Reflection on Online Tutoring

Thinking about my experiences so far with helping students revise their work in relation to the two texts assigned this week, I feel like there is a lot of room for important. The first text, “The Tutoring Process” by Gillespie and Lerner, brings up the issue of prioritizing what the tutor focuses on. They write, “Being patient and listening to the entire paper [is important], since it's easy to get hung up on an early section when the real challenge might come later” (24). My biggest issue is forgetting to read through the entire paper. I'll start reading and stop to comment while in actuality, I should be reading it through the paper once or twice and then addressing the biggest concerns I have. By stopping to nitpick, I kind of prevent myself from getting a general feel for the essay and I think my comments really accumulate which may be overwhelming for the student. That being said, a lot of my comments are simply questions to get the student thinking which is what Gillespie and Lerner recommend. They write, “You need to respect writers' need to discover – with your help – the information they need to clarify a point or expand an argument” (25). That is definitely something I think I'm doing well – asking questions, asking students to clarify what they mean at certain points, and asking students to expand on certain thoughts in their essays that I feel would benefit the overall argument. That being said, this article was more so directed at face-to-face tutoring while we are restricted to an online classroom. Tutoring online seems much more difficult than it is in real life as the back and forth is kind of stilted due to time constraints/availability.

I found myself agreeing with Racine and Breuch's article “Developing Sound Tutor Training for Online Writing Centers: Creating Productive Peer Reviewers." One point that really stuck out to me was the idea that online tutoring requires both the writer and the tutor to perfect their writing, which is something I never thought about before. Thinking about my own experience, I did spend a lot of time on my own word choice and I was careful when articulating my thoughts which I probably wouldn't have put much thought into if it was face-to-face since my words would have been paired with other social cues; I wouldn't have to worry about the student taking what I’m saying the wrong way. The struggle between being too professional and coming off as cold and being too relaxed and not being taken seriously is something I am struggling with. While writing feedback, I do take on a very technical and professional tone and I realize that may be dull and condescending for a student to read. I try to balance it out by praising them when they write an excellent passage or perfectly place a quote, but it is something I need to continue to work on. Like Racine and Breuch suggest, I made end comments on all of the papers which is where I took the opportunity to further praise and emphasize the strong points, as well as go over the high concern areas. My other comments were placed off to the side; they weren't front comments or intertextual because I feel like that would be distracting. It is definitely a personal preference but using googledocs, I like to just use the comment feature so I don't feel like I'm barging into a students work and imposing my revisions and suggestions onto them.

An interesting blog I found this week entitled Artichoke posted a thought-provoking article called Pedagogical Promiscuity and "Assessment for Learning." It made me think about my own assessment of students and their writing -- it's worth taking a look at. 

My experience with using online social media and digital composition is very limited. I have never taken an interest in sites like Facebook and Pinterest, let alone personal blogging, so this is all very new to me. The extent of my internet presence is limited to online gaming which is a bit unfortunate because I realize certain online practices like digital composition can be very beneficial to one's personal growth (as a writer and as a person). When one takes into consideration that our identities are formed by our environments which includes our interactions with other people, the internet then plays a huge role in the development of our identities. The internet allows for us to connect with people that we would otherwise never get the opportunity to speak and collaborate with. One can reach an entirely new audience, a new demographic through the internet and I see that as a positive aspect of using social media. Along with a broadened audience, the internet also allows users a bigger pool of knowledge to draw from. The resources available are diverse, convenient, and accessible which allows users opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them. On the flip-side, I think such technology can prove to be disadvantageous to users as well if they are not educated in how to use the resources the internet provides. For instance, one needs to know how to determine if a piece of work is legitimate – is the information factual and accurate, or is it entirely made up? Misinformation is easy to come by on the internet and if users don't understand how to find sources, they may be incorporating false information into their own work. Another way in which the internet may prove to be harmful rather than beneficial to users looking to improve their writing is with online criticism. Criticism can become bullying very quickly online especially with the added element of anonymity. That being said, I believe the pros outweigh the cons. The cons can be avoided quite easily if one knows how to use the resources at hand (this includes finding mature company that will give constructive criticism rather than resorting to bullying in regards to one's work).

As a future educator, I see online social media and digital composition as a positive in the classroom. Our students will of course be very interested and well-versed in such things and one of the best ways to reach our students is by incorporating their interests with the lesson plan! By bringing in a digital element to the course, I think we can effectively capture the interest of students, all the while we would be encouraging them to take their internet usage beyond the social aspect with academics. By applying academic content to a relevant setting (the internet) for students, I think they will feel more motivated and involved in their learning.

On his blog, Professor Ray Schroederwrites writes briefly about blended learning and links to a very interestingarticle on the subject. He seems to share the same concerns I have about using technology to learn and stresses that it is important to remember that online learning does not mean one lets their students run wild; rather, the teacher must continue to engage the students in regards to the content and keep communication open.