Computer technology is expanding our profession's conception of composing, allowing visual information to play a substantial role in an increasing variety of composition assignments. This expansion, however, creates a major problem: How does one assess student work on these assignments? Current work in assessment provides only partial answers to…

Academic institutions mediate online literacy practices in meaningful and significant ways. This essay explores the nature of that mediational process, using a visual-spatial method to map out and conceptualize dynamics and structures that have a bearing on the work of composition. A key argument is that composition teachers are intellectually…

Examines the advantages of using desktop publishing in advanced writing classes. Explains how desktop publishing can spur creativity, call attention to the interaction between words and pictures, encourage the social dimensions of computing and composing, and provide students with practical skills. (MM)

Assesses the compatibility of computer conferencing with collaborative learning. Finds that computer conferencing is another form of computer technology well-suited for the teaching of writing as a socially constituted process. Finds that computer conferencing integrates school life with life outside the school. (RS)

Presents survey results from 37 different colleges and universities represented in the 13 years of survey results, as compiled by the Missouri Colloquium on Writing Assessment (CWA). Notes the collected data are unique in that the same cohort of schools responded to the same detailed inquiries related to the assessing, curricular design, delivery,…

Claims that computer programs are needed that operate on commonly available microcomputers and provide guidance in the generation and interrogation of a writer's ideas. Discusses Hugh Burns' program "TOPOI" as an example. Describes ways in which a computer and operator can interact. Criticizes those who view open-response software merely…

Examines the enthusiastic discourse that has accompanied the introduction of computers into writing classes. Explores how this language may influence both change and the status quo in electronic classrooms. Argues that writing instructors, by thinking critically and carefully about technology, can succeed in using it to improve the educational…

Discusses and problematizes the kinds of "borders" that exist in the English classroom. Considers how English teachers who use computers often establish and maintain borders. Describes political boundaries associated with computer interfaces. Presents tactics for enacting a radical pedagogy of electronic borders. (HB)

Outlines strategies for running a successful faculty workshop dealing with computers, such as: (1) make participation optional; (2) focus only on what an instructor needs to know to write and teach using a computer; (3) give word processing instruction individually; (4) present computer uses as possibilities, not as correct answers; and (5)…

Describes different kinds of student correspondence over the writing center network at a state university. Argues that the interaction between student and text via machine promotes good writing and improved motivation, even when the subject matter is as extracurricular as dating. Includes messages from student to student, student to teacher, and…