This study compares the effects of two resources, a paper rubric (CR) or the comment bubbles from a word processor (CCB), to support peer co-evaluation of expository texts in primary education. A total of 57 students wrote a text which, after a peer co-evaluation process, was rewritten. To analyze the improvements in the texts, we used a rubric…

Writing is usually the last skill to be touched upon in language classrooms, and more so, in the EFL or ESL classroom. Even so, postponing or the tendency to avoid the writing task is a common hindrance created by the learners, but is definitely one that retards the learning of the skill. The current study aimed to examine the efficacy of working…

This study compared the effects of computer-mediated (CM) versus pen-and-paper (P&P) writing on written accuracy and feedback processing in tasks written and rewritten collaboratively following a pedagogical treatment in two intact authentic classrooms. The study involved 32 secondary education low-proficiency English-as-a-foreign-language…

Online teaching and learning became popular with the evolution of the World Wide Web now days. Implementing online learning tools within EFL contexts will help better address the multitude of teaching and learning styles. Difficulty in academic writing can be considered one of the common problems that students face in and outside their classrooms.…

Researcher's observation on his ESL class indicates the main issues concerning the writing skills: learners' low motivation to write, minimum interaction in writing, and poor writing skills. These limitations have led them to be less confidence to write in English. This article discusses how computers can be used for the purpose of increasing…

Background: The need for improvement in writing instruction in schools is dependent on teachers being aware of evidence-based procedures in writing and implementing them on a regular basis in their classrooms. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency with which teachers in Western Canada employed evidence-based procedures in…

Examines the learning benefits which may accrue from using desk-top publishing techniques with children, especially in terms of the development of literacy skills. Analyzes desk-top publishing as an extension of word processing and describes some ways of using desk-top publishing in the classroom. (RS)

The commonest context for the use of word processors with primary school children is collaborative small group work. The two major reasons for this organizational decision are resource-based (i.e. due to the scarcity of computers in the classroom) and educational, stemming from an increased use of cooperative learning methods. In order to improve…

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)

Studies with 8 children in the United Kingdom and 30 in Finland show that verbal interactions of children doing collaborative writing with a computer are highly task-related and characterized by exchange of information, questioning, judging, organizing, and composing. Exploratory and argumentational use of language was found to be low. (SLD)

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…

In this pilot project, nine pairs of Danish teenagers with different levels of English proficiency were observed and of these three pairs were studied in greater detail, as they worked on English writing assignments on a word processor. The approach used in gathering data was based on video recordings using a split-screen technique. Half the…

Based on an examination of the organizational features of editing during collaborative computer writing in a combined first and second grade classroom in a Catholic school during the 1985-86 school year, this paper argues that there is a fundamental difference between collaborative and solo computer writing, and that collaboration during computer…

A study examined the behavior of first graders as they collaborated on a writing exercise using a word processor. Data were collected over three weeks in the form of fieldnotes and 13.5 hours of videotape of students working at the computer. Videotapes were examined to locate patterns of discourse and physical actions, and by abstracting from the…