Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 17:15:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Arlyn Freed <aiteachesl@yahoo.com
Subject: It's all gotten so much more...?!@#$ : )

 Though long aware of MSWord's annotation (now REVIEW/COMMENTS) feature, I never thought too highly of it.  In truth, when I received comments from teachers via this method I found their comments were longer, but less helpful and I was also frustrated by several technological issues.  For example, I was unable to view the comments on my personal computer (which used MSWord v.5.0), and was required to locate a computer with a more current version of the software to read my teacher's feedback. Additionally, the comments don't remain next to the text being commented upon when printed --instead they appear on a separate, final page and must be matched to their remarked items by annotated numbers. 

All that said, Dr. Jian Sun from Rio Grande University -- Ohio, US - gave a persuasive presentation at Ohio TESOL in April 2001 "E-Paper: Utilizing Technology to Enhance Teaching of Writing" http://www.rio.edu/jsun/conference/tesol/2001/index.htm.  Dr. Sun's presentation was clear, concise and convincing; I tried his methods in my writing classes with successful results. 

Still technological flaws remain: the printed format appears as a virtual jigsaw puzzle in most versions of Word -- except for Windows ME (Millennium Edition),  which offers the most beautiful display of comments and text together on one page (it's even better when printed in color).  Only one of my students has this version; neither I, the university facilities, nor my other Ss currently have access to this layout. Life would be much easier if Microsoft addressed this issue [ADD'L NOTE 9/28/02: I have heard rumors that Windows XP offers the better text/comments layout. As many schools are updating to XP, this would improve the feature greatly and add to the "pro" reasons for use.]

Another is the problem of students having access to the same software. At SVSU we have over 800 computers on campus, each with MSOffice 2000 -- but if my students don't have the software on their home computers, they complain about being 'forced' to use something incompatible. This can lead to reluctance -- or mutiny. Though Corel is available for free to our student body, Microsoft has not made any discount arrangements for our students.

Finally, though I happen to believe that this method is truly a way to "conference" with students without actually finding time to do so f2f, it does put much more strain on the teacher. The teacher is required to sit in front of a computer and review the material.  It's hard to justify this method as being more productive to other faculty when it clearly takes twice as long to accomplish the same task.

Still, the results have been amazing and my students continue to write to tell me of the compliments they receive on their writing skills. The Comments feature allowed me the luxury to question, suggest, and push them to think about issues, rather than simply mark [AWK] or [unclear].

As Dr. Sun has shown, MSWord offers an interesting alternative to student conferencing, but for the teacher it offers a 'mixed bag' that requires some refinement.

Arlyn Freed
English Language Program
Saginaw Valley State University
Michigan, US
http://www.svsu.edu/~afreed