cfp.english.upenn.edu

CALL FOR PAPERS
Call for submissions for the edited collection Better Late than Never: Training “Late Adopter” Educators to Use Multimodal Composition in the Writing Classroom.

According to recent research from the National Education Association, today’s typical high school teacher is in her 40s, holds a master’s degree, and has been teaching for fifteen years or more. These markers suggest that a large number of today’s secondary English teachers probably graduated from college in the early -to-mid 1990s (or before)—an era that predates the integration of technological pedagogy into most teacher education programs. In fact, the National Center for Education Statistics reports that a main concern for current teachers is the integration of educational technology into their course curriculum. On the post-secondary level, graduate students in Rhetoric and Composition often complete their degrees without required formal training in multimodal composition; exceptions include programs at The Ohio State University, Georgia State University, and Bowling Green State University.

Thus, while traditional college-age, preservice teachers and graduate students may get some introduction to blogs, course management software, Smart boards, and video editing software, many practicing high school teachers, college instructors and those studying to become “second-career” educators often lack training in multimodal pedagogies.

In short, a large segment of high school and college writing teachers have been overlooked in their access to training in the use of technology to enhance the teaching of writing.

We are seeking essays for an edited collection that provide “snapshots” of techniques and strategies for reaching these populations who may not have received multimodal training as part of their teacher education or from previous graduate programs and may not be familiar with all the tools, philosophies, and means available to enhance the teaching of writing.

Specifically, we are interested in essays focusing on the potential populations who may have received little or no formal training in how to incorporate multimodal composition:
• Practicing high school language arts teachers
• “Second career” English teachers (those who are studying to become teachers after a first career via alternative licensure programs or already teaching in non-tax supported schools)
• Graduate students (particularly non-traditional students)
• College instructors of writing at community colleges, four-year universities, etc.
• Part-time instructors teaching in college or secondary writing classrooms

We envision receiving essays about the following topics/classroom practices:
• Summer workshops or classes for the above populations designed to “catch up” these groups to technologies such as video and audio editing software, web page design, tools such as screen capture software (such as Jing), electronic book design software (such as Sophie), etc.
• Graduate courses on multimodal composition for practicing teachers
• Programs/workshops at campus centers such as Centers for Teaching Excellence or Teaching, Learning, and Technology Centers for faculty that support multimodal composition efforts and provide faculty support for learning these techniques

Beyond the above suggestions, we encourage potential contributors to share what multimodal projects or artifacts might be used as support material for readers of the collection. These might include student projects, instructor models, course websites, etc.

If you are interested in contributing to this collection, please send 250-500 word abstracts of proposed essays along with a current CV as email attachments to Dr. Christine Denecker at denecker@findlay.edu or to Dr. Christine Tulley at tulley@findlay.edu by October 15, 2009. Please submit both items in Microsoft Word format.