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Technology Innovator Award

7C's annually honors an innovator in our community at the Computers and Writing Conferences.

Past Winners

Rapid City 1999:  Fred Kemp

Fort Worth 2000:  Cindy Selfe and Gail Hawisher

Muncie 2001:  Lisa Gerrard

Normal 2002:  John Slatin

2003:  Charlie Moran

2004:  Carolyn Handa

2005:  Dickie Selfe

Technology Innovator Award is sponsored by the CCCC Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication

Description

Presented, as occasion demands, to a person who has served or serves as an exemplar for teachers working with computer technologies in their classes and who represents the highest ideals of scholarship, teaching, and service to the entire profession. The award is presented at the annual Computers and Writing Conference by a representative of the CCCC Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication (7C's).

The recipient of this award is an outstanding leader in computer-based pedagogy who has made a continuing contribution to the application and use of computer technology in the field of composition studies (including scholarly work in language, composition, rhetoric, and pedagogy). In the typical language of exemplar awards, the recipient might be referred to as a living legend, an outstanding leader, or an electronic pioneer.

In more friendly terms, this award might be called the Troublemaker Award. The recipient is a person who pushes the envelope, who moves us beyond the cutting edge to the bleeding edge, who is willing to open the technological Pandora's Box, knowing full well that for all the challenges and work that we'll meet as that Box is opened, we as community will be stronger and our classes better. A Technology Exemplar calls our assumptions into question, urging us to engage in an active search for new and exciting ways to accomplish our pedagogical goals in the composition classroom.

Criteria for the Award

The recipient of the Technology Exemplar Award

  • has made a groundbreaking or foundational contribution to the field of computers and composition
  • demonstrates outstanding teaching achievements with computer technologies
  • provides on-going support and encouragement to the community, and in particular to those who teach with computer technologies
  • contributes to the field through scholarship & publication in print and electronic media (including such media as journal articles, discussion lists, hypertexts, book authorship, and editorial work)

Method of Selection

Nomination Process

Nominations for the Technology Innovator Award are sent to 7C's Awards Committee by March 31 each year. For details on the address to which to send a nomination, contact the 7C's committee chair. A nomination should consist of a message which includes specific details on the nominee's award qualifications. Nominations should contain information on accessing materials that demonstrate the nominee's work. Nominations can be submitted by an individual, a group of individuals, or a professional organization or (e.g., the Assembly for Computers on English, the Alliance for Computers and Writing, or the CCCC Caucus on Intellectual Property and Composition).

Selection Committee

The selection committee is  three 7C's committee members, appointed by the Chair of 7C's, who compare nomination materials to the award criteria. The selection committee is responsible for confirming the details of the nomination (and insuring that the nomination is a complete outline of the nominee's qualifications).

Selection and Management of the Award

The CCCC Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication appoints an 7C's Awards Subcommittee. This subcommittee is responsible for the following tasks:

  • to advertise for nominations for the award by January 15 of each year, posting reminders periodically.
  • to check incoming nominations for completeness (contacting nominators for additional material as necessary)
  • to review complete nominations and select an award winner, after the deadline of March 31st. (Work can be complete online via real-time meetings or in email correspondance, at the subcommittee's discretion.)
  • to make arrangements for the award plaque
  • to present the award at the Computers & Writing Conference
  • to send press releases on the award presentation to Computers and Composition, NCTE's Council Chronicle, Kairos, ACW-L, and other relevant publications.

Because of the potential for conflict of interest, no member of the Awards Subcommittee can be considered for this award during the year(s) that the member serves on the subcommittee.

Nature of the Award

The award consists of an engraved plaque indicating the committee's name, the recipient's name, and the name and date of the award (e.g., 2000 Technology Innovator).