Objectives:- To study transformations in writing practices and writing for mobile technologies.
- To articulate a structure and methodology for valuing writing processes in addition to writing products.
- To map the political economy of mobility and understand the cultural formations that arise from and form "new" technologies.
Research
Project
Overview: Part of a larger, book-length research project on the rhetoric of consumer electronics, this project seeks to understand how new, mobile technologies based upon open-spectrum radio technology-mobile phones, PDAs, handheld computers, w-fi networking, etc.-effect writing practices among technical writing students at Utah State University, design processes and production of texts for mobile technologies, and the consumption and use of these texts on end users. The project currently has three nodes of inquiry:- Student projects: Students in Dr. Moeller's English 7470 course will investigate problems in mobile technology development and use-in terms of social policy, technology design and usability, and identity construction-and propose solutions through student-generated white papers.
- PDA research: students in Dr. Moeller's English 3040 course will use wi-fi enabled, camera PDAs to document their mobile writing practices and to track particular writing developments enabled by these technologies.
- Consumer/product analysis: a detailed analysis of the complex relationships engendered by mobile technologies through consumption and use that are marked by economic and social privilege and formalized feedback mechanisms.
Participants:
- CLE, as
a partner in the Department of Instructional
Technology’s with Ryan Moeller, PhD,
Principal Investigator
- Students enrolled in English 3040 and 7470, Fall 2005.
- English Department Computer Lab
Technology:
- Five (5) ASUS MyPal A730 hand-held pcs.
- Database-driven forms for student-mobility diaries.
- Syllabase course delivery platform.
Status: Study ongoing, additional funding in progress
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