Intended to (1) acquaint teachers with the potential of computers, (2) show them what changes writers may have to make in their composing habits, and (3) inform teachers of the changes they may have to make in course syllabi to prepare students for the demands of the electronic world, this book examines the impact of technology on composition instruction. The first chapter discusses the capabilities and rapidly growing use in the business and professional world of such electronic technology as telecommunication systems and audio and electronic mail systems. The second chapter distills information about dictation and word processing systems from an extensive review of research literature and from interviews with computer users and trainers at various business sites across the country. Based on this, the third chapter outlines the curricula required to enable students to be effective composers at the computer. The fourth chapter contains forecasts of the kinds of research still needed for teachers to develop fruitful programs and strategies in the composition classroom. Appendixes include materials from the interviews, and information on audio mail systems and dictation processes. (HTH)

This book is a history composed of histories. Its particular focus is the way in which computers entered and changed the field of composition studies, a field that defines itself both as a research community and as a community of teachers. This may have a somewhat sinister suggestion that technology alone has agency, but this history (made of histories) is not principally about computers. It is about people-the teachers and scholars who have adapted the computer to their personal and professional purposes. From the authors' perspectives, change in technology drives changes in the ways we live and work, and we, agents to a degree in control of our own lives, use technology to achieve our human purposes. REVIEW: . . . This book reminds those of us now using computers to teach writing where we have been, and it brings those who are just entering the field up to date. More important, it will inform administrators, curriculum specialists, and others responsible for implementing the future uses of technology in writing instruction. - Computers and Composition

Discussing the profound changes and possibilities for writing and writing instruction that are evident at this stage of the computer revolution, this book contains 17 articles which focus on implications for teaching, learning, and teacher education and highlight questions that teachers and researchers must address to realize the potential of the new technology. The book's four main sections deal with the profound influence of the new electronic age on teachers' lives, the ways computers change the responsibilities of students and teachers, the significance of hypertext for writers and teachers, and the political implications of the computer revolution for education. The articles and their authors are as follows: "Ideology, Technology, and the Future of Writing Instruction" (Nancy Kaplan); "Taking Control of the Page: Electronic Writing and Word Publishing" (Patricia Sullivan); "Computing and Collaborative Writing" (Janis Forman); "Prospects for Writers' Workstations in the Coming Decade" (Donald Ross); "Computers and Teacher Education in the 1990s and Beyond" (Kathleen Kiefer); "Computers and Instructional Strategies in the Teaching of Writing" (Elizabeth Klem and Charles Moran); "Evaluating Computer-Supported Writing" (Andrea W. Herrmann); "Hypertext and Composition Studies" (Henrietta Nickels Shirk); "Toward an Ecology of Hypermedia" (John McDaid); "Reconceiving Hypertext" (Catherine F. Smith); "The Politics of Hypertext" (Stuart Moulthrop); "Technology and Authority" (Ruth Ray and Ellen Barton); "The Politics of Writing Programs" (James Strickland); "The Equitable Teaching of Composition with Computers: A Case for Change" (Mary Louise Gomez); and "Feminism and Computers in Composition Instruction" (Emily Jessup). (SR)

This handbook combines the experience and advice of pioneers in computer-enhanced instruction in colleges and high schools across the United States and documents the scope of the problem of teacher access to training by describing the results of a survey of teacher educators conducted in November 1985. The first section of the book describes 12 existing programs; the second suggests desirable models. After an introduction by Wiliam Oates, the book includes the following essays: (1) "A Computer-Training Program for English Teachers: Cuyahoga Community College and the Urban Initiatives Action Program" (David Humphreys); (2) "Integrating Computers into the Language Arts Curriculum at Lesley College" (Joan Dunfey); (3) "English Teachers and the Potential of Microcomputers as Instructional Resources at the State University of New York at Buffalo" (Elizabeth A. Sommers and James L. Collins); (4) "Interactive Computer Tools for Teachers of Writing at All Instructional levels at Columbia University's Teacher College" (Amy L. Heebner); (5) "The Gateway Writing Project: Staff Development and Computers in St. Louis" (Jane Zeni Flinn and Chris Madigan); (6) "Linking Secondary School and College Writing Teachers: CAI Staff Development That Works in Indianapolis" (Barbara L. Cambridge and Ulla Connor); (7) "Captain Jacobsen and the Apple Jocks: Computers and English Teachers at Glendora High School" (Sandra Hooven); (8) "Computers: Catalysts for Change at Springfield High School" (W. Edward Bureau); (9) "Adapting to a New Environment: Word Processing and the Training of Writing Teachers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst" (Paul LeBlanc and Charles Moran); (10) "Preparing Teacher for Computers and Writing: Plans and Issues at Governors State University" (Deborah H. Holdstein); (11) "Integrating Computers and Composition at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale" (Stephen A. Bernhardt and Bruce C. Appleby); (12) "Faculty Development for Computer Literacy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee" (Eleanor Berry and others); (13) "Developing and Implementing Computer-Training Programs for English Teachers: A Game Plan" (Dawn Rodrigues); (14) "Creating Writing Activities with the Word Processor" (Helen J. Schwartz); (15) "Incorporating Prewriting Software into the Writing Program" (Michael Spitzer); (16) "Style-Analysis Programs: Teachers Using the Tools" (Kate Kiefer and others); (17) "Using Computers in the Literature Class" (Frank Madden); (18) "Databases for English Teachers" (Stephen Marcus); (19) "Teaching in Networked Classrooms" (Trent Batson); (20) "Computer-Supported Writing Classes: Lessons for Teachers" (Cynthia L. Selfe and Billie J. Wahlstrom); and (21) "Evaluation of Computer-Writing Curriculum Projects" (Raymond J. Rodrigues). Two appendixes, "Survey of Computer Uses in English Education Programs" (William Wresch) and "Computer Access for English Classes" (Elizabeth Foster and others), are attached. (MS)

These exciting and moving reports of a revolutionary composition pedagogy develop a common theme: the most profound changes wrought by computers in the composition classroom are social, political, and pedagogical, not technological.

Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, e, p, i, t.

For all students, the ability to write, to use a word-processing program, and to unite the two skills in a synergistic blend of form and content has become a key factor in achieving academic success. This book presents teachers with a framework for helping them help students achieve this success. Divided into two parts, the book provides teachers with guidance for incorporating computers into the writing classroom and for making computers "the" essential tool for writing and writing instruction. The first part of the book, "Theory and Research," discusses the theoretical underpinnings of computer-assisted writing instruction, and the second part, "Practice," features a compilation of practical suggestions for teaching writing with computers, including a wide assortment of writing lessons specifically designed to exploit the more "writer-friendly" features of the word processor. (Contains 70 references and 9 notes.) (NKA)