaging and Text Messaging Generation:
Using New Literacies to Support Writing Instruction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, 54(2), 121-130.

Sweeney discussed cloud computing as an option to facilitate collaborative online

writing. Cloud computing are applications managed by the provider(s); the user needs
only a computer and Internet access. An example of a cloud computing application named in
Sweeney article was Google Docs. Users of Google Docs could create documents collaboratively
and store them on Google’s server. The documents could be accessed by multiple users. Students
use a variety of technologies that many schools do not use. The complex digital information
associated with the technologies differed vastly from the traditional pencil/pen and paper world.
Since Google Docs has a collaborative process that encouraged students to write, students
anticipated and expected to use the Internet. Therefore, teachers had to take steps to add new
literacies to writing instruction.
 References

College. (2011). Study skills results. Retrieved from FCC Faculty Center.

Klages, M. A., & Clark, J. (2009). New Worlds of Errors and Expectations: Basic Writers and

Digital Assumptions. Journal of Basic Writing, 28(1), 32-49. Retrieved from

EBSCOhost.

Sweeney, S. M. (2010). Writing for the Instant Messaging and Text Messaging Generation:

Using New Literacies to Support Writing Instruction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult

Literacy,

54(2), 121-130.