Offers five high school teachers' comments regarding how the computer has changed their lives in the classroom, the uses they make of it, and what it promises for the immediate future. (SR)

Examines several aspects of word processing and desktop publishing, focusing on hardware and software selection. (MM)

Describes a one-semester academic composition course in the English curriculum of Amarillo Independent Schools, Texas. Discusses the advantages of incorporating computer technology into the course. (MM)

Review of research on students' use of word processing for text generation and revision and its impact on text quality suggests that enthusiasm about its benefits may be misplaced. Enabling students to model structural features of sophisticated texts may help with complex writing tasks and change conceptions of writing. (SK)

Four issues of the "Macintosh Lab Monitor" document the Computer-Aided Writing Project at the Forman School (Connecticut) which is a college preparatory school for bright dyslexic adolescents. The project uses Macintosh computers to teach outlining, writing, organizational and thinking skills. Sample articles have the following titles:…

Two sets of secondary students (n=26) were interviewed about attitudes toward writing after using laptop word processors. Handwriting remained popular and quicker for most writing tasks; neither planning nor constructive reflection on language were enhanced; typing speeds remained very slow; and the connotations of "writing" were…

Describes how word processing terminology can be usefully adapted for peer review writing tasks in which students try to help each other revise and improve their written work. Demonstrates this revision technique with specific examples. Outlines how teachers can institute the method in their writing activities. (HB)

The use of a Computing Resource Centre featuring word processing, spreadsheet, and database management activities by a group of talented and gifted students in Maple Ridge, British Columbia resulted in a marked increase in the students' organizational and planning skills and also in the quality of their work. (CB)

Describes 10 changes in writing instruction (including changes in student attitudes toward revision and changes in the peer editing process) that are directly related to the introduction of the computer into the writing process. (MM)

Reviews research on the effect of computers on writing. Concludes that students will not automatically revise and write more successfully with a word processor, that students tend to submit papers with fewer mechanical errors using word processors, and that they enjoy writing more and may collaborate more. (RS)

Describes a writing strategy that teaches students how to write a first person narrative and revise for more exact and fresh vocabulary words. (MG)

A study was conducted to determine whether the use of word processing improves both the amount and the quality of revision done by high school students. Subjects were 24 ninth grade students enrolled in a special class for interested writers, and therefore probably better than average ninth grade writers. Twelve students were assigned to an…

Discusses computer editing and describes the capacities and features of an integrated software package, Writer's Workbench. Suggests ways in which this program can be used to improve writing skills. Reviews the effects of this program on technical users, college students, and high school students. (ML)

Investigated the impact of integrated proofreading strategy training, which combined a computer-based spelling checker and student strategies, on the proofreading of three secondary students with learning disabilities. Students showed an increase in strategy use and percentage of spelling errors corrected on controlled proofreading materials and…

Describes the creation and development of a computer software package called SPIRIT which assists secondary students in all phases of the writing process. (NKA)