High levels of self-regulation and attentional management are essential to skilled writing. Many students with disabilities struggle with the demands of expressing their ideas through writing. The act of high-quality composition requires close attention and management of the entire writing process: planning, composing, and revising. Many students…

The benefits of writing strategy feedback are well established. This study examined the extent to which adding spelling and grammar checkers support writing and revision in comparison to providing writing strategy feedback alone. High school students (n = 119) wrote and revised six persuasive essays in Writing Pal, an automated writing evaluation…

The insufficient focus on developing writing instruction in education is a significant problem. Despite the crucial link between writing and reading skills and their impact on academic and life success, there is a notable lack of emphasis on writing in schools. Writing A-Z is a digital-first program that helps teachers establish a writing…

This article provides key considerations and step-by-step procedures useful for any teacher to use when planning to enhance their writing instruction with technology. This includes understanding current writing initiatives as well as recognizing the common behaviors of skilled and struggling writers. Four types of underutilized, yet commonly…

Student writing outcomes in the U.S. are dismal, and this has been an area of concern for decades, yet schools and teachers are not implementing evidence-based practices (EBP) in writing instruction. Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an EBP in writing yet the administrator's role in implementing EBPs in writing has not been studied.…

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of higher education worldwide. It also has facilitated digital writing in remote classrooms and beyond. During lockdowns, digital writing has become a constant way of communication in our lives. The research examines the COVID-19 pandemic impact on digital writing transformation in…

Recent literature has shown the positive impact of supporting writing instruction with technology for students who struggle with writing, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Based on a yearlong study involving general and special education teachers serving students in inclusive classrooms, we identified specific…

This chapter explores three broad principles of user-centered design methodologies: participatory design, iteration, and usability considerations. The authors highlight the importance of considering teachers as a prominent type of ITS end user, by describing the barriers teachers face as users and their role in educational technology design. To…

The purpose of this study was to design and develop a theory-based summary writing online tool, named Summary Writing-Pal (SW-PAL), to assist English as a second language students in improving their summary writing. It also evaluates the effectiveness of SW-PAL in enhancing the students' summary writing performance and examines their perceptions…

This qualitative study examines how writers perceive the mobilization and adaptation of their print-based writing knowledge and multiple literacies when remediating written essays into digital stories. It also outlines a pedagogical tool that can help writers reflect on what they might transfer as they compose across media.

The development of strong writing skills is a critical (and somewhat obvious) goal within the classroom. Individuals across the world are now expected to reach a high level of writing proficiency to achieve success in both academic settings and the workplace (Geiser & Studley, 2001; Powell, 2009; Sharp, 2007). Unfortunately, strong writing…

We investigated whether students increased their self-assessment accuracy and essay scores over the course of an intervention with a writing strategy intelligent tutoring system, [Writing Pal] (W-Pal). Results indicate that students were able to learn from W-Pal, and that the combination of strategy instruction, game-based practice, and holistic…

Written expression is a neglected but critical component of education; yet, the writing process--from prewriting, to writing, and postwriting--is often an area of struggle for students with disabilities. One strategy to assist students with disabilities struggling with the writing process is the use of computer-based technology. This article…

The four-week university-sponsored summer Computer-based Writing (CBW) Program directed by the head of a special education initial teacher licensure program gave teaching interns opportunities to work with young struggling writers in a supervised clinical setting to address keyboarding skills, writing conventions and knowledge and application of…

This study investigates students' essay revising in the context of an intelligent tutoring system called "Writing Pal" (W-Pal), which combines strategy instruction, game-based practice, essay writing practice, and automated formative feedback. We examine how high school students use W-Pal feedback to revise essays in two different…