Rachel Tofteland-Trampe is an Assistant Professor in the English Department where she teaches courses in the Professional Writing and Rhetoric concentration as well as First-Year Writing. She earned her BA in Communication Studies and Sociology (Concordia College, Moorhead), MA in Communication Studies (New Mexico State University, Las Cruces) and PhD in Rhetoric and Scientific and Technical Communication with an emphasis in digital literacies (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2017). Her research focuses on the intersections of networked learning, digital literacies, and rhetoric. In particular, she looks at how inexperienced users of technology develop their digital literacies, what usability and cultural barriers they face when using tutorial materials and interfaces, and how they consume and produce writing meant to further their digital literacies. She’s published on the user experiences of older adults taking computer classes at a community technology center and how the tutors there served as local technical communication experts.
Students in my classes develop their written communication skills through reading, writing, revising, reflecting, and actively working together. I take a networked learning approach to teaching, which means I encourage students to make connections across their learning networks. As we look at what writing is, how it works, who it reaches/leaves behind, where it happens, and how we engage with it ourselves, we unravel important dimensions surrounding writing that highlight how writing has always been connected to issues of ethics, culture, technology, and power.This understanding, paired with practical experience, equips students to be more effective writers themselves.
