English Ph.D. Dissertations
Weaving Web 2.0 and the Writing Process with Feminist Pedagogy
Date of Award
2010
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
English (Rhetoric and Writing)
First Advisor
Kristine Blair (Committee Chair)
Second Advisor
Lee Nickoson (Committee Member)
Third Advisor
Richard Gebhardt (Committee Member)
Fourth Advisor
Lena Ballone Duran (Committee Member)
Abstract
This dissertation, as a theoretical study, focused on how Web 2.0 technology potentially helps students gain power, knowledge, and agency in the networked learning environment and how feminist pedagogy conceivably facilitates the implementation of Web 2.0 technology to produce an opportune learning environment. Primarily, this study used feminist pedagogy as the theoretical framework to examine the extent to which Web 2.0 tools decenters authority and enhances collaboration, helping composition instructors to create a collaborative, democratic, and interactive learning space for students to achieve positive learning outcomes in first-year and intermediate college writing classes. Such a study benefits writing programs and teachers that use the writing process and recognize the significance of multimodal composition.
To achieve the above goals, I presented the origins and objectives of feminist pedagogy to lay the theoretical foundation to manifest how it correlates with Web 2.0 technology and the writing process and to illustrate how Web 2.0 technology has potentially provided feminist educators in the composition field new tools to innovate teaching methodology. I used YouTube, Google Docs, and blogs to exemplify the benefits and constraints of Web 2.0 tools and showcase how they can be integrated in the writing class based on feminist pedagogy principles to create networked classrooms at different stages of the writing process. In addition, this study addressed the acceptance, resistance, and complexities of employing Web 2.0 in the teaching of writing from theoretical perspectives and my actual experience as a writing instructor. The dissertation concluded with the importance of professional development so that instructors have sufficient knowledge to use these free, open source tools in their classrooms and understand the advantages of creating and maintaining a feminist classroom. This discussion helps both writing instructors and writing program administrators understand the value of embracing Web 2.0 technology, and promote the application of new technology and feminist pedagogy in college writing classes.
Recommended Citation
Zhao, Ruijie, "Weaving Web 2.0 and the Writing Process with Feminist Pedagogy" (2010). English Ph.D. Dissertations. 81.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/eng_diss/81