Hewett, Beth L. The Online Writing Conference: a Guide for Teachers and Tutors. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook, 2010. Print.
In The Online Writing Conference, Hewett’s main goal is to offer a guide for faculty teaching online writing. As the text proceeds from beginning with a general exploration of the benefits of online education to strategies for doing everything from commenting on student work to conferencing with them (in both synchronous and asynchronous ways), Hewett’s intention is to educate her readers on what it means to teach / tutor online, and also to offer suggestions for offering the best online course possible. As a whole, the text moves from the general to the specific, from basic OWI information to specific strategies to use with students to gain specific results. Hewett blends theory with practice for a book that extends the conversation that she and Ehmann established in Preparing Educators for Online Writing Instruction.
Hewett makes many great points throughout this book, but perhaps the most important is that just as online courses are not appropriate for all students, online teaching is not for all faculty. Just as students have varied comfort with technology, faculty do as well (5). Comfort with technology is a must — for if the faculty member struggles with any aspect of the delivery, then the technology becomes a burden, something that holds back the content of the course. Instead of being able to focus on what is taught, the instructor will have to focus too much on how it is taught. Hewett stressed knowing what one talks about (82)– but I think this could be extended to knowing what it takes to function in an online education setting.
Additionally, concerning to me is the figure that Hewett raises about the number of faculty who teach online but who question its effectiveness (can’t find page #! argh). This is hugely concerning for me. If the faculty member doesn’t fully believe in the possibilities of online education, I worry about that faculty member delivering online writing instruction. If the course already has one strike against it, simply by it being an online course, will the course be as effective for students? Might feedback from the instructor be given with a nagging suspicion that it is not worthy of his/her time? If we expect students to fully invest in their coursework, faculty have to as well. This goes back to the previous point that I raised — online instruction is not for everyone.
As I read this text, Marie Moeller’s dissertation kept popping up in my mind. Hewett offers a text that might be truly helpful to someone in Moeller’s position, at that time. Hewett still encourages a pedagogy of care (10, 59), but she goes beyond that and proposed an ‘Eclectic Approach’ to online writing instruction. But more importantly, I think, Hewett gets that the personal aspect of teaching online. She specifically focuses on some of the practical aspects of her own online teaching, directing discussion directly at such things as developing. As I reflect further on Moeller’s experience, I can’t help but think she got a raw deal, and her students did as well, from the institution. So much of what she experienced her impacted her in a raw, violent manner, which I think happens to all online faculty, to some degree. Hewett’s discussion of the practical aspects, the real aspects, of her own online teaching offer solace to all online faculty who wonder if what they are experiencing is isolated to themselves. Is this something that only I struggle with? How do others juggle their time to give students what they need without giving away all of my time and energy? Throughout pages 133-136, specifically, Hewett offers advice on issues that will help an online instructor find balance in their working lives. I can recall specific instances of Moeller discussing her struggles with this balance, and the harm it inflicted upon her. For reasons like this, I find this text far more effective than Hewett’s previous one, which makes sense, as it is an extension of that text.
The practical, the real, is really a strength of this text. Hewett offers discussion on many aspects of online writing instruction that really can shape the effectiveness of a course. To start, her suggestions of how to develop relationships with students in an online course are solid. Sure, it’s a pedagogy of care, but it goes beyond that. She advocates allowing online students to see their instructors as real people (64), which means online faculty need to open up to their online students just as they might in a f2f class. She offers suggestions on how to do this. Whether Hewett is exploring options for how to offer feedback to student writing or exploring how to best phrase such feedback, so much of this text is hands-on, the type of guidance that new online faculty and old alike benefit from.
She offers suggestions for how to blend the best of traditional writing pedagogy to the online environment, resulting in a pedagogy of eclecticism (78). No matter how one approaches teaching writing online, there is a truth to the idea of ‘eclecticism.’ Not everything will work for every instructor, so the best online classes will offer a blending of instructional methods, writing pedagogy, and modalities. Just as not all students learn the same way, not all faculty should teach their online writing courses the same way. And it’s okay to pick and choose what works and what doesn’t. Hewett, throughout the text, offers suggestions, but ultimately reinforces the notion that instructors need to develop their own methods for teaching, and that it’s okay if these choices aren’t always what everyone else is doing. The goal is to develop a course that the instructor is comfortable and confident teaching, for then, and only then, can the instructor move his/her focus to developing relationships with students and direct his/her attention to things such as better pedagogy, improved feedback, and effectively balancing time so that both the students and the instructor get the best effort from that faculty member.
Posted by jasondr 
Starting @ 402 