Taylor, Todd. “Ten Commandments for Computers and Composition.” The Longman Sourcebook for Writing Program Administrators. New York: Pearson, Inc., 2008. 228-242.
Drawing heavily from Cynthia Selfe’s work, Todd offers “…a set of principles that can help guide…decisions…even when confronted with constant change” as is characteristic of teaching composition with computers. He calls these “10 Commandments”: 1) Keep people first; 2) Identify and build from program principles; 3) Start simple; 4) Invest heavily in hands-on instructor training; 5) Revise strategies for instructing students; 6) Consult with others; 7) Expect the crash; 8) Consider access; 9) Be critical of technology; 10) Use technology as a lever for positive change. He draws upon his own experience, mostly in terms of spending grant money and designing the physical space of computer classrooms, and offers a kind of exercise for wannabe WPAs that asks them to design a computer classroom and then compare and analyze their decisions. He argues it’s important to keep sustainability and training in mind when allocating funds towards tech (231). Issues such as access and equality, pedagogy and theory, hardware and software are offered suggestions.
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