Access Issues

In most cases, it is safe to assume that students enrolled in Freshman English are literate, that is to say, that they can read and write with some degree of ease. The same assumption cannot be made with regard to computer literacy. The majority of my students rated their technological aptitude as average; they had used a computer for word processing and email, but possessed little experience with other programs and applications. Most owned their own computer, and about half were hooked up to the internet. One individual--who turned out to be an excellent writer and an intelligent student--didn't know how to use email and had never been on the World Wide Web. What can we expect our students to know--and own--in a computer-based classroom? The variability among students suggests that no standard can be set at this point.

As participants in the "Collaborative Campus ENGL1102 Project," students were required to meet with their groups outside of class in Palace. This created access problems early in the semester for students who did not know how to download the Palace / TechLINC software and / or did not have the appropriate hardware.