ENC 1101: Issues in Technology Introduction

Various new technologies become more and more integral parts of our lives. From cellular phones to to desktop computers, technology seems—for ill or good—here to stay. This class will examine several issues that this increasing reliance on technology make unavoidable: Is technology shifting traditional paradigms? Are we ready to relinquish these paradigms for the new? Does technology limit or expand choice and personal freedom? Is the conception of “human” being altered by developments in VR and hypertextuality? Have we become “posthuman”? What are the new literacies involved with using technology? How do socio-economic factors influence how the use of technology and access to it? What is your relationship to technology? These and other issues that we encounter will be the focus of study in this course and all the writing that you will submit. Since our topic is technology, this class will utilize the very technology that we will be discussing. This section of ENC 1101 meets in the English Department’s computer classroom, CPR-202. The object of this section is to familiarize the student with various new approaches to instruction and communication, emphasizing pragmatic and theoretical concerns in the process. The computers will assist the instructor, but in no way attempt to replace him; computers are tools that will help with efficiency, variety, and practicality in the instruction and learning of Freshmen Composition. It should also be noted that this class is not a computer class, but an English class; writing is still our primary concern. The computer instruction will be limited to the applications utilized by the class. The traditional objectives of ENC 1101 are to teach students how to write essays that are efficacious, succinct, and interesting; to cite proper support for suppositions; to examine and think critically; and to increase student confidence in written discourse. Through various class readings, journal entries, grammar presentations and exercises, and instructed guidance, students will practice and develop integral skills for the communication and inference of ideas both written and verbal. Because ENC 1101 is a Gordon Rule course, a minimum of 6000 words must be written—this is a minimum of 1000 words per week.

© 1999 by Gerald R. Lucas Made with Macintosh 24 June 1999 Technology | Home | Teaching | Links | Literature | Projects | Info