Below is an abstract of my doctoral dissertation. Since we will be writing with computers as our primary tool, you may find this summary of my qualitative research study interesting.
COMPUTERS AND
THE
COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT:
SHARING DIALOGUE ABOUT
TECHNOLOGY
Danica Hubbard, Ph.D.
Department of Education
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois (1997)
The purpose of this study was to foster dialogue among sixteen community college students regarding their experiences with computer technology. Initially, I set out to pose the following question: "Writing with computers is like . . . . "
To my surprise, instead of discussing their writing lives, this group of students introduced issues that were central to their sense of meaning: ensuring equitable computer access, outlining gender roles amidst the computer revolution, and defining the term computer literacy. Recording these students' stories led me to new discoveries involving a much broader notion of the impact computer technology has on students' lives.
As the study evolved, I focused on three students in particular; their technological histories, attitudes, and ideas unfold through these dialogic exchanges. They helped me explore salient issues in computer-related instruction. Computer equipment has little value if teachers and students are unable to talk about options both in and out of the classroom. Their stories trace and fill in a snapshot of how these students come to know computer technology.
Dialogic education, or what takes place between a student and teacher in the midst of dialogue, serves as a frame for this study. There is a strong connection between dialogue, autobiography, and story in relating how students experience computer technology. Their stories have the potential to promote understanding and form connections among students, teachers, and other members of education.