Bedford Bibliography of Research in Online Writing Instruction: Alphabetical by Author

[#1]

Bedford Bibliography of Online Writing Instruction

This document contains all of the entries for the Bibliography of Online Writing Instruction listed alphabetically. 

A

Adams, Heather Brook, and Patricia Jenkins. “Applying Rhetorical Genre Studies to a Stand-Alone Online Professional Writing Course.” Composition Forum, vol. 31, Spring 2015, compositionforum.com/issue/31/alaska.php.

Adams and Jenkins provide an overview of their program and recount the events of using Rhetorical Genre Studies in a semester of their online professional writing course. They explain how they use Rhetorical Genre Studies to add a lens for investigating concepts of genre set, genre system, and activity system within their online course. They argue that their approach to Rhetorical Genre Studies and the way they’ve designed their courses helps students understand transfer and develop genre awareness that they can apply to possible workplace situations and circumstances by framing professional writing as “problem solving.”  They adapted the Rhetorical Genre Studies methods developed by Anthony Paré and Graham Smart for their course, and they ground their discussion in genre theory, focusing on Charles Bazerman’s discussion of genre sets, genre systems, and activity systems. They identify three reasons why their problem-solving approach to professional writing is beneficial to online professional writing courses: (1) the course design allows for awareness and can work with diversified student interests and degrees, (2) it allows students to understand genre as flexible and how the work they do in their lives and profession can be framed through genre awareness, and (3) the approach allows students to understand inter-subjectivity and think about how this might look in a professional setting.

Keywords: genre, technical and professional writing, course and program design: English, student engagement

OWI Principles:  3, 4

Ahrenhoerster, Greg, and Jon Brammer. “What’s the Point of Your OWL? Online Tutoring at the University of Wisconsin Colleges.” The Writing Lab Newsletter, vol. 26, no. 2, 2002, pp. 1–5.

Ahrenhoerster and Brammer make the argument faculty overseeing OWLs should implement OWL services to add benefits for students rather than doing so to incorporate technology for technology’s sake. After surveying twenty students who used an OWL, they found that half of the students expressed satisfaction with their online peer tutoring services, and all those who were satisfied were in their second semester of writing classes. Final grades of those students surveyed suggested that all students benefit from online peer tutoring services, regardless of satisfaction. Based on their admittedly small study, Ahrenhoerster and Brammer restructured their program to include more individualization in tutor response to provide more assistance at the sentence level, a change that many first-year students recommended in the survey. While this study has an admittedly small sample size, it does provide OWL administrators with a model of how to use student feedback to help revise OWL services to meet online student needs.

Keywords: online writing labs, surveys, student satisfaction

OWI Principles: 13, 15

Alexander, Jonathan, and William P. Banks. “Sexualities, Technologies, and the Teaching of Writing: A Critical Overview.” Computers and Composition, vol. 21, no. 3, Sept. 2004, pp. 273–93. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2004.05.005.

This introductory piece for the special edition of Computers and Composition on Sexuality, Technologies, and the Teaching of Writing provides a literature review of the scholarship on this topic and a call for additional research in this area. Alexander and Banks write that “both sexuality and technology studies are concerned with the intertwined issues of space and identity” (274). As such, this introduction makes a case for the need for research to address a variety of sexualities, including LGBTQ issues and heterosexuality alike. While primarily focused on technology-enhanced classrooms, Alexander and Banks make a case for also studying how sexuality intersects or impacts the online classroom as well as the face-to-face classroom. This article provides a history of the intersectional work on sexuality, technology, and the teaching of writing and is valuable for the online writing instructor or scholar researching how gender has or has not been addressed in the online writing classroom.

Keywords: sexuality, LGBTQ, gender, accessibility, intersectionality

OWI Principles: 1, 15

Alvarez, Ibis, Anna Espasa, and Teresa Guasch. “The Value of Feedback in Improving Collaborative Writing Assignments in an Online Learning Environment.” Studies in Higher Education, vol. 37, no. 4, 2012, pp. 387-400.

Alvarez et al. discuss a study with feedback during a collaborative writing assignment. They find that when teachers ask questions and give suggestions in their feedback instead of making corrections, students respond positively and generate significant changes in the texts they are working on, revising for content and in consideration of the instructor’s feedback. The authors aim to assess both student reactions to instructor feedback and the effects of types of feedback on how students revise their texts. They ground their approach to feedback on the literature of Raymond Kulhavy and William Stock and argue that the feedback given on this collaborative writing assignment meets two conditions that facilitate the learning process: correction and elaboration. Their study shows the importance of student participation in the assessment process. They argue that feedback design as an interactive and communicative process promotes student involvement in the learning process in collaborative writing assignments.

Keywords: collaboration, assessment: English, feedback, student engagement

OWI Principles: 4, 5, 11

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 42 USCA Sec. 12101 et seq. 2008.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines the meaning of the terms “disability,” “major life activities,” and “auxiliary aids and services.”  These definitions pertain to the field of online writing instruction by giving instructors a better understanding of what these terms mean in a legal sense and serving as a springboard from which to begin a discussion of accessibility in an online environment.

Keywords: legislation, disability studies

OWI Principles: 1

Anderson, Bill. “Writing Power into Online Discussion.” Computers and Composition, vol. 23, no. 1, 2006, pp. 108-24. 10.1016/j.compcom.2005.12.007.

Anderson explores how power manifests in student discourse in distance learning environments. After establishing a theoretical framework that includes a literature review of research related to gender, race, and political space, Anderson considers both individual, group, and external elements that influence how students engage in asynchronous work. Myriad factors such as “demands from and interests in an instructor-learner relationship, an educational institution, a family, friends, a workplace, and community organizations” dictate how students engage in online writing spaces. He interviews twenty-five full-time students enrolled in a teacher-education course regarding their experiences engaging in online discussions and in online classes. Students identified power dynamics in the choices they made of whether or not to read class materials and whether to post initial discussion board posts and follow-up discussion posts or not. The primary constraints bearing upon students were time and technology issues.  Anderson urges awareness for these constraints and suggests that instructors can “ensure that interaction in online learning communities is enabling for the learning of all students, not just some” if they are attentive to power dynamics.

Keywords: agency, power, asynchronous interaction, discussion: English, interviews

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 15

Anderson, Dana. “Interfacing E-mail Tutoring: Shaping an Emergent Literate Practice.” Computers and Composition, vol. 19, no. 1, 2002, pp. 71–87. Science Direct, 10.1016/S8755-4615(02)00081-6

Anderson argues that the new literacy practices of email “invite—perhaps even require—new literate behaviors, behaviors that, in turn, invoke correspondingly new conceptions of literacy in the writing center” (72). Anderson demonstrates ways in which the new interfaces require different types of literacies and then analyzes the e-mail interface of twenty-one online writing labs (OWLs) to understand how the interface shapes students’ expectations experiences in this medium. The language of the OWL sites indicates specific parameters about the type of student and the type of writing acceptable for the OWL. These limitations, Anderson argues, shape a writer’s goals and expectations about the OWL. Faculty administering OWLs should, therefore, design e-mail portals to reflect the goals of their overall writing center literacy practices. Anderson concludes by introducing language that distinguishes “between first- and second-level representations within OWL email tutoring interfaces (83). She hopes that introducing such language will start a conversation about how OWLs integrate theory and language with literacy practices.

Keywords: literacy, online writing lab, interface, tutoring: English

OWI Principles:  13, 14, 15

Anderson-Inman, Lynne. “OWLs: Online Writing Labs.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 40, no. 8, 1997, 650–54.

Anderson-Inman traces what resources Online Writing Labs (OWLs) offered students and teachers in the late 1990’s. She creates a taxonomy for OWLs and categorizes them as providing “resource materials, online tutoring, and information gateways.” For each category, she lists examples of institutions that are utilizing each type and highlights what they offer students. Research material types provide students with sources for teachers, students, and tutors alike; they range from grammar handouts to handbooks for writers. Online tutoring types offer wider accessibility to students who can’t make it to campus; it can provide “synchronous” one-on-one tutor to student help or it can be used as a “grammar hotline” or email feedback service. Information gateway types serve as a means of guiding students to helpful resources that are housed outside of the OWL on the Internet and lead students to helpful grammatical or punctuation information. The author encourages these online mediums as a means of increasing access for online writing students to on-campus resources.

