citation
Ball, Cheryl E., & Moeller, Ryan. (2006–07). The Learning Suite: A collaborative, technology-rich environment to support writing/composition in a digital age. Utah State University Innovation Fund. $86,000 [Internal].
abstract
Digital technology has dramatically changed the cultural and social landscape in the last 10 years. Nationwide, writing-studies scholars—those who instruct classes like English 1010 and 2010 [e.g., the first- and second-year composition sequence]—have been attuned to this change, paying attention to how digital technology and sustainable lab environments affect students’ writing processes. This Innovation Fund proposal seeks to create a sustainable learning community, called the Learning Suite, built on how people actually write in the workplace and at home. The goal is to enhance students’ experiences with English 1010/2010 curricula—classes that all USU students take—by increasing students’ access to 21st-century, digital writing practices and environments. The Learning Suite will help students bridge the gap between the writing they do in their classes at USU and the writing they will do in the workplace and beyond. This change, combined with increased contact with other students and instructors in the lab suite setting, will primarily serve to retain students beyond their first two years by helping them see writing as an engaging, social activity rather than a requirement.
accompanying materials
- the background/big plan (long description) (doc; our internal justification document)
- the Apple price quote (pdf; for our budget)
- the submitted proposal (doc; what the provost saw)
see also
- “Designing Collaborative Learning Spaces” (under Peer-Reviewed Articles)