First Paragraph
Chocolaty warm air mixes with the smell of floor wax as I open the basement door of the library. I walk down to the open doorway at the end of the hall, heading for the Tutoring—Learning Center (TLC) at the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point (UWSP). For the past two years I have been a peer tutor for the TLC’s Writing Lab. As I get closer to the doorway, the noise increases and I can see the Writing Lab is full of early morning activity. I enter the open doorway to join the other students milling about, fueled on fresh baked cookies. Some are checking the binder at the front desk for appointments; others are sitting at a small table waiting for their appointments, while a group of peer tutors are gathered around a large conference table talking. We congregate at this table while we wait for our learners; this waiting area is more than just a place to sit. While we wait, we play Scrabble, do homework, and form new friendships with people we might not meet if we were not at the TLC.
Tutors and learners come from all the disciplines at this small midwest university. Our conversations around the table with other tutors and in the booths with our learners have increased our ability to relate to others in a variety of disciplines outside of our own. The administrators of the TLC worked hard to create a people-focused center to not only serve the learning needs of students but also create a community for the students. In light of the current trend toward on-line writing labs, I wonder about the future of the TLC’s Writing Lab. Our culture is quick to accept technological advancements as a replacement or an “upgrade” to the way we had done something before. But as we use the upgrades, we run the risk of losing benefits the old way provided. As writing lab administrators question what technological approaches to implement, it is important to consider, “the powerful sway that technology-linked educational programs hold over the public through a deeply rooted cultural assumption that technology holds the answers to problems” (Hobson 481).
Citation Information
Type of Publication: Newsletter Article
Author: Marcy Forman
Year of Publication: 2006
Title: “Convergence: An Insider’s Look at Long-Distance Tutoring”
Publication: Writing Lab Newsletter, Volume 31, Issue 3
Page Range: 13-15