Key words: online writing labs, writing resources, tutoring: English,

OWI Principles: 1, 14, 15

Anson, Chris M. “Distant Voices: Teaching Writing in a Culture of Technology.” College English, vol.  61, no. 3, 1999, pp. 261–80.

Anson discusses two ways that “teaching and responding to student writing are pressured by rapidly developing technologies:” 1) “virtual” interaction replacing face-to-face contact in classrooms and 2) the evolution of distance education (at this time, mostly through tele-education) (263). The author investigates the first topic by providing a brief background on how various programs in the 1980s and 1990s used computer-networks to expand writing classrooms and how doing so challenged more traditional notions of “physical and textual spaces” (264). The article proceeds through an overview of how interaction, assignment responses, and other communication are changing due to advancements in educational technology, using a “futuristic” hypothetical example of a student (Jennifer) who navigates the new kind of classroom, one that has, for the most part, come to pass with the increasing advent of new technology. Anson then traces the history of correspondence courses and how new technologies are transforming those classes into “distance education” courses which are more dynamic and robust. The article concludes with a list of questions that those engaged in writing studies should discuss in order to ensure that writing instructors and administrators are using technology in the service of students and the faculty who teach them..

Keywords: distance learning, interaction, correspondence courses, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15

Arduser, Lora et al. “The Need for Rules: Determining the Usability of Adding Audio to the MOO.” Computers and Composition, 28, 2011

Lora Arduser, Julie M. Davis, Robert Evans, Christine Hubbell, Deanna Mascle, Cheri Mullins, and Christopher J. Ryan describe how adding an audio component to a MOO impacts the user experience. Five students in the Online Technical Communication and Rhetoric Ph.D. program at Texas Tech University completed a series of tasks that simulated logging on to an online class and performing a series of tasks, such as pushing web pages to a display window, that could be completed using either audio or print instructions. The tests were designed to evaluate “whether a user solved problems with task completion by using text, audio, or a combination of the two and whether audio increased participation for some users” (61). Using a combination of think-aloud protocols, post-task questionnaires, and qualitative data on user participation, the researchers concluded that audio can improve the learning environment and increasing social connections. The article provides additional qualitative and quantitative data from the participants before concluding that several issues contributed to successful implementation of audio into online classes: 1) managing multiple channels of conversation, 2) learning and managing audio technology, 3) modeling behavior and instructor leadership, 4) the desire to relate, and 5) the establishment of rules. This article both demonstrates an effective protocol for usability testing and provides support for using audio and other multimodal means to connect with and engage students with online courses and online task completion.

Keywords: usability testing, synchronous interaction, qualitative research, quantitative research, multimedia, MOO

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 15

Ascuena, Andrea, and Michael Mattison. “(Re)Wiring Ourselves: The Electrical and Pedagogical Evolution of a Writing Center.” Computers and Composition Online, Spring 2006, bgsu.edu/departments/english/cconline/ascuenamattison_rewiring/.

This web text narrates the experience of refashioning (or “re-wiring”) a little-used OWC at Boise State University around three primary concerns: “How can we design the most efficient, accessible web site for our service? How can we schedule e-mail consultations so as to utilize our consultants’ hours without infringing on their face-to-face sessions? How can we best respond to the essays we receive through e-mail?” Ascuena and Mattison extend the metaphor of working with electricity to name the “circuits” of their re-writing: technology, administration, and pedagogy. They modeled their re-wiring around Temple University’s OWC and implemented a dropbox system for student submissions. They also added web pages for quick questions and for welcoming and thanking the students for using the OWC. The webtext identifies the process the tutors undertook to administer the OWC as student submissions increased. Students who were surveyed about their experiences were positive about the help they received in the OWC. Finally, Ascuena and Mattison outline the process of training their peer tutors for online tutoring, providing a written guide to help the tutors move away from in-text responses and toward more global comments focused on higher-order concerns, just as they would give in face-to-face consultations. This webtext provides a concrete primer for writing centers and writing labs seeking to implement online components of their services and models good practices for responding to student texts in the OWC.

Keywords: online writing center, tutoring: English, web design

OWI Principles: 13, 14

B

Barber, John F. “Effective Teaching in the Online Classroom: Thoughts and Recommendations.” The Online Writing Classroom, edited by Susanmarie Harrington et al., Cresskill, 2000, pp. 243–64.

Barber argues that the online writing classroom offers a new opportunity for learning centered around collaboration, but online writing teachers moving from a face-to-face classroom to an online classroom will need “planning, preparation and practice different or more extensive than what is required in the traditional classroom” (245). Basing his conclusions on an ethnographic study of 17 online students in a doctoral seminar that investigated the implementation of computer technology in the classroom. Because interaction is primarily through writing, miscommunication can occur when writers reply without carefully considering the other person’s position. As communication continues, the online writing course becomes Bakhtinian “heteroglossia” (250), which can lead to a sense of detachment from other learners. Added to these challenges are the perception that learning is lost in the online space, participation may not be consistent, and learning paradigms shift as silent students seem to not be present.  Barber concludes that while these tensions and challenges exist, the online writing classroom is beneficial in making online faculty rethink their pedagogy, challenging them to plan ahead, requiring them to have alternative plans, and allows them to provide hands-on training in writing instruction for graduate students. Barber challenges faculty to model effective participation, to provide channels in which to work productively in collaborative settings, and to allow students enough time to engage fully in the class. This chapter identifies the key benefits of online writing classrooms and provides a set of working recommendations for writing faculty considering or undergoing the shift from face-to-face to online teaching.

Keywords: collaboration, ethnography, pedagogy: English, student engagement

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 5, 15

Barrett, Edward. “Collaboration in the Electronic Classroom.” Technology Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 1993, pp. 50-55.

Barrett describes MIT’s first distributed network (The Networked Educational Online System or NEOS), a system that allows students to exchange drafts outside of class and is a precursor of more contemporary blended or hybrid classrooms. Barrett indicates that the goal of NEOS was “to support the complex private and social activities that make up the learning process” (51). The article describes the interface of the tool, which does not provide visual cues to help students understand which comments are made by the teacher, thus, providing a more egalitarian response experience. The students become “active agents” in responding to their peers’ writing, and “thus develop a greater awareness of audience and personal voice” (53). Advantages of the system included student satisfaction with the interactive capabilities of NEOS. Barrett concludes with a vision of online classes that has, for the most part, come to pass in the years since NEOS was developed. This article provides a historical view of early efforts at hybrid and blended classes and is valuable to anyone studying the history of computer-mediated peer review.

Keywords: networked classrooms, peer-review, student engagement

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Bastian, Heather, and Fauchald, Sally K. “Confronting the Challenges of Blended Graduate Education with a WEC Project.” Across the Disciplines, vol. 11, no. 3, July 2014, wac.colostate.edu/atd/rural/bastian_fauchald.cfm.

Bastian and Fauchald identify the challenges faced when a nursing program in a rural area of Minnesota moved from fully face-to-face to a blended program (some courses face-to-face and others online). As the program grew and attracted more adult learners, Bastian (the composition and rhetoric specialist on her campus) worked with Fauchald to train nursing faculty to implement a Writing-Enriched Curriculum (WEC) by “engaging in a three-phase, recursive process in which they create, implement, and assess a writing plan with the assistance of a composition and rhetoric specialist.” Faculty were encouraged to scaffold writing assignments, create group activities that encouraged students to write for real audiences, and incorporate peer review. The article outlines how Bastian and Fauchald evaluated the projects and “demonstrates the value of interdisciplinary collaborations between professional program faculty and composition and rhetoric experts.” This article models a successful collaboration between writing specialists and faculty in the disciplines and encourages WAC and WID programs to work with writing specialists to improve writing strategies for their online courses.

Keywords: WAC, WID, hybrid courses, scaffolding, collaboration

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 10, 11

Batson, Trent. “Computers and Research: ENFI Research.” Computers and Composition, vol. 10, no. 3, 1993, pp. 93-101.

