This book uncovers the important issues in language learning and teaching in the intelligent, digital era. "Social connectivity" is a contemporary style of learning and living. By engaging in the connectivity of physical and digital worlds, how essential parts of language learning and teaching can be achieved? How can the advanced…

Research on expert performance suggests that deliberate practice provides optimal opportunities for expertise development. This study examined whether the provision of computer-based scaffolding (CBS) guiding deliberate practice facilitates students' development of writing expertise. A CBS environment "escribo" was designed to externally…

Today, many students not only access the Internet through desktop and laptop computers at home or at school but also have copious amounts of information at their fingertips via portable devices (e.g., iPods, iPads, netbooks, smartphones). While some teachers welcome the proliferation of portable technologies and easy wireless Internet access, and…

Some concerns regarding the use of computers in reading instruction are addressed in this report. The first section explores the similarities and differences between reading printed materials and computer display screens (legibility, portability, etc.) and presents some advantages and disadvantages of computers. The next section explains two ways…

Presenting a comprehensive look at (and critical history of) computer-aided composition (CAC), this book focuses on faculty development of software for composition studies. The book describes who is building these writing tools, how they are doing so, how their work is being received, and what is likely to affect their efforts in the future.…

To provide students with the literacy strategies necessary to function successfully in a technologically supported society, teachers must realize how the multilayered grammars of computers continue to affect their definition of literacy. Computer-supported writing centers are an excellent site for teachers to share ideas about this changing…

This 2-year longitudinal study explored whether computers promote more sophisticated thinking, and examined how students' thinking changes as they become experienced computer users. The first-year study examined the thinking process of four ninth-grade Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) students. The second-year study continued following these…

To provide students with an opportunity to become computer literate, the University of Michigan has required at least one computer-intensive writing class. A fully equipped computer lab has been provided for students who do not own a computer. In order to determine the most effective technique for teaching students how to use the word processors,…

Powerful applications such as Microsoft Office's Excel and Word are widely used to perform common tasks in the workplace and in education. Scripting within these applications allows unanticipated user requirements to be addressed. We show that such extensibility, intended to support office automation-type applications, is well suited to the…

I conducted teacher research in a basic writing computer classroom to discover what two basic writers brought to the computer classroom that could complicate their interactions with technology and their ability to write with computers during our class. My discussion is twofold: First, I explore the writers' differing attitudes towards computers,…

Experiences in the English department of the State University of New York College at Potsdam illustrate the ways in which writing teachers can use even minimal computer technology for instructional intervention at several stages of the writing process and provide more individualized instruction. Familiarity with the technology breeds innovation.…

Exploration of concepts crucial to development of new computer-based learning environments focuses on process rather than product and the computer's ability to record, represent, and communicate the underlying process. Cognitive, pedagogical, and sociological issues relevant to creation of learning environments in five domains (empowering…

Considers the motives for schools acquiring computers, three different ways in which computers may be relevant to instruction, and the extent to which they address broadly shared ideals for children's education. Also discusses the effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction in drills and tutorials and the development of writing skills. (RDN)

Recognizing the rapid establishment of the computer as a routine instrument of instruction, this guide demonstrates with lesson outlines and materials the many ways in which English and/or computer literacy teachers can use microcomputers to teach RCT (Regents Competency Test) English Writing Practice topics. Front matter consists of a foreword,…

Outlines strategies for running a successful faculty workshop dealing with computers, such as: (1) make participation optional; (2) focus only on what an instructor needs to know to write and teach using a computer; (3) give word processing instruction individually; (4) present computer uses as possibilities, not as correct answers; and (5)…