A. Waller Hastings
 
 

Application of Computer Technologies to a University Course in Children’s Literature
 
 
 
 

1.  What were the faculty member’s activities during the contract period?

• Attended a state training session in the use of Power Point, prior to the beginning of the contract period (February, 1999), in preparation for contract activities.
• Attended on-campus training at NSU in the use of WebCT course software (May, 1999) and further training in the use of Power Point (May-June, 1999).
• Undertook self-directed tutorials in lieu of training sessions on MS Photo Editor for manipulation of images in Power Point and web files.
• Undertook self-directed study of HTML to improve ability to create distinctive web site for this project.
• Identified significant websites related to children's literature for support of classroom activities.
• Took part (as one of only three Americans) in an international conference on children's literature at Worcester, England (June, 1999).
• Created an open-access web site dedicated to student writing about children's literature.  (This site may be accessed at http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/studyweb.htm)  As the course-specific materials for this web page cannot be generated until students have begun the course in fall of 1999, I incorporated excerpts from previous student writings to serve as models.
• Transferred existing lecture material into WebCT files and incorporated appropriate illustrative materials; developed Power Point presentations for several lectures on general background and specific details of the course; created quizzes and generated bulletin board discussion questions for use in the WebCT portion of the course.

• The overall outlines of the course were developed within the context of the WebCT software, to incorporate on-line student discussions and web-based activities in addition to classroom activities.
• Significant new visual materials were identified and incorporated into lecture notes and Power Point presentations.
• I extended my technological expertise beyond word processing, web surfing programs, and e-mail by experimentation with Power Point, WebCT, HTML, and other software.  I developed a comfort level with this software that insures I will continue to incorporate elements of instructional technology within all of my courses in the future.
• Through the Worcester conference, I made international contacts and developed ideas for incorporating a wider range of materials in the course for spring of 2000.  Specific technical aspects related to the identification of a range of European websites relevant to the course topic. (Conference was too late to make substantive changes in texts for fall.)  Discussions were begun about setting up a listserv to support the loose organization created by this conference, with the task of hosting the listserv to be undertaken by myself, pending access to appropriate software.
• The basis was established for the children's literature study web, which will be an organic, evolving instructional tool that brings students into the continuing discourse of the discipline (i.e., the scholarly study and evaluation of children's literature) and into a sense of continuity with NSU students past, present, and future, through contributions to the materials on the web.

• Involvement of students with the larger community of those interested in children's literature was formalized by instituting a requirement for listserv participation (earlier versions allowed and/or encouraged such participation in a less formal manner).
• A time-consuming element of the course, the regular reading quizzes to insure that all participants are keeping up with the assignments, was shifted from in-class to on-line, freeing up class time for activities where direct contact is more crucial.
• Lecture notes were revised to incorporate more visual elements, pertinent to WebCT and Power Point technologies, encompassing a wider range of learning modes than earlier text-heavy versions of this course.
• Incorporation of bulletin board on-line discussions in advance of and following classroom discussions allow for a more intensive immersion in critical issues about children's literature and extend the range of topics that may be explored beyond the time limits of the one-hour class.
• Evaluation of student learning was shifted from the essentially "private" realm of the term paper, with an isolated audience for student ideas consisting only of the instructor, to a series of "public" papers (abbreviated Web comments such as those on the study web, along with active participation in on-line discussion groups).
• The use of the WebCT bulletin board and listservs 1) encourages thoughtfulness and participation because of the written nature of communication, where involvement in the critical dialogue is independent of verbal aggressiveness; and 2) enables a more objective evaluation of student discussion because these technologies preserve student comment for later evaluation and (if need be) quantification, unlike more ephemeral classroom discussions.

ENGL 240 Literature for Younger Readers: Contemporary Children's Literature will be offered in fall and spring of the 1999-2000 academic year.  Fall schedule: MWF, 9-9:50