Batson’s article describes the Electronic Network for Interaction (ENFI), a networked classroom that was perhaps the first of its kind at Galludet College in Washington, DC. in 1985. The ENFI changed how deaf students communicated in the classroom by allowing them to represent their thoughts textually, thus eliminating some of the need for hand-signing, which requires close proximity and visual contact. This article describes Batson’s study of ENFI-related writing through 1) situated evaluation, 2) close reading of two student essays, and 3) a standard Educational Testing Service (ETS) writing sample analysis.  He concludes the transfer of social talk to writing could require ENFI-taught writers to construct a different sense of audience. This article provides researchers with background into early technologies to enhance accessibility for hearing-disabled students.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, networked classrooms

OWI Principles:  1

Bell, Diana C., and Mike T. Hubler. “The Virtual Writing Center: Developing Ethos.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 21, no. 2, 2001, pp. 57-77.

Bell and Hubler argue that writing center listservs go beyond simple communication and become, themselves, a social medium. By analyzing writing center listserv postings for two consecutive semesters, they demonstrate how their own ethos was generated through postings. They found that new tutors seek to merge with returning tutors, which establishes what Maurice Charland calls a “people.” As community hierarchies are established through the validation or silencing of individual posts, some posts are isolated and others are valued. The article models how administrators can work to understand their own virtual communities and mitigate the negative impact of those virtual communities on interactions between tutors and writers.

Keywords: writing center, listservs, tutoring: English

OWI Principles: 13, 14

Bell, Lisa. “Preserving the Rhetorical Nature of Tutoring When Going Online.” The St. Martin’s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors, edited by Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood, 2nd ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, pp. 351-58.

In this chapter, Bell recounts her experience as a new writing center coordinator who navigates and reframes an existing but not functional OWL. She narrates her experience, beginning with returning to the foundational principles of writing center theory espoused by Stephen North, Mary Dossin, and Joan Hawthorne. She then reviews the current state of the OWL, which consisted primarily of email submissions. Without the face-to-face interaction and meaning making involved in the traditional writing center, Bell felt that some of the tried-and-true methods of tutoring would be difficult to implement in an OWL. In particular, she found that the conversational nature of tutoring, so crucial to the experience of shared meaning-making, was lost when questions were added to a student’s paper and the tutor received no reply. Because synchronous online tutoring sessions take more time to complete, tutors found themselves getting straight to the point of the writing, which took away relationship-building that was the heart of the face-to-face tutoring sessions. Bell also found out that tutors in OWLs needed different types of training than their face-to-face colleagues. She concludes by calling for more research into what makes OWLs effective, research that others have done since this chapter was first published. This article provides those chronicling the shift from face-to-face to online writing centers a snapshot of a single center at a point of transition, a valuable narrative in the longer history of understanding OWLs.

Keywords:  writing center, online writing lab, synchronous interaction, tutoring: English

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 13, 14

Bender, Tisha. Discussion-Based Online Teaching to Enhance Student Learning: Theory, Practice and Assessment.  2nd ed., Stylus Publishing, 2003.  

Bender focuses on the theory and practice of using discussions in online classrooms to enhance student learning. Her book is divided into three sections: (1) theory, (2) practical applications, and (3) assessment. In each section, she frames the discussion around online pedagogy and how using discussions can affect teaching and student development. The second edition includes more discussion about the implications of social media and the opportunities for enhanced online classroom discussion that these venues bring to instructors. Her argument centers on switching the conversation from the technical aspects of online learning to the human aspects of online learning, focusing specifically on how students learn and communicate in online class discussions. After finishing her book, instructors will become better facilitators of online classroom discussions and possess more awareness of what they are doing in their online classrooms and take time to be thoughtful about what the digital age means for both students and instructors.

Keywords: discussion: English, assessment, pedagogy: English, teaching with technology: English, social media

OWI Principles: 2, 11

Bennett, Michael, and Kathleen Walsh. “Desperately Seeking Diversity: Going Online to Achieve a Racially Balanced Classroom.” Computers and Composition, vol. 14, no. 2, 2007, pp. 217–27.

Bennett and Walsh describe a joint online discussion forum that linked Bennett’s Brooklyn-based, mostly African American, African American literature class with Walsh’s Bend, Oregon-based, mostly white African American literature class. Their article “explore[s] some of the possible uses of educational technology in creating multicultural networked classrooms” (218). After reviewing sources regarding cultural diversity in the classroom, the authors demonstrate how they designed their courses in order to allow for some joint discussions. They decided that a MOO would be too complex for the learners to master, so they set up an email list and asked students to answer four of six questions and share their answers via email. The article provides a description of the ways in which each set of students navigated through their preconceived notions of the other group. Bennett and Walsh end with recommendations of how they would improve the project to further “unravel. . . the ideological fabric of [cultural] divisions” (226).

Keywords: discussion: English, African American, literature, culturally responsive pedagogy, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 11

Bjork, Olin, and John Pedro Schwartz. “Writing in the Wild: A Paradigm for Mobile Composition.” Going Wireless: A Critical Exploration of Wireless and Mobile Technologies for Composition Teachers and Researchers, edited by Amy C. Kimme Hea, Hampton Press, 2009, pp. 223-27.

Bjork and Schwartz suggest a pedagogical approach for teaching composition that requires instructors to meet students in the media in which they are already composing. Since most students use mobile technology and often conduct most of their research via the Internet, the authors “propose a paradigm for mobile composition in which students visit places of rhetorical activity (e.g., city parks, waiting rooms, shopping malls) and research, write, and (ideally) publish on location” so they can understand “the relationship between discourse and place. (224)”  In doing so, it can establish a connection between students and place, thus making them aware of social and cultural contexts if they write from within them. Ultimately, they urge composition instructors to “relocate composition in the field,” and offer examples of pedagogical strategies for doing so.  

Keywords: mobile technology, pedagogy: English, composition

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4

Blair, Kristine. “Course Management Tools as ‘Gated Communities’: Expanding the Potential of Distance Learning Spaces Through Multimodal Tools.” Focus on Distance Education Developments, edited by Edward P. Bailey, Nova Science Publishers, 2007, pp. 441-54.

Blair argues that to attend to multiple learning styles in distance learning courses, teachers must consider alternatives to course management systems that “privilege” text-based pedagogy.  She asserts that “over-reliance on course management systems as part of the ‘rhetoric’ of convenience” can stifle “the democratic potential of online learning,” and thus suggests how other digital modes such as video games, text messaging, or MP3 players, are more suited to learning processes and literacies in the digital age. In order to increase educational access, teachers must become familiar with different technologies and platforms to deploy in distance learning classrooms.  Teacher training, technological support, and access to tools can help motivate instructors to do so. Online faculty seeking to optimize collaboration and learning in their classrooms can find advice on seeking out alternatives to the LMS in order to create more democratic classrooms.

Keywords: literacy, learning styles, distance learning, pedagogy: English, course management systems, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2

Blair, Kristine. “Teaching Multimodal Assignments in OWI Contexts.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 471-92.

Blair argues that as instructors as a whole look to transform their understanding of writing, they must not sacrifice the old mode of alphabetic writing for the new medium of multimodal writing but instead learn to encompass and enmesh both into a new synchronous medium. Although the whats and the hows of integrating multimodality into the online curriculum are important, Blair states that it is equally important to consider the whys of multimodal composing—creating multimodal text aligns the technology with the capability to communicate and function within a multitude of media, while also allowing students to utilize multimodal texts to explore the subject in a variety of ways that target different learning strategies and gives students a flexible choice when viewing assignments. Several of the OWI principles stress the ongoing need for instructors to communicate and interact with their students across mediums and to use digital tools in developing content for students to consume; no one text, regardless of medium, is accessible to all, and instructors should consider the ways that students can produce multiple versions of the content to allow learners to experiment with multiple modes to provide access to as many users as possible. Along with introducing and utilizing multimodal texts, instructors should question their own abilities, asking (1) what do they need to know to utilize and implement the multimodal technology and (2) how are they going to learn what they do not know already.

Keywords:  multimodal, accessibility, digital composing

OWI Principles:  1, 11

Blair, Kristine, and Cheryl Hoy. “Paying Attention to Adult Learners Online: The Pedagogy and Politics of Community.” Computers and Composition, vol. 23, no. 1, 2006, pp. 3-48. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2005.12.006.

