Teaching in China: Computer Plague

The Plague that is the computer
So my students are being asked to use computers in their writing course. This is revolutionary in this setting. I have my students in a lab 1 day a week (we only meet 2 days a week) and on that day I have them use MLA style formatting and type out papers for their composition submissions. Then they are expected to follow my instructions in English to turn the paper in. The first papers were attached to postings on a BB on the Blackboard system. Not a bad situation. Then I set up an account with MyDropBox and had them start submitting assignments through this plagiarism checking site. A little bit more difficult, but workable.

But I tell you, Computers and ESL students are a difficult mix. It takes a lot of work to make sure you have students who understand you and they know what you mean when you use a specific computer term. Often it is a matter of showing them what I mean and then having them mimic the action for the following assignment. Rough. The good part is that I am now trying to create a series of Web Modules that will explain exactly how to do all of the things that I want them to do, from properly writing an essay in MLA style to how to create a web page following aspects of rhetorical and compositional principles and the requirements of the State Board of Regents on composition. This series of modules is only partially finished now and I am really worried because I want them finished in the next two weeks so I can test them on the students. They are using the Beta version of the modules right now which do not have the ESL enhancements that are really needed for this setting.

In addition, the students are using the Chinese version of word with about a million programming errors (sometimes I really wonder....) and they have a difficult time finding Font or Double Space. I will need to add that kind of visual language support to the modules as well. I also hate it when the sites and servers crash, which is a regular occurrence in this remote area. I am sure that instructors in Beijing and Shanghai have far less of these difficulties, but I also know that I am offering my students a unique and valuable experience with the technology that they get to use in this class.

This campus has so many computers and other high tech equipment that it would be a shame not to use it for the intended purpose of educational enhancement. Plus, now my students have better library access. Their first library consists mostly of old copies of Readers Digest Condensed Books. Don't get me wrong, I like the RDC books, but not as research sources.