In a project-based approach to teaching a foreign language at the university level, students are often required to participate in several task-based writing activities. In doing so, language learners not only write incorrect forms, but also correct forms of the same structures, both of which provide useful information on their strengths and…

In this article we examine how instructors make decisions about task design in telecollaboration and the factors that influence these decisions during the actual implementation of the tasks. We begin with a review of the recent literature of online intercultural exchanges to identify and describe a typology of 12 different types of tasks and task…

Suggests that the study of computers in cultural studies classes prepares students to think skeptically and critically about the value, worth, and application of computers in education and life in general. Presents writing assignments within a cultural studies course on technology. (TB)

The letter format, whether on paper or on computers, fosters student collaboration and a virtual community. Letters have real audiences, even when those audiences are fictional, as in epistolary novels and imaginative writing assignments. Most adult, non-traditional students (such as those at Tidewater Community College in Virginia) know that…

Describes an initiative that enabled applied linguistics' students to collaborate on academic writing assignments outside the classroom using a network of wireless laptops to facilitate flexible meeting times and locations. (Author/VWL)

Describes a writing assignment for which high school students were to use the Internet to gather information as the basis for composing a piece of satire. Outlines some of the logistics of allowing students to research on the computer as opposed to the library--the problems and benefits--and describes student papers and experiences. (TB)

Describes a course that resulted from the interest and need of the academic-advising office to serve undecided students more efficiently, preferably in a group-advising format. Finds that the resulting atmosphere seems to help students make significant progress in writing and in understanding their indecision. (MG)

Maintains that to encourage student discussion about history, students must have something to say and be willing to say it, and the teacher must be able to guide a discussion. Describes a secondary-level course in which student discuss assigned readings on an electronic mail bulletin board. (CFR)