Blair and Hoy chronicle the fully online writing course at their university and question whether the virtual learning environment presents opportunities for a more social virtual community for the adult learner versus the traditional student learner. They argue that because learning demographics of adult learners are changing, it is in turn changing the student-instructor relationship, complicating the supervisory status of online instructors who teach adult learners. Blair and Hoy argue that online writing instructors need to rethink pedagogies in order to be more cognizant of adult learning styles and be flexible for this changing demographic of adult learners. They indicate that successful online writing instruction includes a variety of interactions that develop a more public, rather than social, concept of community. Further, they state that successful online writing instruction must underscore the private interactions between instructor and student.

Keywords: academic labor, adult learners, faculty workload, assessment, community

OWI Principles: 1, 1

Blair, Kristine L., and Elizabeth A. Monske. “Cui Bono?: Revisiting the Promises and Perils of Online Learning.” Computers and Composition, vol. 20, no. 4, 2003, pp. 441-53. 20th Anniversary Special Issue, Part 1. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2003.08.016.

Blair and Monske ask the question “Who benefits?” from the technologies of teaching and learning. Their article reviews fifteen years of discussions surrounding distance education. They begin with the early promises of asynchronous networks and computer-networked classrooms, most of which promised to empower student writers. The field of writing studies then shifted as scholars found that “the egalitarianism narrative was replaced with more specific questions related to agency, identity politics, and the theoretical and practical rejection of predictions for blanket empowerment of all students in electronic environments” (445). As online courses became more commercialized, the narratives shifted to ones of economy based on assumptions about the ease of online classes and the demand on instructors to be continuously present. These new demands on online instructors highlighted problems with hiring, promotion and tenure processes. Blair and Monske end with a call for continued attention to the question of who benefits, cautioning that we “must continue to address equally the needs of students and instructors, questioning the extent to which current rhetorics of distance education (stressing access, convenience, and immediacy) empowers one group and potentially disenfranchises another” (449). This article provides a comprehensive history of the narratives surrounding distance learning and online writing instruction up until the early 21st century.

Keywords: teaching with technology: English, agency, faculty workload, adjunct,

OWI Principles: 2, 5, 7, 8

Blair, Leslie. “Teaching Composition Online: No Longer the Second-Best Choice.” Kairos, vol. 8, no. 2, 2005, english.ttu.edu/kairos/8.2/binder.html?praxis/blair/index.html.

Using Bakhtin’s Speech Genres theory, Blair dissects the nature of the relationships between students and instructors in the classroom.  Her notion is that the student understands the instructor as the audience of the written or constructed work in the course, and that such work is to receive a grade or judgment. Therefore, communication between the student and instructor is limited because of the power relationship between them. However, students may utilize online discussion opportunities to build community among themselves, even as the instructor is still a part of the audience. Students’ experience or awareness of audience as they write their comments and responses in the online classroom forums seem to ebb and flow as they organically create knowledge together throughout the group discussions. This experience is important to the development of critical thinking and ideas.  Students can develop and submit their ideas without immediate interruption and overrule and also read and reread communication as necessary to understand and respond.  This experience is also very different from the ways the students write for formal assignments, where the instructor is typically perceived as the audience. Blair concludes that because students in online writing courses are forced to communicate largely in writing throughout the course, their academic writing is strengthened more than students who get the “benefit” of oral communication in face-to-face classrooms. Leveraging online technologies with research in distance education can be empowering for students and teachers in writing classes, both in online and face-to-face classes.

Keywords: discussion: English, audience, community, collaboration

OWI Principles: 3, 4

Blakelock, Jane, and Tracy E. Smith. “Distance Learning: From Multiple Snapshots, A Composite Portrait.” Computers and Composition, vol. 23, no. 1, 2006, pp. 139-61. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2005.12.008.

Blakelock and Smith trace important institutional attitudes and labor practices that contributed to the state of distance learning in 2005. Their findings are based on a survey they distributed to a diverse array of intuitional types.  They also followed-up with participants to ask personal interview questions and compared their findings to previous national studies on the subject. In their discussion, they point out several patterns and trends that relate to actual—not theoretical—distance learning practices that teachers and students are exposed to in writing classrooms.  They are also attentive to administrative treatment of distance learning. They pay particular attention to the misconceptions that distance learning is often embroiled in and how those do or do not play out in writing classrooms. Further, they offer a logistical breakdown of course caps, the teachers, and the technologies used for distance learning. Their conclusions suggest that 1) fears and myths about distance learning are often not realized, 2) while circumstances for online teachers are improving, rising course caps remain a concern for students’ educational quality and instructors’ labor conditions, 3) technical help must remain constant for teachers, 4) “incentives and compensation need to be more commensurate with workload” (159), 5) we need to conduct formal research on assessment of online writing courses, and 6) we must continue to encourage quality online courses departmentally and as a field.

Keywords: academic labor, pedagogy: English, composition, faculty workload, distance learning, surveys, interviews, course caps

OWI Principles: 7, 8, 9, 15

Blythe, Stuart. “Designing Online Courses: User-Centered Practices.” Computers and Composition, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 329-46. Special Issue, Designing Online Courses: User-Centered Practices. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(01)00066-4.

Blythe argues that online faculty must think like designers while acknowledging that faculty will not necessarily know the specifics of who they are teaching until after they have built a course. He points out that designers of web courses must understand the pedagogical, political, and ethical implications of their designs. He compares systems-centered and user-centered models for designing online courses, noting that these two models embody inherently different value systems. He argues that the user-centered model for course design is more appropriate for OWI because it more closely matches the values of teachers. Online faculty should consider using think-aloud protocols with test students in order to clarify and refine their online course design. He presents a number of strategies for implementing such user-centered design in OWI, including a version of design that is student-driven with the instructor acting as a guide as students create their own goal-oriented pathways through the online writing course. He concludes by calling for student input into online course design, regardless of the design model.

Keywords: course and program design: English, web design, usability testing, user-centered design

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 10

Blythe, Stewart. “Why OWLs: Value, Risk, and Evolution.” Kairos, vol. 1, no. 1, Spring 1996, kairos.technorhetoric.net/1.1/index.html.

Blythe provides a hypertext in this first article of the first issue of Kairos that provides an overview of the hows, whys, and why nots of online writing labs. The hypertext covers basic considerations of beginning an online writing center, the modalities that OWLs might take, and invites interrogation of the ways that we view theories of technology and how we talk about computers as a part of the discussion of OWLs. This early hypertext, while dated (not all of the hyperlinks still go to active pages), does provide insight to scholars researching the history of OWLs in terms of concerns that scholars and researchers voiced as the OWL moved from the 20th to the 21st century.

Keywords: online writing lab, modality, hypertext

OWI Principles: 13, 14

Boas, Isabella Villas. “Process Writing and the Internet: Blogs and Ning Networks in the Classroom.” English Teaching Forum, vol. 49, no. 2, 2011, pp. 26-33

Boas argues for an ESL/EFL writing pedagogy that centers on genre, process, and practices that are informed by social constuctivism. In doing so, she advocates for multimodal assignments that utilize the Internet for language learning purposes; as she notes, ESL/EFL students can use blogs and networking sites like Ning, which are helpful collaborative tools. She offers two examples of assignments teachers could adopt: 1) blogging argumentative essays and 2) composing an expository paragraph using Ning.  She outlines the steps for each assignment.

Keywords: ESL, EFL, multilingual writers, teaching with technology: English, blogs, networked classrooms, pedagogy: English

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11

Borgman, Jessie. “Clarity in an Online Course as an Extension of Onsite Practice.” OWI Open Resource, Conference on College Composition and Communication, www.ncte.org/cccc/owi-open-resource/course-clarity.

Borgman argues that face-to-face course practices can be applied successfully to the online classroom, grounding her argument in OWI Principle 4. She uses examples from her own courses to illustrate basic adaptable concepts, such as clarity in design, using modules to break up information, color coding, having information readily available in the course syllabus and using a welcome video to show how strategies that are used in the face-to-face classroom can migrate to the online classroom with a few adjustments. This resource provides online writing instructors clear directions for arranging their course and utilizing resources they already have.

