Pars in Practice: More Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors

By focusing on being Personal, Accessible, Responsive, and Strategic (PARS), this book explores the complexities and anxieties associated with online writing instruction (OWI). The PARS approach is an innovative way to self support your own online writing instruction and/or provide support for your OWI faculty. This collection offers extensive examples of how to create personal assignments, syllabi, and learning spaces that connect with students while teaching you how to be accessible and craft accessible documents and spaces. The contributors assert that when you create an online writing course, you're crafting a user experience. With this in mind, they encourage you to be strategic in planning and teaching your online courses as you continually iterate your course design and teaching practices in an effort to create a better user experience for everyone.

Together, Borgman and McArdle are creators of The Online Writing Instruction Community, a website and social media group dedicated to collecting and sharing online writing instruction resources. They coauthored a book which was released in the fall of 2019 titled Personal, Accessible, Responsive, Strategic: Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors, which is based on their PARS approach to online writing instruction. They host professional development workshops on online writing instruction and the PARS approach.

Jessie Borgman has taught both face-to-face and online since 2009. She has multiple published articles and book chapters and has presented at several conferences including, CCCCs, C&W, and TYCA. Her research interests include online writing instruction, user experience, instructional design, genre studies, two-year colleges and writing program administration.

Casey McArdle is assistant professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University. He teaches in the Writing Program, the Professional and Public Writing Program, and Experience Architecture Program. He has several publications and conference presentations that focus on online interaction via academic, professional, and social spaces. His research interests examine digital rhetoric, social media, leadership, online writing instruction, web development, experience architecture, user experience, rhetorical theory, and instructional design.