Presents a nine-assignment sequence that has students engage three interconnected problems of writing and word processing. (SR)

Examines critically the claim that computers give rise to nonlinear writing. Presents a new computer-based research tool, "S-Notation," that can automatically trace a writer's revisions to a text in their natural order. Presents an ongoing study that applies this method to assess the effect of the writing task on the linearity of text production.…

Describes an experimental computer program called the "Writing Environment" designed to help writers create well-structured texts on-screen. Outlines a study done in which writers were asked to use the program so that their writing strategies could then be analyzed. Provides data and conclusions of the study. (HB)

Investigates the writing attitudes and text editing skills of students with considerable experience using word-processing systems toward word processing for different phases of the writing process. Finds the students are poor at text editing and typing. Finds that the students prefer paper and pencil for composing first drafts and prefer word…

Notes that joint composition at the computer is common in United Kingdom primary schools. Finds that even children as young as seven years can jointly plan a story at the computer. Uses examples of pupils' discourse while composing to illustrate the processes by which they produced written text. (RS)

Examines ways primary-aged children in the United Kingdom and Finland socially construct writing while using computers. Finds children's talk to be highly task-related and to concern mostly composing, not ways in which to use the computer. Suggests that ways in which children interact and write while using computers are embedded in wider…