Keywords: clarity, course and program design: English, modules, video: English

OWI Principles: 4

Bourelle, Tiffany et al. “Assessing Learning in Redesigned Online First-Year Composition Courses” Digital Writing Assessment and Evaluation, edited by Heidi McKee and Danielle DeVoss. Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State Press, 2013. http://ccdigitalpress.org/dwae/12_bourelle.html

Tiffany Bourelle, Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Andrew Bourelle, and Duane Roen describe a model of online course delivery that was developed in response to budget cuts at Arizona State University. The authors created the Writer’s Studio, a first-year writing curriculum focused on “post-process pedagogy, learner-centered pedagogy, multimodal instruction, and eportfolios that showcase[d] self-assessment in response to the course learning outcomes.” The Writer’s Studio utilizes coordinators (non-tenured, full-time faculty), instructors (part-time, contingent faculty), and instructional assistants (upper-level English majors and graduate assistants) to deliver pre-designed course content and both “facilitate instruction and provide feedback.”  All aspects of the course design and delivery were collaborative and learner-centered. Designers used the Quality MattersTM rubric to ensure effective course design, and learners were introduced to their courses and facilitators through video introductions. Classes used the WPA Outcomes Statement and the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing” to develop course learning outcomes, and instruction in the class was multimodal. The article provides examples of instructional videos, multimedia learning objects, and portfolio prompts and sample responses. Finally, the authors share their portfolio assessment scores and how they used those scores to revise and improve the Writer’s Studio. This article provides a sound, research-based and learner-centered model of how large-scale first-year writing courses and programs can use research-based and professional standards to respond to budget fluctuations while simultaneously remaining engaging and learner-centered.

Keywords: learner-centered, Quality MattersTM, collaboration, contingent faculty, multimodal, video: English, writing program administration, pre-designed courses, portfolios

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15

Bourelle, Tiffany, Andrew Bourelle, and Sherry Rankins-Robertson. “Employing a Multiliteracies Pedagogy through Multimodal Composition: Preparing Twenty-first Century Writers.” Computers and Composition Online, Fall 2013. http://www2.bgsu.edu/departments/english/cconline/bourelle/cc_intro.html

In this webtext, the authors argue for preparing 21st century writers by challenging them to create multimodal rhetorical texts, using the scholarship of the New London Group to argue that teachers “consider not only how technology can have a significant impact on students’ understanding of rhetorical concepts, but also how technology can impact curriculum design as well.” The remainder of the article demonstrates their English 105 classroom where they use multimodal composition and multimodal content to shape a classroom around Picciano’s “Blending with a Purpose” model of online course design. Their curriculum description includes an overview of the content, student interaction, critical questioning, collaboration, synthesis, and reflection in their class. Their assessment of the course includes anecdotal student feedback about the courses, and their conclusion identifies steps that instructors can take to begin incorporating multimodality into their classes. This article describes the same course structure the authors developed for Arizona State University (see Bourelle et al. 2013 for a more thorough discussion of this online class).

Keywords: multimodal, writing program administration, learning management systems, video: English, collaboration, student-to-student interaction, student engagement, assessment

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15

Bourelle, Tiffany, et al. “Teaching with Instructional Assistants: Enhancing Student Learning in Online Classes.” Computers and Composition, vol. 37, Sept. 2015, pp. 90-103. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2015.06.007.

This article describes a pilot program undertaken at Arizona State University wherein undergraduate peer mentors, called “instructional assistants (IAs),” were incorporated into online first-year composition courses in order to “enhance students’ experiences and reduce instructors’ workload” (91) despite a rising student-to-teacher ratio. The authors describe the hiring and the ongoing training of the IAs, which included an orientation, a “portfolio workshop,” bi-weekly meetings with the course instructor, and an in-service practicum. IAs were each assigned a cohort of up to 15 students to work with under the supervision of a first-year composition instructor who had up to 96 total students in a “mega-section” of the course, and IA responsibilities included facilitating online discussions, responding to student drafts, and managing students’ peer reviewing of each other’s work. The authors conclude by discussing the success and subsequent growth of the program, suggesting that other institutions consider a similar program for its pedagogical advantages rather than its money-saving benefits. They additionally question the potential ethical issue of using unpaid undergraduate interns and recommend that care be taken to ensure such an internship is pedagogically sound and beneficial to the interns’ future careers. This article is important because it offers an alternate model for effectively managing enrollment caps.

Keywords: internships, mentoring, teacher training, teaching assistants, workshop, course caps

OWI principles: 3, 4, 9, 10, 15

Bowie, Jennifer. “Beyond the Universal: The Universe of Users Approach to User-Centered Design.” Rhetorically Rethinking Usability: Theories, Practices, and Methodologies, edited by Susan Miller-Cochran and Rochelle L. Rodrigo. Hampton Press, 2009, pp. 135-63.

Bowie analyzes user-centered design methods versus system-centered design methods and the problems that occur in current applications of these elements. The concept of a user-centered design method stems from the attempt to pull away from a system-centered design process due to the idea that individuals contain unique, defining characteristics that are ignored. The system-centered way of design is problematic since it disregards and inhibits certain users by not taking into account characteristics such as sex, race, and ethnicity. The technology is male-oriented and results in sexist, racist issues; the desired user methods of women do not seem to be incorporated. Due to the differentiating opinions of women, there should be differentiation in technology and user-centered design methods. Studies reflect that gender generates different opinions and different genders initiate different ways to use products. When a single, universalized user is created, it is less user-centered because it does not acknowledge key differences. Traditional application of the user-centered design method is problematic in the way that it focuses on superficial differences instead of the universe of actual users. Although differences are taken into consideration, the dissimilarities are still categorized into a few sections, and the universal user is described as being representative and generalized rather characterized into “the user.” The article describes how examining differences, considering personal bias, creating various models, remembering and involving future users, and making results representative of all users are crucial to incorporating ideas of the user-centered design method. It is necessary to understand the users by examining their differences in order to improve user-centered methods of design.

Keywords:  user-centered design, gender, technology, race

OWI Principles:  4

Boyd, Patricia Webb. “Analyzing Students’ Perceptions of Their Learning in Online and Hybrid First-Year Composition Courses.” Computers and Composition, vol. 25, no. 2, 2008, pp. 224-43. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2008.01.002.

Boyd discusses a study of online and hybrid first-year composition courses and student perceptions of how much they learned in each format. As a way to promote learner-centered education (LCE) in online and hybrid formats, Boyd developed a survey that studies students’ perceptions of their interactions with their peers, their instructor, and the technology, and the impact of each of these on what the students learned in the course. This survey was completed by 179 students in nineteen sections of hybrid and online first-year composition courses. The survey found that instructors must be intentional about online course design, and they should explain the purpose of assignments and how these connect to the learning objectives for the course. Such intentionality promotes LCE in online and hybrid environments. Additionally, instructors valued the interactions between students, but data suggests that while students liked interaction with peers, the instructor feedback was most important to them. Boyd suggests that instructor-to-student interactions promote LCE over student-to-student interactions, but both are vital to student success in the online/hybrid writing class. Additionally, by building a community of learners through online discussion, students become the immediate audience and support one another as co-constructors of knowledge.

Keywords: student perceptions, first-year composition, hybrid, interaction, student-to-student interaction, surveys

OWI Principles: 4, 11, 15

Boyd, Patricia Webb. “Online Discussion Boards as Identity Workspaces: Building Professional Identities in Online Writing Classes.” Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, no. 4, Dec. 2013, jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/online-discussion-boards-as-identity-workspaces-building-professional-identities-in-online-writing-classes/.

Boyd argues that online business writing classes should focus on professional writing practices as opposed to learning to write professionally, emphasizing critical identity production and reflection. The article compares two academic writing assignments: 1) Writers and Identity to Professional Writing and 2) Personal Brand. The goal is to get students to engage in online discussion board interactions as they produce a document for a social network. Boyd presents the idea of identity workspaces focused on social defenses, sentient communities, and rites of passage. These dynamic spaces enable students to develop as professionals through their writing. Boyd asserts that the two assignments under discussion teach students how to professionalize themselves by reflecting on the creation of their own professional identities and learning how professionals write as well as how they create themselves as professionals. Students’ awareness of themselves as professionals through online discussion is a unique way of building community as a learning tool and a pre-professional training tool. These online identity workspaces support the co-creation of knowledge among this professional learning community in online business classes.

