Writing is essential for all students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills across various subject areas and tasks. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) indicate that first graders should write opinion papers, explanatory texts, and narratives. Further, the CCSS requires students beginning in kindergarten to explore digital tools to produce…

Composing is an essential part of literacy development in early childhood classrooms, and writing experiences are continually changing through advances in technology. Writing in a new language can be particularly challenging for emergent bilinguals as they navigate learning how to spell in English as part of the writing process. New pedagogical…

This study examines the experiences and perceptions of writers who composed text using "distraction-free" writing tools that stand as alternatives to standard word processing programs. The purpose of this research was to develop a clearer understanding of how digital writing tools may shape the activities and practices of writers, as…

This essay explores "content," a word and concept now often associated with writing in fields including marketing, journalism, publishing, and technical communication. I present a definition of content appropriate to writing studies and explore a range of issues and practices that the content metaphor can bring to our professional,…

In this Symposium focused on MOOCs, this journal carries forward a tradition of attending to the technologies associated with composing and the teaching of composing. In the May 1983 issue of "College Composition and Communication," for example, most of the articles focus on composing and include a mix of inquiries, from Jack Selzer's on the…

This mixed methods study combining a single-subject experimental design with an embedded case study focuses on the impact of a visual treatment on the handwritten and typed output of a struggling male writer during his 5th through 7th grades who has undergone a longitudinal remedial phase of two and a half years creating text-only material as well…

For six weeks, middle school students gathered information about peanuts from a variety of text and media sources to create an original informative book, thereby combining goals in both technology and language arts. By conducting authentic research about one topic for a concentrated period of time, students were able to develop and fine tune their…

Background: It is well established that handwriting fluency constrains writing quality by limiting resources for higher order processes such as planning and reviewing. According to the "simple view of writing" then slow keyboarding speed should hinder the quality of keyboarded essay compositions in the same way that slow handwriting…

Multimedia has had a widely recognised impact on society, but it is still under-represented in the literacy pedagogies of many schools. This may relate to the way we view assessment for literacy, which is still almost wholly monomodal. Students assessed at a low level as producers of verbal text may respond positively when working multimodally,…

Outlines one school's approach to using microcomputers to help teach writing skills in high school. (MD)

Presents the opinions of two computer educators on the use of "The Bank Street Writer" and "WordStar" in the classroom. (AEA)

Discusses the learning philosophy of LOGO and how it is utilized with a word processing program to help former drop-outs learn to write. Some teaching techniques with descriptions of how they can be applied are included. (MBR)

Discusses approaches for writing teachers to use when teaching how to write a persuasive essay using the word processor. (MG)

Discusses the benefits of using word processing software to motivate student writers. Briefly describes computer programs that assist students during the composing process. (AEA)

Writing behaviors of grade 1 children were explored as they used word processors to support their writing. Information was gathered in the form of field notes and audiotape transcripts from classroom observation sessions, along with informal interviews with students and teachers. Themes which emerged from the data analysis suggested a combination…