This teaching tip showcases instructional strategies and scaffolds from an out-of-school digital writing camp. Often, teachers may be hesitant to incorporate digital tools into their literacy instruction for various reasons (e.g., scripted curriculum, fear and uncertainty of digital tools, lack of experience and knowledge with technology), yet it…

The introduction of digital literacy practices has created a tension in academia, with many academics challenging the view that critical thinking can be fostered on social networks. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on two sections of university-level writing classrooms to determine if there were meaningful differences in the quality of…

Composing text is an essential skill for students. Assignments, tests, and emailing are a few examples of the many tasks which require students to generate thoughts and put them into prose. For many students, choosing a topic, creating an outline, generating an initial draft, and making edits to produce a final copy is a fluid process which poses…

Presents an interview with Niki and Alan McCurry, who discuss the uses and features of the "Alaska Writing Program," a computer software product that can be used in writing classrooms. Explains its origins, shows how it centers on the writing process, and discusses ways of using the program in the classroom. (HB)

PowerPoint has become something of a standard business communication tool, for better or worse. The "worse" part of that formulation is something of a cliche in the business world, and poor use of the tool can be damaging to a business manager's career progress. The author has been using a two-part approach to teaching PowerPoint skills in an…

The location of a university writing center is not as important as whether the faculty responsible for the center have a clear picture of how they would like the center to be viewed by the students. A campus writing center should be the hub of all academic writing across the campus. For one instructor, the first lab he developed at a small college…

A study was conducted in spring 1991, spring 1993, and summer 1993 to determine the effect on the writing process of various types of word processing software used by developmental and second-level composition students. Analyses were conducted of developmental students (novice writers) and of composition students (above novice writers) at a Texas…

This document is a compilation of the four issues in the 23rd volume of "Classroom Notes Plus." Each issue of "Classroom Notes Plus" contains descriptions of original, unpublished teaching practices, and of adapted ideas. The August 2005 (v23 n1) issue includes: Sharing Responses to Literature via Exit Slips (Barb Wagner); Letting Learners Teach…