Can daily access to laptop computers help students become better writers? Are such programs affordable? Evidence from the Inspired Writing program in Littleton Public Schools, Colorado, USA, provides a resounding yes to both questions. The program employs student netbooks, open-source software, cloud computing, and social media to help students in…

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…

Describes in detail the functions and applications of a computer software program called "ClassWriter" that sets up networked electronic space in which computer conversations can take place. Outlines ways of using the program in the writing classroom. (HB)

When discussing "flaming" in relation to InterChange, it makes sense to look at two meanings of the word, to make the connection between the ardent and uncontrollable nature of the comments themselves and the flagrancy with which the electronic medium asserts itself. For some teachers, a "flaming" InterChange threatens their…

Discusses three types of synchronous writing environments, each offering teachers and students a vehicle for using electronic text to promote literacy-based learning communities: classroom collaboration, networked notetaking, and virtual communities. (SR)

Describes three main uses of computers for writing as a social activity: networking, telecommunications, and project work. Examines advantages and disadvantages of teaching writing on a network. Argues that reports in the literature and the example of an English as a foreign language writing class show that project work shares most of the…

Notes that, although networked writing classrooms are more egalitarian than non-networked classrooms, networks cannot prevent discrimination. Social identity theory, from social psychology, suggests that instructors must be careful when focusing courses on divisive social issues; the presentation of these issues can break down into binary…

For some reason, the idea of the nature writer at work in the open air has been exalted, and it is difficult to think that writing about nature might be compatible with computers, the ultimate indoor toy. However, for students learning to write about nature, a networked computer environment may be the best place to be, not for replacing the…

Discusses the first four months of the operation of UrbNet, an online forum for teachers in the Urban Sites Writing Network across the country to ruminate on their daily professional lives. Notes that there are more readers who are not writing on the network than is desirable. (RS)

Describes "Let's Write!" a writing package for the MS-DOS network which combines five software programs to define a new collaborative dynamic for writing, reading, and thinking on computer networks. (SR)

Lists and annotates 49 resources for research in the area of computer networks as vehicles for communication. Compiles sources that present research findings, pedagogical approaches, and theoretical discussions related to applications of computer-mediated communication systems--electronic mail, computer conferences, or bulletin boards. (RS)

Discusses networking as a collaboration tool in the teaching of technical writing. Argues that some degree of collaboration is innate to all writing, that word processing already facilitates that collaboration, and that networking is the next enhancement to the collaborative process. (RS)

A writing exchange project at Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont, funded by Apple Education Foundation and McDonnell Douglas, examined what happened when high school students use word processors and a modem to write to distant audiences. In the first exchange, students interviewed each other in pairs and wrote short…

Describes computer conferencing as a particularly useful alternative to traditional approaches to teaching college composition. Gives a basic outline of how an instructor might utilize computer networks to set up a composition course. (HB)

Discusses the impact of word processing on the teaching of college composition at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Describes seven design principles developed by writing teachers at the university in outlining a solution to the problem of how students can really work together collaboratively over a computer network. (RS)