First Paragraph
In Wiring the Writing Center, Eric Hobson questions the possibility of online tutoring to meet the needs of novice writers who require “practice [in] the demanding activities of critical thinking, audience analysis and accommodation, idea invention and development, [and] implementation of conventions within specific discourse communities” (E. H. Hobson xviii). Indeed, the pressure to accommodate those needs in face-to-face (f2f) sessions is daunting enough, and removing the roles “live” conversation and interaction play in tutoring confounds matters all the more. As online writing labs (OWLs) move beyond service as resource centers and into distance learning/teaching, critical issues of pedagogy quickly come to the fore-ground. While we contemplate matching progressive pedagogy to specific contexts, we must simultaneously grapple with political and social cross-currents when different teaching environments commingle. During a recent tutoring pilot project that involved my institution, Stony Brook University, and a local Long Island school district, we re-discovered the limitations of tutoring performed by way of email exchanges and developed a better appreciation for the needs of teacher buy-in and support.
Citation Information
Type of Scholarship: Newsletter Article
Author: Harry Denny
Year of Publication: 2005
Publication: Writing Lab Newsletter, Volume 29, Issue 10
Page Range: 1-5