Current Fellows

Sarah Iovan: Resources to Help Students Use Technology

Because of the constant change in technology, incorporating technology into the classroom can be difficult. How does one teach both course material and software at the same time? Sarah is putting together a collection of resources for teachers to help bridge the gap between what students need to know about technology to make it work effectively for them and the more limited skill set they generally have. These resources will cover simple things such document formatting and email attachments to more complex topics such as using Learn@UW in an effort to make technology a more practical classroom resource.

Sherry Johnson: Extending Discussion with Learn@UW

Sherry's project highlights the ways in which Learn@UW extends discussion beyond the 50 min lecture and/or discussion. She focuses on the particular benefits of Learn@UW, answers the question why these elements are beneficial, and demonstrates how they are beneficial.

Jacqueline Preston: Research and Write @ Wisc Eng100

This site is designed to help Eng100 students as they work their way through "The Research Project," quickly accessing help on the various practices involved in completing a project, such as narrowing a topic, developing a research question, and getting and keeping organized. Because the research process is recursive and rarely linear, its strength is that it does not take students through the process step by step, but allows them to get the help they need when they need it (a kind of "just in time" delivery). For example, students may discover that they need help organizing long after they have developed a research question, or they may discover that they need help with a thesis statement after they have drafted their paper. Students receive not only how to's and guidance but also links to other helpful sites, such as UWLibraries and the Writing Center. Finally, "Research and Write" includes a link to the class "Research And Write" blog on blogger.com, where students can discuss relevant topics such as "Does research mean argument?" or "Finding credible resources in incredible places." In an effort to extend discussion outside the classroom, the research and write blog provides a location for students to discuss assignments, frustrations, victories, and share resources and helpful advice.

David Stock: Genre Translation

David will introduce a lesson plan entitled “Genre Translation,” which prepares composition students to revise (i.e., “translate”) their traditional academic research paper for publication on the web using wiki technology.

Emily Yu: Quick, Easy, and Cheap: Teaching Literature with Wikis and Blogs

Emily’s project provides a space for practicing close reading in a collaborative environment outside of the classroom. All of the resources Emily will present are easy to use and free of charge. Her website, closeread.pbwiki.com, uses wiki technology provided by PBWiki. She will discuss the results of her wiki with some survey information provided by surveymonkey.com. In addition, Emily will discuss her current class blog for English 169, spring169.blogspot.com, and the use of websites like Blogger to create quick and easy course websites.

'05-'06 Fellows

Mary Fiorenza: Teaching With Technology Website

Why bother to incorporate technology into your teaching? What are your choices if you want to develop a course website, accept electronic drafts, or promote effective ways for students to use the Web in their writing and research? As a resource for teachers in the English department -- and especially for those who teach writing -- Mary is developing a portal and set of web pages that collect, organize, and annotate links and articles related to teaching with technology. Mary's presentation will give an overview of the planned topics and a tour of resources for commenting and conferencing. Suggestions and feedback will be welcomed.

Quicktime movie of Mary's presentation (11.6 MB)

Jay Gates: Teaching with Old English E-Texts

Jay is addressing several issues in an effort to incorporate manuscript consideration into the study of medieval literature from introductory to graduate levels. Using some of the most recently published electronic facsimiles, he is constructing syllabi that encourage students at all levels to view manuscripts, consider their appearance—illustrations, clarity of hand, wear, etc.—and, at least, be aware of the contents of whole manuscripts. In particular, he is working on constructing syllabi that may translate between levels of study, stressing repetition between earlier and later courses, and that encourage students to expand their skill sets from one class to the next.
In his presentation, Jay will address several pedagogical reasons for using electronic facsimiles at an introductory level, constructing courses that are based on a common model, and how, specifically, these electronic texts can be used to facilitate students’ study of palaeography.

Quicktime movie of Jay's presentation (11.3 MB)

Rick Hunter: Composition and Rhetoric Website

Rick will unveil the revised Composition and Rhetoric Web Site. The new site is primarily geared toward current and prospective graduate students and faculty. His presentation will mark the launch of the website and discuss changes made from the last version.

Quicktime movie of Rick's presentation (10.3 MB)

Sarah "Otto" Marxhausen: Electronic Peer Review

Otto will present a Web site that includes an electronic peer review lesson plan & case study. She will discuss one English 100 class's experiences with peer review, and she will make recommendations for other instructors who would be interested in using Microsoft Word's "Comment" function in order to facilitate electronic peer review.

Quicktime movie of Otto's presentation (12.2 MB)

Mitch Nakaue: Celtic Studies Program Website

Mitch's project was to create a new homepage and several link pages for the UW celtic studies program. The goals of the project were to make the site easy to use and locatable from the university server.

Quicktime movie of Mitch's presentation (11.4 MB)

Hai-Dang Phan: Blogging in English 169

Hai-Dang’s final project explores the use of weblog technology in his Eng 169 (Comm B) discussion sections. Building on previous experience with blogs in English 100 by composition instructors within the department, this project shows the value of weblog technology not only for the teaching of writing but also the discussion of literary texts.
His presentation will focus on how weblog technology as a new teaching tool can help enrich students’ discussion of literary texts, reinforce lecture material, and facilitate active writing.

