ABSTRACT
Properties of an innovation emerge as the innovation becomes realized in specific contexts. In the case of revision, we saw that copyediting was a prevalent focus despite QUILL’s emphasis on meaning-centered revision. This happened for a variety of reasons, including preexisting beliefs and practices of students, teachers, and parents. For instance, meaning-centered revision conflicted with the goal of student control of the writing process, because students may choose to focus on copyediting alone. Writing standards were adjusted to fit a variety of audiences, in ways unanticipated in QUILL per se. Where we did see more revision, it was often due to changes to the classroom writing system.
144These examples highlight contradictions in the interaction of QUILL with particular settings. Contradictions such as these raise new questions about QUILL and about computers and writing in general. For example, meaning-centered revision on the computer came into conflict with the goal of equity of access in settings with limited resources. If one insists on equity of access to the computer, and there is only one computer for 30 students, how can the class day be organized so that students use the computer for meaning-centered revision? Should perhaps, small groups of students have exclusive access for limited periods of time, say, 6 weeks? Or, should one conceive of equity in broader terms, so that some students have greater computer access while others have greater access to other resources? Alternatively, since meaning-centered revision can of course be done without a computer, perhaps the best use of the computer in a limited resource context is simply as a printing press (exactly the opposite of what we recommended). Given the constraints under which teachers must operate and the limited resources available, the use of the computer as a printing press is at least a rational choice, one which should be judged within its context.
Any innovation is likely to generate contradictions such as these when it emerges from a controlled situation. Teachers often bear the major responsibility for coming up with creative solutions to these difficulties. Studying what teachers do is the key to situated evaluation.
