The purpose of this colloquium is to initiate a discussion on some of the issues raised by the use of computer technology for the development of literacy, be it in a first or in a second language. What kinds of formal and contextual constraints does the medium impose on the creation of texts? What kind of textual imagination is fostered by electronic technology? How does the medium redefine cultural and historic authenticity, authorship, textual cohesion and coherence, genre, voice? How does the use of digital technology affect traditional forms of teaching and traditional academic structures?
An Alphabet Which Thinks by Richard Lanham, Professor Emeritus of English, UCLA; President, Rhetorica Inc.
Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Shape of Narrative in Digital Media by Janet H. Murray, Senior Research Scientist, MIT Center for Educational Computing Initiatives