Investigates the structure and composition of a naturalistic rumor chain that surfaced on a computer-mediated communication discussion group. Finds that rumormongering is a collective, problem-solving interaction that is sustained by a combination of anxiety, uncertainty, and credulity. (CR)

Describes how more institutions are encouraging students to create electronic portfolios to highlight their academic work, help them reflect on their campus experiences, and perhaps land them a job. (EV)

Explains how written material started; describes the nature and supply of electronic documents; characterizes student practices in using paper texts and online electronic texts in higher education, including the role of reading; and considers communication and speed and informational inflation and choice. (Author/LRW)

Suggests the electronic classroom provides a space for applying feminist ideas to a theorization of hypertext. Explores the potential for hypertext to interrogate dominant ideologies and to produce alternative knowledge. Uses feminist activist art as a model, and takes advantage of the way hypertext enables combination the best of both modern and…

Based on the premise that computer networks are changing the way people think and interact, this Digest discusses some features of electronic discourse as a relatively new form of discourse and examines the current research on computer mediated communication text. The Digest suggests further research on how other features of electronic discourse…

Argues for having first-year composition students "publish" electronic portfolios on the World Wide Web. Provides background on attaining a computer-mediated pedagogy that accounts for its electronic presence and transcends traditional classroom practice. Presents an actual electronic portfolio. Concludes that making an electronic…

Claims that participants in computer-mediated "chat" (CMC) produce a kind of hybrid text. Stresses the importance of investigating the individual texts and writing practices of each participant in CMC studies to better understand what occurs when language users bring individual cognitive, social, and contextual factors with them to a…

This paper presents a case study exploring the impact of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) on the formation of ethnic social groups, or communities, by examining the case of Chinese students in North America and other parts of the world. The paper (1) reviews the relationship between communication and community; (2) traces the development of…

Vocational educators are using the Internet in various ways. The director and associate professor of vocational-technical education at Dakota State University uses the Internet primarily for electronic mail. Students in a secondary vocational teacher's international trade and marketing class have participated in real-time conferences with schools…

A study investigated the effects of inserting questions in a computer-mediated text that required readers to review relevant portions of the text when a question was answered incorrectly. Undergraduate students (n=36) served as their own controls while reading a scientific text under 3 treatment conditions that varied as to the consequences of an…

The year 1997 is seeing rapid-fire technological change, the likes of which few ages in history have seen. The popular concern in the academy is the utilization and ubiquity of the Internet in classroom and administrative functions. With ever increasing regularity, universities are relying on online resources, such as Internet syllabi, course…

Noting that electronic communication places new demands on language that leads to interesting variations in written language use, this Digest summarizes insights gained from research on writing behavior and performance in the electronic age. It concludes that both the process and the content of writing are evolving in response to the increased use…

Presents accounts of two teachers using electronic portfolios. Relates how moving peer reviews and explanatory papers from manila folders to electronic portfolios helped students become more aware of peers as audience. Describes the unsettling effect of students who chose to invest their energy in dynamic online dialogs rather than in the…

Provides a list of a variety of World Wide Websites that attempt to pull together and organize the myriad of possibilities of avenues into the Internet, such as search engines, spiders, search tools, robots, portals, hierarchical menus, resource sites, megasites, catalogues, indexes, directories of links or specialized guides, subject guides or…

With many English teachers now opting to teach writing and literature courses in electronic environments, some of the teachers' most significant experiences in these environments have stemmed from their attempts to make technology available as a literacy tool for culturally diverse student populations. Computer-mediated communication can broaden…