Writing with New Perspectives

Santa Clara University students sit at cubicles with computers in the SCU library. Source: scu.edu

University students are pros at writing assignments.  We know how to write a ten-page paper over the course of one night without even leaving our dorm room.  Thanks to the wide variety of information and digital publications on the Internet, we generally do not even need to venture into the library to find hardcopies of books and articles to research our topics.  On any given weekday at Santa Clara University, you can find hundreds of students in the library or in their dorm rooms, typing away on their computers determined to finish their papers.

Yet, is this an effective method of writing?  To only know our subject through what we look at or read online?  Some say that students should actually write in places that challenge their perspectives or let them absorb information and inspiration without staring at the computer screen in front of them.  In order to get a better perspective and understanding on the topic at hand, students should write in the “wild.”

Professor Olin Bjork of Santa Clara University and Professor John Pedro Schwartz of the American University of Beirut introduce this idea in their publication Writing in the Wild: A Paradigm for Mobile Composition. They argue that with the new accessibility of mobile technology, like smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc., students should take advantage of their resources and write in unconventional places.  No more libraries or dorm rooms or coffee shops – Bjork and Schwartz suggest places where students can interact with the place and people around them.  They state, “We argue that students can better perceive – and learn to challenge – their social, cultural, and historical locations when they research, write, and even publish on location” (225).

Taking technology outdoors to new locations besides the conventional library or dorm can help students write with new perspectives and creativity. Source: WellBeing.com.au

These two authors bring up points in their article, discussing the different forms of technology a student can use, the different mediums through which students can publish, and the different pros and cons of writing in the typical classroom settings or out in the world.  They also comment,

“Such assignments reposition writers in the wild, where they must confront material conditions and respond to rhetorical opportunities not often encountered through traditional assignments.  This new paradigm offers an alternative to the homework-fieldwork binary that dominates student writing today” (234).

I have to say that I do agree with what they say about taking the writing process outside the conventional academic setting.  I am currently sitting in my dorm room right now writing this blog.  And now I wonder how my writing would be different if I changed locations, even if I just moved right outside my building and sat on a bench under a tree.  How would my interactions with my peers and the environment affect my writing? I think that this idea would inspire new creative thinking and new methods of writing.

When we are writing inside at our regular spot, it sometimes seems like we are stuck in a tunnel – our thoughts and ideas cannot seem to leave the little box that is our computer.  However, maybe a new environment would expand our perspectives and creativity. And with all the new technology that makes this kind of writing available, why not try it?  Researching, writing, and publishing in the “wild” can enable students to think about writing not as homework, but as an experience with the world around them.