Argues that humor serves a critical ethos function in online communities created by mailing lists. Connects what humor theorists already recognize as a social dimension in joking to the contemporary interpretation of ethos as a constitutive force. Applies the model to the rhetoric of a university writing center mailing list. (SG)

Uses classroom excerpts to examine issues of "playfulness" and "gaming" in computer-mediated communication (CMC). Offers theories and historical constructions of literacy and play for instructors to conceptualize the construction of boundaries between productive and nonproductive language behaviors in CMC. Argues that CMC's empowering capabilities…

Describes a range of currently available and developing technologies for creating and presenting annotations, glosses, and other comments on digital documents. Discusses the potential applications of these tools for providing feedback to student writers, supporting extended group discussions around digital texts, and facilitating research and…

Explores effects of electronically decentralizing writing centers. Suggests that asynchronous conferencing promises to simplify scheduling but complicate supervision, while its potential effects on workplace ethos are more difficult to predict. Explores the potential for information technology to preserve conference talk. Concludes that a writing…

Argues that traditional understandings of ownership and intellectual property fall short of describing synchronous electronic discourse. Asks how to develop property rights and guidelines for fair use when what would be cited belongs to a pseudonymous or anonymous group. Claims that feminist theory provides a way to understand the importance of…

Presents research to support the argument that patterns of interaction deeply entrenched within a patriarchal system cannot be undermined simply by offering access to a new medium such as computer-mediated communication. Claims that, in moving away from traditional discourse forms that oppress and marginalize women, scholars run the risk of those…

Notes that the process of electronic conferencing can result in activity not readily apparent as leading to productive writing behaviors, which reintroduces the tension between process and product into composition studies. Argues for a broader notion of writing and urges attention to the transformative power of electronic conferencing to enable…

Presents a descriptive analysis of 29 online writing lab sites for email tutoring, currently the most popular mode of computer-mediated collaboration. Considers how email tutoring interfaces represent the literate practice of email tutoring, shaping expectations and experiences consistent with its literate aims. Suggests that email tutoring…

Explores the combination of on-line chat rooms with regular classroom interactions in a personalized English program and its potentials to enhance second language development. Suggests that the face-to-face interactions may have highlighted the participants' language problems and enhanced their awareness of such problems, whereas the on-line…

Focuses on the dynamics of interracial electronic communication. Examines the misunderstandings that arose in this interracial discussion, situating the causes and consequences of the students' discourse within both the local context of the electronic forum and within wider cultural patterns. Suggests strategies for facilitating more productive…

Suggests that out-of-class asynchronous computer conferencing can provide both teacher and students within literature classes with student responses to course materials, transforming courses concerned with developing critical and analytical thinking by heightening student interaction. Outlines the basic methods for establishing such an…

Suggests that, as more students gain access to the Internet and learn to write in electronic environments, literacy researchers in computers and composition need to study the discursive practices of these students outside the classroom in relation to the classroom. Explores the emergence of a lesbian, bisexual, and gay youth cyberculture as an…

Examines the discursive construction of identity and power in a Japanese online discourse community by focusing on an email list for Japanese professionals in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Argues that online discourse communities do not diminish hierarchical social relations found in offline discourses but…

Examines many surprising problems that arise in the process of distance education using the Internet and describes ways in which instructors and administrators can solve these problems. Notes that the solutions described are generalizable to other programs using online delivery for instruction. (SG)

Argues that the current state of computer-based distance learning is problematic. Shows that (1) solving the problems requires changes at all levels of computer-mediated communication; (2) more research is needed in computer interface design; and (3) delivery systems need radical redesign. Concludes that medium-sized and small colleges may suffer…