Keywords: business writing, technical and professional writing, identity, learning communities

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Boynton, Linda. “When the Class Bell Stops Ringing: The Achievements and Challenges of Teaching Online First-Year Composition.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 29, no. 3, 2002, pp. 298-311.

Boyton provides a narrative account of the ways in which moving from face-to-face to online writing instruction hearkened back to her insecurities as a new teacher. She found herself surprised by the challenges of moving a writing class online. The article aligns her achievements and their corresponding challenges, including 1) the achievement of being pushed to learn new things coupled with the challenge of redefining previous roles and responsibilities, 2) the achievement of discussing what constitutes good teaching coupled with the undercurrent of “us vs. them” embedded in those discussions, 3) the achievement of partnering more closely with students coupled with the challenge of surrendering authority, 4) the achievement of increased teachable moments that come with the extended contact with online students coupled with the challenge of the increased time commitment that online writing instruction requires, and 5) the achievement of inviting an increased “spectrum” of students to participate coupled with the challenge that those students may not succeed in the online modality. Boyton concludes her article with a story of choosing to teach online one online class at a time and a call for all online instructors to be continually reflective in developing online pedagogies that keep students at the center of the online classroom.

Keywords: narrative, identity, reflection

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 10, 11

Bozarth, Jane, Diane Chapman, and Laura LaMonica. “Preparing for Distance Learning: Designing an Online Student Orientation.” Journal of Educational Technology and Society, vol.  7, no. 1, 2004, pp. 87-106.

Bozarth, Chapman, and LaMonica describe their experience developing a one-credit-hour online orientation for students new to online learning. They discuss the differences between student and instructor expectation of what is needed in such an orientation based on feedback from an online questionnaire, which was developed to elicit feedback from both students and instructors about their perceptions of online learning. A focus group with online instructors identified key issues that they felt were prohibitive for students new to online learning. The authors identified instructor concerns as conflicting with student concerns. Where instructors focused on technology skills training, students pinpointed issues such as time management, realistic expectations, and communication. While students admitted they need preparation, they did not see a need for an orientation course. The authors suggest there is a need for an online orientation course for students new to the online environment, and suggest that there is a need for instructor training as well. The article outlines the differences between student and instructor expectations of what this orientation should contain.

Keywords: orientation, survey, faculty development, time management

OWI Principles: 10, 15

Brady, Laura. “Fault Lines in the Terrain of Distance Education.” Computers and Composition, special issue, Distance Education: Promises and Perils of Teaching and Learning Online, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 347-58. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(01)00067-6.

Brady defines the “two goals—enhancing learning and reducing the cost of instruction” as the “fault line” of distance education (348). She uses this metaphor to review crucial points along the fault line. At the “surface” are courses that move online and then back to face-to-face classrooms due to technology access problems, students’ answering “not applicable” when assessing the teachers’ roles in the online classroom, and retention issues. Deeper ideological issues are also at play, particularly the “fault line between educational ideals and educational realities” (353). In particular, distance education exposes and exacerbates the commodity of the course hour and how students access and instructors labor intersect with issues of access and the political realities of teaching and technology. Brady concludes with a call to be aware that those who have the greatest access to the technology necessary to take an online class are more than likely those who already possess the income and education to not need additional access to education. While this article was written at a time that technology was less ubiquitous, the political and power dynamics of this article are still at play in online classes and programs.

Keywords: retention, power, distance education, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11

Braine, George. “A Study of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Writers on a Local Area Network (LAN) and in Traditional Classes.” Computers and Composition, vol. 18, no. 3, 2001, pp. 275-92. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(01)00056-1.

Braine studies the use of local-area networks (LANs) and their effect on the motivation of EFL learners. He explains how the LANs operate and provides examples of LAN conversations in a writing class for Cantonese-speaking students enrolled in English writing at a university in Hong Kong. Braine finds that the “quantity of writing and degree of interaction” make LANs attractive (279). After a review of literature related to students writing in LAN-based and traditional writing classes, Braine sets up this a study of eighty-seven undergraduates enrolled in a course titled “Effective Communication in Writing” (280) to determine if LAN classes improved writing. Experimental classes used the LAN to discuss the readings, provide feedback and conduct peer review. Control classes completed these same activities face-to-face and orally. The experimental classes did not show more improvement than the control classes, and Braine discusses the qualities of the LAN that might have led to the results, including an increased amount of written text that could have been overwhelming for EFL learners. He concludes that while LANs may produce more writing, they might not produce better writing.

Keywords: networked classrooms, empirical study, EFL

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 15

Breuch, Lee-Ann. “The Idea(s) of an Online Writing Center: In Search of a Conceptual Model.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 25, no. 2, 2005, pp. 21-38. Print.

Breuch recaps the challenges that online writing centers face and the difficulties in finding effective models due to variation. More specifically, varying models do not create a consistent idea of the way online writing centers operate. Conceptual models are explained as an integral piece of online environments that predict and help people to understand the way in which things work. The article divides ideas from conceptual models by three characteristics: 1) people always have an understanding of how things work due to conceptual models, 2) frustration is likely to occur as multiple attempts lead to failure when trying to apply conceptual models, and 3) conceptual models are encouraged to be revised as new technology is released and can be utilized to benefit ideas. Conceptual models are always present, yet not all models work. Thus, some online writing centers struggle. Directive and nondirective ways of learning restrict student learning in online writing centers because student absorb only what is on a screen.  Breuch ends by indicating opportunities for improvement so that learners can benefit from tutoring that involves modern advancements in media and technology.

Keywords: online writing centers, tutoring: English

OWI Principles: 3, 13, 14

Breuch, Lee-Ann. “Faculty Preparation for OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew. WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, 349-88.

Breuch argues that online writing faculty need to be equipped and trained to teach writing online.  Using distinct conceptual categories, this article calls for the 4-M Approach (migration, model, modality, and moral).  The four key elements are 1) migration of the course to an appropriate, usable online format; 2) model and conceptual design of the course; 3) modality and media use within a course; and 4) moral, or the need to create a sense of community within a course for increased student engagement.  Each of these training ideas is explained in its own section and contains sample training exercises to assist with each concept. Because accessibility is an overarching principle in online education, the accessibility of the online course must be considered at each step of the development and implementation of a course, including instructor training.

Keywords: accessibility, faculty development, multimodal, modeling, student engagement, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 7

Breuch, Lee-Ann Kastman. “Enhancing Online Collaboration: Virtual Peer Review in the Writing Classroom.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 141-56.

Breuch identifies the ways in which face-to-face peer review is both the same as and differs from online peer review. Commonalities include the assumptions that writing is a social act and that writing is a process. The differences in peer review involve space, time, and interaction. Asynchronous technologies for peer review require that students participate in peer review at both different locations and different times, and this fact affects how the students interact in both positive and negative ways. Breuch provides concrete steps to help facilitate peer review for brainstorming, providing reader response, and addressing strengths and weaknesses in the writing. This perspective on peer review demonstrates how similarities and differences in peer review between face-to-face and online environments can lead to equal or more productive experience and calls for additional research to deal with accessibility.

Keywords: tutoring: English, writing process, asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 14

Breuch, Lee-Ann Kastman. Virtual Peer Review: Teaching and Learning about Writing in Online Environments. SUNY P, 2004.

Kastman Breuch explores the question of what is gained and what is lost in moving writing instruction online through the concept of peer review. In doing so, she first investigates the definitions of peer review and virtual peer review, indicating that virtual peer review supports that philosophy that pedagogy must drive technology while also establishing virtual peer review as a “remediation” of traditional, face-to-face peer review (borrowing from Jay Bolter’s concept of remediation). Kastman Breuch then demonstrates how virtual peer review, rather than being better or worse than face-to-face peer review, is different but that those differences, primarily in terms of time, space, and interaction, can be seen as either challenges or benefits. Identifying these differences illuminates how “computer technology privileges written communication over oral communication”--or did so in 2004 and before (52). Because computer technology privileges print and the traditional peer review practice focuses on oral communication, Kastman Breuch argues that the tension between the two paradigms identifies virtual peer review as “abnormal discourse” (55). She identifies the ways in which the literature surrounding face-to-face peer review defines that review around oral discourse, and then argues that “virtual peer review does not rely on the distinctions of speech and writing that were so carefully built in terms of traditional peer review” (70). She coins this new way of thinking about virtual peer review in terms of a “literacy of involvement” that “includes actively reading, writing, and interacting in virtual environments” (79). She provides examples of types of virtual peer review to describe how the collaborative activity involves responding to writing, editing of texts, and the negotiation of shared writing tasks. In addition, technology challenges further complicate the virtual peer review. Finally, Kastman Breuch uses various scenarios for virtual peer review to demonstrate how the “goals we have for writing tasks drive our choices and uses of technology” (110). She identifies how peer review can serve a “transitional role” for instructors moving from face-to-face to computer mediated or online classrooms and how virtual peer review is key to evaluating student writing, in forming and sustaining online writing centers, in writing across the curriculum programs and in workplace writing classrooms. Indeed, many of her predictions have come to pass, while her challenge to consider technology in terms of goals to be accomplished is the bedrock for solid online writing course design.

