SEC 444

Kevin Fenton

Redefining Rigor: Critical Engagement, Digital Media, and the New

English/Language Arts
Article Summary:
Dockter, J., Haug, D., & Lewis, C. (2010). Redefining Rigor: Critical
Engagement, Digital Media, and the New English/Language Arts. Journal Of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(5), 418-420.
In this classroom, students interactions with varied forms of nonprint text
and their participation in the production of knowledge through digital
technologies demonstrated that rigor and engagement are inextricably tied
to a curriculum that invites emotional investment, immersion, and
intellectual challenge (Dockter, 418).
The emotional pull is that is so required for engagement that is both useful
and meaningful is a value that we, teacher candidates, cannot ignore.
Providing students with an option to engage with literacy through a digital
format is the new age of emotional engagement.
This article focuses on high school English teacher, Delainia Haug, and her
urban class with a high poverty rate. To encourage her students to engage in
her literacy class, Haug assigned a group documentary project that would be
shown to the public at the end of the quarter (sound familiar?). The goals for
the project were as follows:
1. Allow students to collaborate in meaningful ways.
2. Include authentic audiences and consequences.
3. Encourage critical and creative thinking through a high degree of
rigor.
These three goals shaped the way the students engaged with the project
and provided them the guidelines for expectations in their task. The goals
also provided a means for the students to reflect on each others work. Many
of the students, who may not have any drive to complete an assignment,
were motivated knowing that their work would be seen in a public
environment. Additionally, the students would not have to stand and present
their findings because those findings would be shown through the
documentaries. This media format allowed students to show off their
research and hard work with out actually having to show off their faces. One
student mentioned that they worked harder and stayed after school while
working on the documentary project because they really cared about the
quality of the film.
That care is the emotional pull to succeed in the assignment. Had the
student been asked to write an essay on the topic, the drive and motivation

SEC 444

Kevin Fenton

for completing the task successfully may have been totally non-existent.
When students are provided with the opportunities to complete a digital task
while living in a digital world, it only makes sense that they would have more
drive to do well. Much of the digital projects in Haugs classroom also
allowed for community building as many students were sharing personal
stories through their podcast memoirs. This assignment also provided a
venue for revealing information in a somewhat anonymous way - The
students didnt have to stand in the front of the class and talk about their
lives.
I really appreciate Haugs desire to find another means to connect with her
students, and the digital format seems like it was the perfect way. I do
wonder how students who are used to the normal routine of presentations,
essays, and short writing assignments received the digital assignments. I
can see that there could be a learning curve (I am experiencing one or
several in this class now), and I would hope that with the proper front
loading of information that the students could all successfully engage with
the material. I also wonder how she evaluated the students success rates
based on the goals she presented. What is a high degree of rigor? How do
we monitor and distinguishes between a high degree and a low or
moderate amount of rigor? My assumption is that as a class they decided on
a rubric and the expectations, but it seems like the goals are merely outlines
and not solidified in their expectations.
Overall, I think the Delainia Haugs class and lessons seem like an
interesting way to bring students into the digital age of assignments, I loved
reading the reactions and emotions that some of the students experienced
during her lessons. I also checked out DigMe which seems like a wonderful
idea and a great partnership between a university and local high schools.