In this essay, the author describes her own attempt at incorporating Web 2.0 technology into her teaching: a wiki project that she used in her English as a second language (ESL) composition course. The theme she traces throughout the rest of this essay is the wiki's ability (or inability) to make "connections" of various kinds. Like any text, the…

Today's learners are busy. They dash from work to school and back, talking and texting as they go. In their downtime, they are immersed in a digitized world of point-and-click technology that integrates sound and image. Teachers can talk to these students more--and more effectively--by offering an analogous style of teacher response. This article…

Describes in detail many of the current computer software products with which students can improve their writing. Outlines and critiques current computer offerings, including grammar checking software, drafting and revision software, on-line writing guides, and style analysis software. (HB)

Grading essays and research papers can be the most trying part of any writing instructor's job. Fitting corrections, suggestions, and notes between double-spaced lines of text and into margins often creates a legibility problem, which only worsens when grading stacks of papers to meet deadlines. This essay describes electronic grading, a method…

Explores the possibilities of the paperless classroom achieved through e-mail strategies and the use of Blackboard, an e-learning software platform. Claims that the system can be an efficient method for storing and evaluating papers and communicating with students. Concludes that the system allows the author to create a permanent electronic paper…

Relates the story of the arrival of a new instructor at a community college and his introduction to contemporary composition methods, wittily parodying both writing process jargon and computer jargon. (NKA)

Proposes that to overcome initial fears of technology, it is important to survey teachers, determine their concerns, and provide training opportunities. Describes the author's experience of working with faculty resistant to technology, and in designing faculty training in Blackboard, an online course platform. (PM)