Introduction
As a way of introduction, let me return to this poem by Richard Brautigan entitled "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" in which he utilizes whimsy and an extraordinary sense of metaphor to envision a utopian future where life forms and computers coexist harmoniously. Brautigan writes:
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky. 		           
      I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms. 		     
            I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
all watched over
by machines of loving grace.

Echoing the metaphorical images in Brautigan's poem, Howard Rheingold envisions "cybernetic architectures" or worlds and ways to be in them (88). John Markoff writes about the creation of "post-textual literacy" based on digital audio-visual rather than textual thinking that will offer us the opportunity to manipulate intertextuality in ways never before possible using only words and traditional face-to-face educational contexts (5). Building on these images, it is not a stretch to posit that computers and fiction and / or poetry classrooms can sustain each other in a "cybernetic ecology" that might transcend the time, space, and place boundaries of the traditional classroom, provide access to far-flung resources, promote broader collaborative opportunities among colleagues, and orient such collaboration toward a broad spectrum of humanistic endeavor. The implications are not only interesting and challenging but necessary to address.

There are many reasons why we teach and learn writing. Follow this link for mine. How do they compare to yours?