Faculty Development 

--Michael Day, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology 

I began working with technology as a research assistant for the University of California, Berkeley Instructional Technology Program. I knew very little, but with generous support and guidance, I went to conferences such as Computers and Writing, joined lists such as MegaByte University, and joined the network of professionals in the computers and writing field. It changed my perception of the value of teaching writing immensely, for I found and reached out to hundreds of others like me at other schools. Now I have a support system, and I can ask questions of or collaborated with many of these professionals in my field. I think the networked discussion via Email and MOO (the Tuesday Cafe, for example) has made it possible for me to feel engaged and committed in my area of expertise. (next entry) 

--Diane C. Boehm, Saginaw Valley State University 

I think networking is the true power in electronic media. I have been part of national networks (National Writing Project, for instance) but often found it difficult to stay "connected," especially after I moved to another state. Now that I am part of listservs and have a well-stocked addressbook, I stay in touch with colleagues much more easily than I did in the past ... I do many of my memos via on-line distribution lists--saves time and paper, and I can adopt a less formal tone which often better suits my purpose ... And I love the way you can send a perplexing question out on a list and get wonderful responses in short order ... E-mail has become an indispensable tool for my work. (next entry) 

--George Otte, Baruch College/CUNY 

I consciously tried (not always successfully) to avoid the idiosyncratic, to keep in mind what my colleagues might want to do if they were to use computer-mediated approaches. Consequently, many of the things I describe below may seem quite conventional--surely fall short of real envelope-pushing--but that is all the more reason for my seeing the use of computers as genuinely transformative: *they* made the difference--often an enormous difference both in terms of engagement and accomplishment--since the pedagogy was consciously kept close to what I saw/expected from my colleagues. 

. . . Something about the very nature of the beast urges outreach. I find myself crossing disciplines and campuses without even intending to. (Right now one of my projects is developing and intercampus OWL.) The most profound effect on the professional relationships I have is that there are considerably more of them. I am in much more frequent contact with members of my profession from other institutions, states, countries. I have sustained working relationships with people I have never met in the flesh, people I feel I know quite well and yet would not recognize if they came up and said hello. And I find that people I thought I knew well develop new roles for themselves--a breezy persona in e-mail exchanges, a flashy look (or maybe an unsuspected aesthetic sensitivity) on the web, some new way of elaborating themselves. Technology is more about a plethora of changes than some general change, more about multiple media than any one new medium. And so it's perilous to generalize. (next entry)