Keywords: peer review, collaboration, online writing centers, computer-mediated communication, remediation, WAC, technical and professional writing, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 14

Breuch, Lee­-Ann M., and Sam J. Racine. “Developing Sound Tutor Training for Online Writing Centers: Creating Productive Peer Reviewers.” Computers and Composition, vol. 17, no. 3, Dec. 2000, pp. 245-63. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(00)00034-7.

Based on experience, Breuch and Racine argue that online writing center tutors need training specific to the task and medium of online writing response. Face-to-face tutoring skills do not directly transfer to successful online writing center responses, especially in a text-only or asynchronous environment. Online tutoring is its own viable learning space and needs its own practices to support student-centered, process-oriented writing center pedagogy. Breuch and Racine recommend that those training online tutors should 1) believe that a text-only environment can invite conversation; 2) develop dialogue-based responses for text-only tutoring; 3) place comments in the front of the text, within the text of the paper, and at the end for best results; and 4) have tutors practice procedures within the online learning environments in which they will perform their duties.  OWI embraces the idea that online tutoring is a worthwhile tutoring option and continues to study best practices and emerging pedagogies among ever changing technologies.

Keywords: tutoring: English online writing center, peer review, tutoring training, asynchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 14

Brickman, Bette. “Designing and Teaching Online Composition.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 30, no. 4, 2003, pp. 358-64.

Brickman identifies one method of developing and implementing an online writing course for advanced EFL students. She explains her preparation for online instruction and provides an overview of her course design choices.  Based on her experiences, she encourages faculty to be aware of the difficulty involved with students who are just starting online courses and to make instructions and directions very clear. Faculty should also monitor the tone of e-mail messages, because of the lack of non-verbal cues make short messages appear abrupt to some students. Faculty who are new to distance education should be prepared to spend a considerable amount of time getting started and must account for problems with Internet connections and course-management systems. Nevertheless, Brickman states that with patience and institutional support, online courses can be effective.

Keywords: EFL, e-mail, course and program design: English, course-management systems

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10

Brooks, Kevin, et al. “Remediation, Genre, and Motivation: Key Concepts for Teaching with Weblogs.” Into the Blogosphere: Rhetoric, Community, and Culture of Weblogs, edited by Laura Gurak, et al.,  U of Minnesota P, 2004, hdl.handle.net/11299/172275.

In an ongoing effort to motivate students by utilizing technology, Brooks et al. study weblogs or “blogs” as serious educational tools. By using familiar forms of writing such as journals, research notes, and notecards in an the electronic form of a blog, the authors sought to create a transformative learning experience for students.  These three instructors studied 165 students over two semesters in various writing courses. Students were given an initial survey and an exit survey to gauge results.  Findings indicated students overwhelming liked using the blog as a personal journal as a form of social, expressive communication.  This is likely because it is the most familiar form of writing to students.  Findings also suggested that using blogs as research notebook works well if the blog functions as part of a shared community space to.  The use of weblogs in general seemed to motivate the students to write for class and further engaged in their course.  The focus on student motivation and technology use for the production of education texts is valuable to OWI studies.

Keywords: blog, survey, research, community

OWI Principles:  3, 5, 15

Brunk-Chavez, Beth, and Shawn J. Miller. “Decentered, Disconnected, and Digitized: The Importance of Shared Space.” Kairos, vol. 1, no. 2, 2006, kairos.technorhetoric.net/11.2/binder.html?topoi/brunk-miller/index.html.

This pilot study supports the creation of a shared space in which students can create common or shared experiences for collaborative learning in an online setting. Students and instructors from three hybrid courses and three face-to-face courses responded to beginning- and end-of-course surveys.  While the findings are not generalizable, they suggest it is important to consciously design spaces that support true collaborative learning or learning that happens when knowledge is co-created simultaneously by participants and the teacher.  The tools of online learning and the course design must be critically examined to determine if true collaborative learning is taking place within a course.  Some technological tools may appear to be collaborative such as an online discussion board.  However, the way a tool is utilized determines if it is really forming a collaborative experience.  OWI benefits from careful examinations of the intersection of rhetorical online practices and the implementation of specific online tools.

Keywords: collaboration, course and program design: English, pedagogy: English, surveys

OWI Principles: 4, 11, 15

Buckley, Joanne. “The Invisible Audience and the Disembodied Voice: Online Teaching and the Loss of Body Image. Computers and Composition, vol. 14, no. 2, 1997, pp. 179–87.

Buckley’s article begins with her history of teaching literature as a woman with cerebral palsy. Although she had taught in the classroom for fourteen years (at the time of this article) she states that her six years of teaching online classes have been “the most experimental, fruitful, and often the most intimate work I have done, mainly because I feel freed from the real--and perceived--constraints of my physical body” (179). Buckley provides a history of physical disabilities in the postsecondary classroom and then highlights her own negative experiences teaching in a face-to-face classroom. The article then details what she sees as the benefits of teaching online, particularly for writing and literature classes, in terms of how students and teachers benefit from the transmission of ideas in writing through computers. She concludes with a call for further research into both “students’ and teachers’ perceptions of themselves online” (186).

Keywords: literature, disability studies, accessibility, student perceptions

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 11

Burgstahler, Sheryl, and Rebecca Cory. Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice, Harvard Educational P, 2008.

Burgstahler and Cory state that as greater numbers of students with disabilities attend postsecondary educational institutions, administrators have expressed increased interest in making their programs accessible to all students. This book provides both theoretical and practical guidance for schools as they work to turn this admirable goal into a reality, thereby making a crucial contribution to the growing body of literature on special education and universal design. Burgstahler and Cory look at the design of physical and technological environments at institutions of higher education, at issues pertaining to curriculum and instruction, and at the full array of student services. The book concludes with a thorough consideration of how to institutionalize universal design at higher education institutions. This text is provides necessary background and more administrative approach to online course and program design. It can provide a deeper understanding of how OWCs and programs can fit into larger institutional goals as well as share practical tips for classroom instruction.

Keywords: universal design, accessibility, assessment

OWI Principles: 1

Burgstahler, Sheryl A. “Opening Doors or Slamming Them Shut? Online Learning Practices and Students with Disabilities.” Social Inclusion, vol. 3, no. 6, 2015, pp.  69-79.

This article explores the question, “What online learning practices make social inclusion possible for individuals with disabilities?” Burgstahler answers this question with lessons learned from her own teaching experiences as well as those presented in research and practice literature. She also shares overall characteristics of distance learning programs that promote the social inclusion of students with disabilities in their courses. She points out how making courses welcoming to, accessible to, and usable by individuals with disabilities may promote the social inclusion of other students as well. She recommends further dissemination and future research regarding inclusive practices in online learning. This article summarizes many ways to making online courses accessible and is a starting place for instructors new to online learning who are interested in creating accessible online courses.

Keywords: accessibility, disabilities, universal design

OWI Principles: 1

C

CAST. Universal Design for Learning Guidelines Version 1.0. The National Center on Universal Design for Learning, 2008.

