The shock is in the realization of the potential text holds. The connection is in the realization that text has always been hyper, in the sense of "augmented" or "enhanced." For example, look at the fragment of an old manuscript page in the photo below (or look at the whole manuscript page). Note the care that scribe took in making the text a joy to read, a treat for the eye and mind. In hypertext, we see, I think, a connection to the oldest of manuscripts (and to the people who wrote them).
My research interests are in syntax, stylistics, corpus linguistics, composition, literacy theory, hypertextuality.
My professional interests have also led me to think about the uses of hypertext as a communications and educational tool. Though it is commonplace for discussions of hypertext to become hyperbolic immediately, I do not see writing in digital media as a revolutionary activity but more as part of an evolutionary process. To move from text to hypertext seems to me a natural next step on the road to literacy.
My experiences with computers in education have also been a personal road toward e-literacy for me. After thirty plus years of teaching twenty-five plus years teaching online (anyone remember BITNET, BBS, FTP?) I feel that we are only beginning to realize the potential that communications and information technology holds for teaching and learning. Years ago, my interests in text, new media, and education have led me to begin a domain exploring these ideas http://papyr.com.
My understanding of language and literacy has been heavily influenced by my training in linguistics, systemic linguistics, and stylistics. My master's and doctoral work was in English linguistics and language study under the direction of Sidney Greenbaum, who later became the Director of the Survey of English Usage at University College London. The Survey is one of the largest, most important research projects in language study ever devised.
I have also served on the Advisory Board of the linguistics journal, Functions of Language.
My colleagues in Communications honored me by electing me the Outstanding Faculty Member of 1995.
For more information about my courses, work, and the college, see the available "linkage" on the right.