Quicktime movie of Hai-Dang's presentation (12.3 MB)

Will Rogers: Madison Academic and Athletic Exchange website

Will is designing a website for a new English 100 program that combines composition, service learning, and an interest in the relationship between academic and athletic forms of "practice." The program is called the Madison Academic and Athletic Exchange (or "MAAX"). The website for MAAX is designed to reach a variety of audiences, and accordingly serves several functions: to provide primary information about the program to the general public, to facilitate interaction and collaborations among its high school, university and "at-large" community participants, and to help overcome some of the logistical and institutional obstacles such a program typically encounters.

Quicktime movie of Will's presentation (10.7 MB)

'04-'05 Fellows

Matthew Capdevielle: Teaching the Rhetoric of Print Advertisements Using QuizImage

Matthew Capdevielle will present an online teaching guide for English instructors interested in using QuizImage, a new software tool to introduce students to the topic of visual rhetoric in mainstream media.

Tol Foster: Native American Literature from the Regional Perspective: A Website

Tol Foster is putting together a website that groups Native writers into tribal/ regional clusters as a resource for educators and tribal peoples. Focusing on region and tribe provides an opportunity for both highlighting the connection of canonical writers like Leslie Silko and James Welch to their home communities and draws attention to less studied Native writers like Louis "Littlecoon" Oliver and Heid Erdrich. Tol will demonstrate the basic frame of the website, which is still under development, and discuss his plans to incorporate it into student work.

Dan Gibbons and Aaron Spooner: The Renaissance Colloquium Online

Dan and Aaron set an aim for their project to create a website for the Renaissance Colloquium, which had not previously had any online existence. Within the website, the goals are to provide a public face for the Renaissance Colloquium within the department and university as well as to prospective graduate students and others outside the university community while also offering a practical and functional space for maintaining the colloquium calendar, distributing colloquium papers, and collecting and organizing online resources for early modern studies.

Katie Lynch: Learning Old English: A Supplementary Website to English 320

Katie Lynch's website will serve as a supplement to English 320, "Introduction to Old English," which is taught each fall and is taken by both graduate and undergraduate students. The site is designed to make Old English "friendlier," especially to the incoming student who may have no previous experience with inflected languages. It will feature historical and grammatical content, as well as extra opportunities for students to practice their translation skills.

Annette Vee: Blogging in English 100

Annette's website compiles some of the resources and experiences of TAs who have used blogging in their E100 classes so that their wisdom can be shared with other E100 TAs interested in using class blogs.

'03-'04 Fellows

Andrea Benton: Middle English resources

Andrea is building a Middle English reference website that will gather, organize, and annotate a wide range of online resources aimed specifically at undergraduates and other students working with Middle English literature for the first time. This site should be a useful tool for professors and T.A.s teaching English 215, English 151, and Chaucer courses, who could direct the students to the site either for specific assignments or for general perusal. Others teaching in the Renaissance might find it useful for providing their students with background about the important literary traditions upon which figures like Spenser and Shakespeare built their own work.

In her presentation, Andrea will give a brief overview of the site, discuss some of the the pedagogical decisions she made about the site's structure and content, and present some possible practical uses for the site in undergraduate courses being taught in the English Department.

Ray Hsu: new tools for close reading

Ray's project looks at two ways in which technology can provide new models for close-reading in a collaborative environment. The first uses special features in Word and can be easily integrated into existing classrooms. The second uses recent weblog technology to provide an online environment for close-reading. Both models of close-reading reorganize the way students interact with the text and each other.

Tiffany Eberle Kriner: hypertext poetries

Tiffany's project introduces an upper level undergraduate English course entitled "(Inter)facing: Hypertext Poetries." Recognizing that Avant-garde poetry has come more an more into the purview of academic enquiry, this course extends examination of experimental poetries into the virtual worlds, giving upper level English students an opportunity to engage a poetic form increasing in prevalence. Along with that, the course equips students with several tools for virtual communication and learning, or "(inter)facing." By combining face-to-face and (inter)face-to-face contact, this course will allow students to interrogate the rhetorical power of virtual media and the validity of its varied assumptions. In her presentation, Tiffany will give a rationale for the course, show some examples of hypertext poetries, and present a sample assignment.

Rhea Lathan & Matthew Pearson: comp/rhet website

Rhea and Matthew will unveil the revised Composition and Rhetoric Web Site. The new site is primarily geared toward current and prospective graduate students and faculty. Their presentation will mark the completion of the first phase of a two phase project. The first is the initial redesign of the primary components of the division. The second phase will include the completion of comp & rhet bios, graphics, and links to alumni, along with postings of current research and projects by students and faculty relevant to the field.

Taryn Okuma: contemporary literature colloquium

For the final project, Taryn is designing and building a website for the newly formed Contemporary Literature Colloquium (CLC). The site will serve as an online location for announcements, messages, member information, and articles relevant to CLC events and research. As a result of this project, the CLC will have an established online forum, which will anchor it as an organization in the English department—promoting further dialogue between students and faculty who work in the area of contemporary literature. There is also the added benefit of making the CLC website available to the larger academic community of the University and beyond.

One additional outgrowth of this project is a CLC panel discussion in February on the topic of Technology in the Contemporary Literature and Culture classroom.