Discusses what computers (word processors) can do for the writer. Examines the physical and psychological constraints experienced by writers and explains how word processors can help in overcoming them. (FL)

Describes how teachers can use computer programs to combine the systematic coverage of a writing class with the individualization of a writing workshop. (MM)

This practicum investigated whether using whole language, cooperative learning, CAI, and an authentic audience to create a magazine would help second and third grade students to learn punctuation skills. The practicum was implemented at a private, south Florida summer computer camp to two different target groups of eight elementary students. Both…

Just as the spoken word, virtual discourse in the listserv-assisted composition class unites the writer and the audience into a group. On-line writing takes the form of dialogue, and the reading of the on-line text does not shatter the audience but gathers them into collectivity. Since writing on the listserv is less rule-governed, students are…

Discussion of programs for analyzing the writing of students using word processors focuses on six categories of available software that can help to improve students' writing skills: error checkers, reformatters, audience awareness programs (including reader's needs and readability formulas), student conferencing utilities, grading utilities, and…

Most of the essays in this collection originated as presentations at the University of California, Los Angeles, Conference on Computers and Writing, held in May 1985. Issues addressed in the volume range from concrete, practical considerations (such as designing classroom exercises) to political and theoretical ones (such as the instructor's…

This guide is the result of three projects that have been working to address the problem of intergenerational illiteracy in writing. While writing skills are limited among the general population, they are even more limited among limited-English-speaking students (both school-aged and adult learners). The guidebook is a self-help manual for…

In an effort to broaden the context for classroom writing by providing an audience other than the teacher and classmates, a study used microcomputers, a modem and an electronic mail service to set up communications with classes in other communities. Two classes (27 students) at Sewickley Academy in Pennsylvania communicated for a semester with two…