During this decade there have been numerous efforts to identify instructional practices that improve students' writing. These include "Reading Next" (Biancarosa and Snow, 2004), which provided a set of instructional recommendations for improving writing, and "Writing Next" (Graham and Perin, 2007) and "Writing to Read" (Graham and Hebert, 2010),…

The study compared stories written on either a word processor or handwritten by 15 children (ages 8-12) with learning disabilities. Use of the word processor resulted in fewer spelling errors for children with severe spelling problems and longer stories for children having problems with the mechanics of the writing task. (Author/DB)

There is considerable concern that the majority of adolescents do not develop the competence in writing they need to be successful in school, the workplace, or their personal lives. A common explanation for why youngsters do not write well is that schools do not do a good job of teaching this complex skill. In an effort to identify effective…

This study addresses two questions: how can computers be effectively employed in the composition classroom, and to what extent does instruction in writing complement the use of the word processor in developing writing skills? Thirty-eight current research studies on the effects of using word processing to teach composition are reviewed. The…

This study explores ways of helping fifth grade students edit their work appropriately for their grade level. The use of Daily Oral Language, grammar worksheets, or the reliance on the teacher to edit were eliminated. Instead, more direction for students was provided through the use of checklists, peer editing, and word processing on a computer.…

This study compared the effectiveness of two intervention approaches, task analysis and cognitive strategy, for imparting the first stages of word-processing skills to adults with mild to moderate mental retardation. Instruction in basic text-typing and paragraph transfer to 25 participants found that both methods were effective but that, for some…

The 2-year study investigated the use of word processing technology with 36 learning disabled (LD) intermediate grade children and 9 remedial teachers in five Massachusetts school districts. During the first year study staff documented how word processing was being used. In the second year, word processing activities hypothesized to be the most…

Advantages and disadvantages of word processing as a tool for teaching written self-expression to students with learning disabilities are discussed, research on its effectiveness is examined, available word-processing programs are reviewed, and guidelines for software selection are provided. (Author/MSE)

This study discusses the successes and failures that resulted when fifth grade students used email to compose response journals. Every student was required to send at least one email a week to the teacher describing and reacting to the novel they were reading independently. The teacher would respond each evening. The study was conducted in an…

A model of writing instruction integrating word processing, strategy instruction, and a process approach, within a social context for writing as a meaningful task, was tested with 113 elementary students with learning disabilities. Students in experimental classes made greater gains in quality of their narrative and informative writing than did…

This study described teaching methods in use in computer studies classes, explored the reasons for their use, and explored perceptions of effectiveness. Four main research methods were used: semistructured interviews; observation of teaching; perusal of course documents; and informal collection of information by talking to students and tutors. One…

An instructional study examined whether teaching strategies related to planning and reviewing behaviors would affect planning, reviewing, revising, and producing texts. Training texts were examined using a multiple baseline across participants design with multiple probes in baseline. During baseline and in intervention phases, two highly capable…

The paper describes the Writing to Read instructional system and its implementation in five Albuquerque (New Mexico) public schools with kindergarten, first grade, and special education students. The Writing to Read System is a multisensory, multimedia literacy program and involves five types of materials: a computer-based instructional program;…

A study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of a spelling instruction method using a computer spell-checking program. The proposed teaching methodology is supported by theoretical hypotheses drawn from the field of cognitive psychology associated with the learning of spelling and pedagogical principles associated with the teaching of…

This metanalysis reviews 32 studies that compared 2 groups of students receiving identical writing instruction, with only 1 group using word processing for writing assignments. Word processing improved the quality of student writing but did not improve student attitudes. Suggestions are given for using word processing more effectively. (SLD)