One of the central insights of this examination of the use of hypertext in the context of the writing of a continuing column is the extent to which the writing becomes personal and self-reflective. Often, school attempts to train the pupil to write in a fully objective fashion, encouraging him or her to detach his or her personal observations and experiences from the topic under discussion. As should be obvious, I don't view this detachment as something positive. It is highly illogical to expect that pupils are going to make observations that are highly original. For the most part, the thinking that is expressed in their writing will be derivative. Rather than seeing this as a failure of the educational system, we should view this as the inevitable nature of student writing. What we can expect from them, however, is an examination of how they relate to the ideas with which they come in contact. Hypertextual writing invites this sort of examination. Linked text need not link only to an exposition of an idea, or to convincing source material. It can link to a more personal examination of the topic under discussion, to an extended interaction on the part of the pupil with the idea being presented. Perhaps writing of this sort is no more than a style that can be learned. But I tend to think that when it is possible to include personal reflection on the source as an integral part of what is being written, yet also, with the aid of linked hypertext, to somewhat distance it from the main flow of the writing, pupils will feel more comfortable integrating these personal reflections into their writing.

Go to: Wait a second! Hypertext in the School of Education?, or
Go to: Trying to make some sense out of all this, or
Go to: An introduction to the extroduction, or
Go to: Web Essays - The evolution of a (personal?) medium