First, she argues, “Rather than continuing to focus on bridging the digital divide then, I believe that we should re-conceptualize it in terms of context. The issue is no longer limited to computer access or literacy, but is also a matter of students being able to write and use computers in a variety of contexts, such as home, personal, popular, academic, and writing. Certainly, the skills needed to surf the Internet are markedly different than those required to type a paper or attend class in a computer lab, and once we begin to see the computer classroom as a distinct context, this viewpoint gives us a set of patterns and rules shared by those in that environment.”
Then, she compares context-switching to context-messing: “In the classroom, then, I see the model of context-switching as a series of assignments that slowly take the student from the more familiar (personal writing such as autobiography) to the unfamiliar (academic writing such as rhetorical analysis), with each assignment concentrating on one context or type. Context-meshing, perhaps unsurprisingly, combines two or more elements into a single assignment - multimodal compositions are a good example. It is from this foundation that I make decisions about how to structure/design my own courses, which leads me to an introduction of my students and my institution.”
Finally, she argues that instructors using the context-meshing pedagogy should “engage students in critical reflection of the contact zone where unfamiliar and familiar meet.” This is because “[s]tudents are so familiar with their own habits and tendencies that they may be unaware of the impact these practices have on the way they approach the world. New situations - in this case, a combination of academic writing and computer classroom - cause students to be disoriented, leading them to rely on their practiced habits to regain a feeling of comfort or familiarity.”
**This text was built in Storify. While this allowed her to incorporate video and hyperlinks, it is still very text heavy. Also, videos and such weren’t necessary be able to understand the argument.