Digital Technology and Hybrid Essay Format
One of the purposes of this site is to show that there are other ways of learning over and above standardized methods (like an instructor reading from slides or, worse, a textbook. if you do this: stop – stop it now). The essay format has been a stand-by in the humanities and social sciences. Professors swear by it and it has been institutionalized as a trustworthy way of accessing writing skills and critical thinking. From high school on, students write essays every year and continue these habits as they enter into post-secondary school, regardless of the discipline they enter. This post will focus on how and why the essay format is changing to accommodate the different modes of presenting a thesis and the arguments that support it. Digital communication is changing the way we interpret and argue, not just the way we learn.
The Law of Identity: Challenging Strict Structure
Active Vs. Passive Voice: There is an emoticon for that.
A thesis is a thesis is a thesis. A thesis argues a point, like this “essay” is currently attempting. Students are encouraged to support these points with arguments and conclude them very neatly our essays. Essays are not simple, but they have a simplified format that instructs students to present information in a structured, logical way: topic, thesis, body, conclusion. The essay structure has been institutionalized – or shall I say, burned into students’ minds – since high school. It does have many benefits, including the following:
- the essay teaches students to make an interpretation of the texts studied
- the essay teaches students how to research and present research in a logical manner
- by making a solid claim, the student is learning to have a voice and opinion on what they study.
- grammar and literacy improves
What else? Actually, the criteria of essays is pretty straightforward. It can also be very narrow. The essay does not always encourage students to explore a topic fully because of the strictures placed by format and structure. Also, due dates force students to adhere to a structure and essay plan. After completing essay after essay, the structure is bound to weaken. However, digital media is changing this. First, let’s brain-storm how:
- the essay format is adapting to incorporate digital media into its structure. For example, online scholarly databases and journals provide excellent sources of information that is both factual and theoretical.
- the essay format is being presented on different mediums other than print: online essays, including those on blogs, are providing an innovative new way of presenting information
- the essay format is changing its traditional structure to include different ways of expressing a central argument (example: images, hyperlinks, podcasts, etc)
The essay format is becoming a product of the digital culture. With more research online nowadays, students are encouraged to include multimedia in their essays. This allows for a hybrid presentation of knowledge with the addition of web content for extra information and a more in-depth analysis of a particular topic. The pros of this are many, one of which is that the transformation of the essay has resulted in a far more interesting product. Scholarly sources become conversations, not merely one-way, or one-dimensional, presentations. The essay format is becoming multi-mediated from so many sources – the sources of which most people, whether in higher education or not, are familiar with.
So, am I suggesting that the scholarly essay may be available to the many individuals – a widespread allowance into the information of scholarly institutions? Although the internet enables students access to previously inaccessible content, copyright laws maintain a stronghold over the rights of academic material. In “An Empirically Grounded Framework To Guide Blogging In Higher Education,” G. Conole, et al. includes an earnest assessment of some of the drawbacks of blogging, such as the difficulty in getting students completing them. The article looks at how blogs are often stereotyped as a leisure activity. Conole specifically notes that students are more concerned about the purpose of doing a blog: “the ideals of educators can be difficult to put into practice. From the student’s perspective there are two fundamental questions they ask themselves about blogs: “why would I want one?” . . . “what’s in it for me?” . . students need to develop a purpose for blogging that is clear to benefit them” (Conole An Empirically Grounded Framework To Guide Blogging In Higher Education). So, unlike essays, which carry an academic authority due to a long-standing tradition within academia, blogs still struggle with legitimacy. Conole makes an interesting point, when he states that the blog presents a blurring of the private and public. The blogger is autonomous over their blog and can network with who they wish; however, it also puts them on a public platform. The student interacts with a more public stage during their assignment, including their peers. Blogging allows them to construct knowledge for themselves and not just adhere to a format and strict set of requirements. Conole does recognize that when students do complete blogs, they find that they have gained many skills that writing an essay does not allow them to gain. The study also admits to some negatives with blogging, including the finding that 7 out of 9 bloggers eventually use a routine format after blogging.
So is a blog just a blog just a blog? Or is there uniqueness to each one? Simply put, blogs allow for the exploration of content that does not exclude other forms of communication, including other types of media.
PhD candidate Melonie Fullick of York University states her article, entitled “Becoming Prof 2.0“:
meritocracy, the notion that achievements are determined by individual merit rather than by a complex of factors (some of which are beyond our personal control), is a concept that is crucial to academic culture and the operational logic of academe itself. Because students internalize the idea that their success is dependent on this narrow notion of merit, they often blame themselves if they “fail” to perform adequately during the PhD. They might be reluctant to speak out about problems, since usually no one else is doing so, and they might feel they are revealing personal inadequacies, rather than bringing to light systemic flaw.
Fullick upgrades this essay’s argument. What about graduate-level education and the transformation of the essay format and the use of digital media as a means to transform of the curriculum? Fullick admits that narrow definitions of success are plaguing the university curriculum and giving students at all levels a false estimation of success. Estimating success based on merit, which itself is dependent on arbitrary factors determined by individuals or a committee, can often cost students a great deal, not only in terms of the financial implications, but also affect them in more personal ways. Faculty who wish to change how they learn and how their students learn often hit a brick wall that has been constructed by those outside of the classroom. So, challenging curriculum and methodology can be dangerous to some extent.
However, how does an institution evolve? How does anything evolve, really.
The issue of digital media in the classroom cannot be ignored. Digital media is changing the way we learn and why we learn. Its implications on the basic learning styles, including the academic essay, are open to interpretation and opinion, but cannot be ignored.