enjoys a dynamic history that is itself a testimony to the rapidly evolving field of composition studies and the role that technology has in shaping the field. First published as a small newsletter, Computers and Composition originated as a collection of short articles focused on computer software and was co-edited by Cynthia Selfe and Kathleen Kiefer. By 1985, an editorial review board and a copyediting staff joined the journal, producing a more professional, scholarly journal and shifting “from brief narratives about classroom experiences using technology, descriptions of working with drill-and-skill programs, and software reviews to articles of a longer length that more fully incorporated pedagogical and rhetorical theories and boldly confronted the complexities of merging computer technologies with classroom practices” http://computersandcomposition.osu.edu/html/history.htm).
In 1988, Gail E. Hawisher joined Selfe as co-editor, and by 1994 Computers and Composition began its mass-production in print format under the title of Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers of Writing. At this point in the journal’s history, there is a marked increase in articles reflecting international issues of digital literacy and the socio-political relevance to gender, race, and class. Computers and Composition Online, the web-based edition of the journal, saw its creation in 1996 to facilitate the inclusion of hypertext documents and multimedia scholarship, an issue that many traditional journals still struggle to reconcile. By 2002, the journal produced its third book series, published by Hampton Press and entitled New Dimension in Computers and Composition Studies. At this point, the journal changed its name to its current title, Computers and Compostion: An International Journal, and by 2006, the journal officially moved to online submissions, review, and copyediting. Computers and Compostion and its online counterpart, Computers and Composition Online, is now in its twenty-sixth year and is downloaded in over 60 countries (http://computersandcomposition.osu.edu/html/history.htm).
It comes as little surprise that the journal’s rapid success parallels the growth of technology and its influence in composition studies. Devoted to publishing diverse articles focused on digital writing pedagogy; writing programs; rhetorical critique of computer software and the visual, textual digital media; and technology’s relevance to socio-economic conditions, Computers and Composition manages to interrogate the current trends in digital media and composition studies while astutely anticipating the imminent shifts in the culturally symbiotic relationship that has developed between technology and literacy. Typical for the journal, any edition might cover topics ranging in scope from composition pedagogy to digital rhetoric in society and politics to software programming to online portfolios to video gaming to community web design or the video essay. For example, Volume 25.4 (2008), the most recent issue of Computers and Composition, contains seemingly disparate topics such as Dong-shin Shin and Tony Cimasko’s article entitled “Multimodal Composition in a College ESL Class: New Tools, Traditional Norms” (376-395) and Caroline E. Dadas’s article, “Inventing the Election: Civic Participation and Presidential Candidates' Websites” (416-431). Readers enjoy the pedagogical examination of alternative approaches to L2 learners through the use of technology as Shin and Cimasko explain:
The use of non-traditional modes enabled the students to express their cultural and national identities. Showing the horror of the Kashmiri conflict, the physical and psychic stress of education in China, and hopes for a peaceful Colombia speak to students’ additional priorities. Their use of non-linguistic modes as outlets for expressing identities and emotional connections suggests an interest in establishing individuality within their developing academic disciplinarity. (390)
Through the article's lengthy study of ESL web-based composing, we explore pedagogical examples of alternative uses of technology in writing classrooms designed specifically for the L2 community, and we deepen our understanding of the potential for technology to bring out the best in our student writers. Yet just as we come to understand the psycho-pedagogical implications of self-expression through online writing, Computers and Composition asks us to turn our attention to Dadas’ article rhetorically critiquing the levels of civic participation encouraged through the construction of presidential candidates’ websites. Dada writes:
As the tools of the so-called digital democracy provide us with new mechanisms for participation, we must devote attention to how users can harness these tools to create a more informed and involved citizenry. Additionally, more effort should be made on the part of website designers to provide a forum for users where they can express what modes or tools they need in order to make productive contributions. Instead of assuming what users want or need, websites can become a place where the topic of participation itself is placed into dialogue. (430)
While this article may seem oddly placed alongside an ESL pedagogy article, the two entries share one common, cultural, discursive practice: digital literacy. Threaded throughout all articles that span this journal’s nearly thirty years of publication is the understanding that technology plays a vital role in shaping not just the composing process (i.e., how we write) but also the function of composing (i.e., why we write).
Perhaps one of literacy studies’ most interdisciplinary journals, Computers and Composition is by far the seminal journal available today querying concerns surrounding the relationships between technology and writing pedagogy, writing labs, writing programs, and writing as a society. Equally important, however, is the journal’s unyielding dedication to unearthing the publically and privately hierarchically situated uses of power, agency, and writing through technology. Balancing the concerns of the academy alongside the concerns of the citizen is a lofty goal for any academic journal, yet Computers and Compositions manages to successfully finesse this precarious balance through the complex lens of the computer screen.
Works Cited
“A Brief History of Computers and Composition.” Computers and Composition: An International Journal. The Ohio State University. 14 Feb. 2009. http://computersandcomposition.osu.edu/
Dadas, Caroline E. “Inventing the Election: Civic Participation and Presidential Candidates’
Websites.” Computers and Composition: An International Journal 25.4 (2008): 416-431.
Websites.” Computers and Composition: An International Journal 25.4 (2008): 416-431.
Shin, Dong-shing and Tony Cimasko. “Multimodal Composition in a College ESL Class: New Tools, Traditional Norms.” Computers and Composition: An International Journal 25.4 (2008): 376-395.
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