Nothing is more awkward than I, digging into my backpack to get out my handy dandy notepad and my blue www.uri.edu promotional pen, than a student plugging in their laptop to the nearest outlet, and sliding their Mac book Pro in front of me.
Not that I don’t already spend enough time typing papers on a brightly lit computer for hours on end as a double major, now I might as well become a regular at CVS as my reading glasses prescription get stronger and stronger.
Point being, I read/revise/type enough papers on my own laptop and when it comes to reading other students work, I would so much rather have it in print. It allows for both the tutor and tutee to work together and interact, with both the paper and the art of writing itself.
Both should be equipped with ready pens or pencils in hand and collaborate together to break down the structure, sentences, or whatever it may be. The way I look at it is writing is just like math. Math teachers generally request that students prove they know how to do a problem by showing their work. The same goes for the work that is produced in the writing center. If the writer can't show (and understand) the work and the steps it took to get there, they probably aren't learning much.
I'd say it might be a good idea to request (or require) a hard copy for all tutoring sessions. Now I know others have been put into the same situation, how do you feel when a tutor comes in with their laptop? Angie
Angie, I agree with you--tutoring with a hard copy of a paper can be easier in many cases. It can be difficult to share control of the screen and more time consuming to make notes or changes.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think about using a computer in the first few stages of the drafting process, though? I often see other tutors on the computer with a student, researching or brainstorming ideas. In these cases, laptops may be helpful.
Maybe next time a student comes in with a paper on their computer you could ask them to email to themselves; both of you could then open it at the Collaboration Station so at least there would be more room and bigger fonts to look at.
I never thought about using the collaboration station in this situation! Thanks so much for the advice. I've actually only used the station when I was helping them to do research.
ReplyDelete"Math teachers generally request that students prove they know how to do a problem by showing their work. The same goes for the work that is produced in the writing center. If the writer can't show (and understand) the work and the steps it took to get there, they probably aren't learning much."
ReplyDeleteIn response, I sometimes rather the laptop in a session. Like with any other aspect of a tutoring session, there is a time and a place for any variance. For example, I believe writers that have come in, really read to learn and Write, might benefit from a laptop, as many of us type faster than we write. In addition, I love when a student comes in with questions about a research paper and a laptop; this makes it so much easier to browse the library resources, etc!
I used to prefer hard copies, but the laptops have won me over. In response to the quote above, I believe there are other ways of documenting what has been done in a session; for example, I frequently write up a little "what we did/what to do" check list while closing out my sessions.
I agree with you, Angie, and I've had similar experiences. Last week a student came in with a very poorly written paper--grammatically and content-wise. I should have thought to use the collaboration station because we sat at the computer and I was straining to read it. He kept asking me what to correct because he needed to fix the paper by the end of that day. The whole session consisted of him looking over at me asking me what to fix. For some reason, I think if he had a pencil or a pen it would have helped him fix it himself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Angie about technology because even the collaboration station has been problematic for me. I would much rather have tangible pieces of paper, ideally two copies of the same work. I have found that my best tutoring sessions have come from students that we’re extremely prepared and brought a copy for both of us so we could read through them together.
ReplyDelete