Students must be able to produce legible and fluent text when completing classwork and for exam purposes. Some students, however, present with handwriting difficulties in secondary school. When these are significant, intervention may be necessary or alternatives to handwriting may be offered (e.g. use of a word processor). Little is known about…

Word processing is often considered an alternative writing mode or test accommodation for students with specific learning disorders who have handwriting difficulties (HD). Therefore, it is important for researchers and educators to understand the difficulties these students may encounter while using this technology. We examined the frequency of…

Since its advent word processing has become a common writing tool, providing potential advantages over writing by hand. Word processors permit easy revision, produce legible characters quickly, and may provide additional supports (e.g., spellcheckers, speech recognition). Such advantages should remedy common difficulties among weaker…

In this article, I discuss research on the use of technology to support the writing of students with learning disabilities. Struggling writers can benefit from a wide range of computer applications for writing. Word processing, spelling checkers, word prediction, and speech recognition offer support for transcription and revision. Word processing…

This investigation examined the effects of currently available word prediction software programs that support phonetic/inventive spelling on the quality of journal writing by six students with severe writing and/or spelling difficulties in grades three through six during a month-long summer writing program. A changing conditions single-subject…

Presents a case study to illustrate usefulness of a text-to-speech synthesizer system in improving editing and proofreading ability of college students with reading and writing difficulties. It is suggested that text-to-speech systems be connected to word processors to thoroughly investigate whether the system's use leads to permanent proofreading…

An inner-city school has a remedial word processing program for students from the sixth to eighth grades. Students are writing more and reading more. The computer has increased their confidence and serves as a nonjudgmental third party and can communicate their feelings to others. (MLF)

This article describes features found in computer-supported writing applications, such as speech synthesis, word prediction, and grammar correction, which can support writers who have writing disabilities. The article suggests possible uses during various phases of the writing process, and provides a matrix identifying features contained in a…

Two case studies involving a secondary school student and a science graduate training to become a secondary teacher with writing and spelling difficulties indicated that sustained use of word processing and spelling checker programs helped both subjects improve spelling skills and become more independent writers. (CB)

Examines spelling instruction historically. Describes a 1986 large-scale spelling analysis showing that the most commonly misspelled words are homophones, spellings based on pronunciation, and visual errors. Examines changes in student spelling wrought by the advent of word processing. Explores the future of spelling pedagogies. (SR)

Fifteen learning-disabled students, aged 8-12 years, showed marked improvement in their story writing when they used a word processor as compared to handwritten stories. Children with severe spelling problems made fewer errors in their word-processed stories. Reluctant writers tended to write longer word-processed stories compared to handwritten…

The paper examines ways to use word processing programs to ameliorate children's writing problems. Case studies of three children contrast samples of their handwritten work and their compositions using word processing A list of word processing programs for use with children with special needs is included. (Author/DB)

Relates the story of a teacher research project, a case study designed to consider how word processing affected an undergraduate student's writing process, especially in terms of revising and of detecting basic surface errors. Describes research articles that substantiated what were originally thought to be idiosyncratic writing techniques. (PRA)

Researchers have explored the impact of computer-assisted feedback and electronic mail on students' writing, but most of the work to date seems to have focused on second language writers, peer response, or response as part of an online composition course. Although research has documented the importance of certain generic features of word…

Assesses how three basic writers adapted word processing to their writing. Finds that basic writers who were given little guidance in integrating the computer into their composing processes generated little material on the screen and in other ways made far less than full use of the word processor. (RS)