Interesting post over at ProfHacker about what it accurately calls an "unusually ill-considered story in the Atlantic" about professors' unwillingness to use this great new tool for giving students feedback on writing-in-progress: email. Apparently the story resulted when a former student of the professor in question (who does, indeed, have an unusually quick email turnaround time, but otherwise, as he acknowledges in the comments, uses pretty standard approaches to teaching comp) decided to interview his former prof -- and apparently no one else -- and offer advice to the luddite professoriate at large. Commenters accurately pointed out that (1) a lot of professors make wide use of email and other up-to-date and effective technologies and (2) that there could be problems of scale if this technique were adopted in larger or more numerous sections (both points the professor in question also endorses). The people who really have egg on their faces, I'd argue, are the Atlantic editors and fact-checkers, who somehow failed to realize that the article rested on less research than the average freshman comp effort. I also find the first line of the article, which refers to the professor on the other end of the emails as "an almost impossibly capable machine," telling; I sometimes feel like -- to quote the title of an often-entertaining blog by someone who has aptly christened herself "Sisyphus" -- an "academic cog," but I really don't want my students seeing me that way (and especially not considering it a compliment).
I thought that article reeked of entitlement. I am not a governess, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis was the most hilarious part of the article for me:
ReplyDeleteIn office hours ideas can be loose and suggestive, with tone and context carrying most of the discursive weight. Email requires concise specific articulations.
It reminded how concise and specific my students' email articulations can be:
cant make it to class what did i miss thx
The article refers to the professor as an "it" for quite a few paragraphs. Don't they have editors over at the Atlantic?
ReplyDeleteI've actually had language encouraging students to send me their ideas via e-mail in my syllabus for a long time. The caveat is they have to do it on a time table, and can begin the process no less than a half week prior to the essay's due date. This cuts out all but one or two, and their much improved essays drastically reduce correcting time for their submitted final draft. I never respond to last minute demands for commentary, and this is made clear in my syllabus. My syllabus is very long.
Let us remember that this was the same "Atlantic Monthly" that allowed Michael Kelly* to spew "our wars are winnable by airpower" columns before Kelly was killed in Iraq (his Hummvee driver flipped the truck.)
ReplyDeleteLet us also remember that "Atlantic Monthly" also published the confessions of that paperwriter-for-hire everybody hissed and booed at in this blog. Remember him?
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* I like bringing up Kelly because he was an annoying little prick who was rah-rah for a war that killed him; sort of a sawed-off Cap'n Ahab with "Gulf War II: Electric Boogaloo" as his great white whale. And yes, if William F. Buckley were involved in this somehow, I'd mock him too.
"Indeed some students, about a third in each class, take 'really substantial advantage' of his inbox."
ReplyDeleteThey've said a mouthful; "take advantage" sounds about right.
Bella, I want to read your syllabus. It sounds dreamy.
First of all, if that essay was handed in to me it would barely have gotten a C. But that aside, I am not much interested in students emailing me pieces of crap that they want me to rewrite, but I needn't worry about it, because my students barely ever use email at all.
ReplyDeleteI *do* use IM for virtual office hours, which can actually work when someone needs to discuss something (email does not work for discussions at all)
I'm a big fan of the email correspondence, especially because it's quick to shoot off an email tailored to an individual and they feel like they are getting one-on-one treatment without the formal 30 minutes of f2f meeting. More kids will get that personal effect with a 45 second email than traipsing to my office and hemming and hawing over what they want to know.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, though, there is a limit to how much feedback I can give. I love giving content feedback, but I am legally forbidden to discuss grades over email. So it's good for content development, but only so good for the overall learning process.
Granted, not read the article, not sure which "feedback" they are discussing..