Adolescent literacy achievement across the United States is in crisis. More than eight million students in grades 4 to 12 are identified as struggling readers. These students, who perform below grade level in reading and writing, are at high risk for failure in all content subjects and ultimately for dropping out of school. Professionals in the…

Educators at elementary, middle, and high school levels will find that integrating digital tools and resources--many commonly used by students in their "out of school" lives--can be a springboard to creativity and new skills. In this article, the author describes how word processors, presentation software and hardware, mind-mapping applications,…

In response to national concern over declining standards in students' writing abilities, an increasing number of schools have adopted the use of word processors in an effort to increase literacy skills. The instructional effectiveness of word processors in 20 second-grade students was analyzed and it was found that computers facilitate improvement…

Discusses a study that investigated the use of word processing for literacy teaching in primary schools in Great Britain. Considers the use of word processing and the attempts to integrate other information and communication technologies into schools; enhancing the curriculum; and shifting focus away from technology and toward the development of…

Observations of children's writing on the computer include an anecdote concerning a five-year-old's use of a word processor to write a story at the University of South Carolina's Children's Center. Also discussed are general literacy growth and four patterns of risk taking with computer writing. (BB)

Current efforts to improve literacy teaching and learning are directed at replacing task-oriented approaches to teaching isolated skills with an integrated language arts curriculum, focusing on the cognitive and social processes the learner engages in to write. This new approach requires fundamental changes in the classroom, and computer-based…

Computer-based technologies are rapidly changing fundamental concepts about texts and how students interact with and learn from those texts. Early use of microcomputers included drill and practice work, tutorial programs, and word processing. In conjunction with information storage devices like magnetic and laser disc, the microcomputer has also…

Children and young people are increasingly performing a variety of writing tasks using computers, with word processing programs thus becoming their natural writing environment. The development of keystroke logging programs enables us to track the process of writing, without changing the writing environment for the writers. In the myMoment schools…