Based upon over 1,000 articles in “education, cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, and neuroscience,” CAST’s Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (UDL Guidelines) were designed to provide a clear, coherent representation of strategies for developing and supporting more accessible, inclusive educational environments. The guidelines are arranged into three categories or main principles: representation (providing multiple written, oral/auditory, and visual ways of perceiving and communicating information to optimize understanding); expression (providing options for accessing, navigating, and communicating information while providing noncognitive support in the form of assistance planning and managing goals, projects, and progress); and engagement (providing multiple ways to engage individuals and groups with material in a supportive environment where learning is scaffolded with frequent feedback and reflection) (2). The guidelines have extensive implications for designing accessible, inclusive online writing environments and facilitating instruction in those environments and represent a key document for the field.

Keywords: accessibility, student engagement, universal design

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4

CAST. Universal Design for Learning Guidelines Version 2.0. The National Center on Universal Design for Learning, 2011, www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/udlguidelines_graphicorganizer.

The second version of CAST’s Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (UDL Guidelines) maintain many key features of the first version, including being organized into three categories of educational strategies: 1) representation, 2) expression, and 3) engagement. More concise and expansive in focus, the second version was revised to be used in any learning environment, not just traditional educational environments, with an expanded focus on multiple disciplines. Additionally, the updated guidelines incorporate a goal for each category: 1) creating “[r]esourceful, knowledgeable learners” through diverse representation, 2) developing “[s]trategic, goal-directed learners” through options for action and expression, and 3) forming “[p]urposeful, motivated learners” through engagement-oriented strategies (2). The guidelines represent a key guiding document for designing accessible, inclusive online writing environments and facilitating instruction in those environments.

Keywords: accessibility, student engagement, universal design

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4

Cargile Cook, Kelli. “An Argument for Pedagogy-Driven Online Education.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 49-66.

Cargile Cook’s chapter provides a brief historical perspective of the assumptions behind two methods of online education: technology-driven education and pedagogy-driven education. The former method identifies how many delivery technologies for distance education have privileged an objectivist, delivery-driven method of education. While “pioneering” technical communication instructors identified the disconnections between the affordances of delivery-driven technology and effective teaching practices, migrating on-site teaching practices to online classes proved challenging. Cargile Cook identifies how technologies such as slate and chalk and paper and pencil impacted how teachers structured learning and concludes that looking at the differences in “mundane writing and teaching technologies” (58)  in periods of technological transition will help educators understand the shifts from onsite education to online education as well. The latter method, pedagogy-driven education, Cargile Cook presents as a five-step process for “promot[ing] a good fit between instructors’ values, learning theories, and technologies” (59). The five steps to this process are 1) define course goals and delivery methods; 2) define activities for goal achievement; 3) evaluate assessment opportunities for course goals; 4) choose instructional technologies that support the course’s pedagogical goals, activities, and assessment strategies; and 5) consider student needs in terms of goals, activities and technologies. The chapter concludes that the pedagogy-driven course will help faculty develop online classes that meet the same quality requirements as their on-site courses.  Cargile Cook provides a concrete method of developing online courses that integrate technology to serve writing instruction, not the other way around. The historical overview of writing technologies serves to remind faculty that technology has always been a present, if transparent, factor in writing instruction.

Keywords: teaching with technology: English, pedagogy: English, instructional design, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4

Cargile Cook, Kelli. “Immersion in a Digital Pool: Training Prospective Online Instructors in Online Environments.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, 2007, pp. 55-82.

Arguing that the online writing environment is optimal for teaching prospective online writing instructors how to develop and implement courses, Cargile Cook explores the necessary steps for online instructors to take before welcoming their first students to their online platform. Cargile Cook proposes that one of the best ways for new online instructors to gain experience running their own online course is by immersing themselves in a student-like experience: learning as a student within an online course which focuses on teaching how to utilize the course management systems in their full capacity while also providing instructors with the hands-on experience of a student gives them a unique and genuine perspective from a student's point of view.  In this way, instructors learn how to create an online course by experiencing one for themselves. This teaches instructors how to give their courses a fluid and expansive feel and to avoid creating a correspondence course, where individuals simply download written lectures, complete assignments, and wait for evaluations with little or no interaction with the instructor or their peers. Most importantly, a class archive can provide potential online instructors with a reference point as an accessible, tangible, and reproducible experience from which they can learn and later recreate and modify when they begin to teach online.

Keywords:  faculty development, instructional design

OWI Principles:   1, 3, 4

Cargile Cook, Kelli, and Keith Grant-Davie. “Online Course and Instructor Evaluations.”  Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 229-44.

Cargile Cook and Grant-Davie identify guidelines for effective online instruction based on the 1999 Best Practices for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs though the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and connects those to Chickering and Gamson’s principles of effective education in order to establish how various individuals (including students, the instructors themselves, administrators, and outside peers) can effectively evaluate online courses. They provide guidelines for developing evaluations for students, peers, administrators and instructor self-evaluation. They conclude with a call for research on online course evaluation and consideration of the difference between “adequate” and “best” practices in online education. The chapter is useful for online faculty and administrators who are charged with developing a variety of online assessments and for considering how to research online course assessment.

Keywords: assessment, course evaluation

OWI Principles: 5, 7, 12

Cargile Cook, Kelli, and Keith Grant-Davie, editors. Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers. Baywood, 2005.

This edited collection, published at a time when technical communication programs were shifting from using online technologies to putting classes fully online, is a primer for faculty to understand how to create and plan online courses. The volume is organized around four questions: 1) “How do we create and sustain online programs and courses?”;  2) “How do we create interactive, pedagogically sound online courses and classroom communities?”; 3) “How should we monitor and assess the quality of online courses and programs?”; and 4) “How is online education challenging our assumptions?” This collection provides a look at the challenges of building, facilitating, and assessing online courses and is helpful for anyone wishing to reflect on and/or research the history of online writing classes and programs in technical writing but also across the disciplines.

Keywords: course and program design: English, technical and professional writing, instructional design, faculty development, course evaluation, program evaluation: English, online writing programs

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15

Cargile Cook, Kelli, and Keith Grant-Davie, editors. Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication. Baywood, 2012.

The chapters in this collection were solicited ten years after those for the editors’ previous collection, Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers. Given the changes in online education over this decade, this collection focuses on how online writing instruction has changed, what online instructors have learned, and how online programs are sustained. Chapters are organized into three sections: 1) Evolving Programs and Faculty, 2) Adapting to Changing Student Needs and Abilities, and 3) Reinventing Course Contents and Materials. This collection provides insights into innovative instructional strategies, encourages experimentation with and critical reflection on technologies, and suggests that online instructors’ classrooms will thrive with continued training, mentorship, and practice in these environments.

Keywords: course and program design: English, technical and professional writing, instructional design, faculty development, course evaluation, program evaluation: English, mentorship, online writing programs

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15

Carlson, David A., and Eileen Apperson-Williams. “The Anxieties of Distance: Online Tutors Reflect.” The St. Martin’s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors, edited by Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood, 2nd ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, pp. 285-94.

Carlson and Apperson-Williams studied how online tutors negotiated the sterile territory of online tutoring sessions without the face-to-face contact and rapport building that on-campus tutoring provides. The authors review various methods of online tutoring, including email and chat features, and conclude that “tutors must readjust their conceptions of how to develop interpersonal relationships when tutoring online” (286-287). Interviews with online writing tutors revealed some of the anxiety that online writing tutors face when interacting with online students, including worries about appropriating student writing and building relationships with students. However, the interviews also highlighted what tutors see as beneficial in online tutoring--the ability to alleviate concerns about prejudice and focus on the student writing and the student’s approach to the text. The authors conclude that, as students become more familiar with online tutoring, their anxieties will lessen. This article demonstrates some of the basic concerns of transitioning tutors from face-to-face to online tutoring.

Keywords: tutoring: English, online writing center, email, interviews

OWI Principles: 10, 13, 14, 15

Carpenter, Trudy, William L. Brown, and Randall C. Hickman. “Influences of Online Delivery on Developmental Writing Outcomes.” Journal of Developmental Education, vol. 28, no.1, Fall 2004, pp. 14-35.

In this piece, Carpenter, Brown and Hickman provide data on urban Midwest community college students who took developmental writing online. They studied 265 students enrolled in a developmental writing class using logistical regression analysis to study student retention and student success (controlling for self-selection of modality and instructor effect) to determine whether instructional delivery (face-to-face vs. online) had a significant impact on student outcomes. Their analysis showed that while online courses had higher withdrawal rates than face-to-face courses, those students who remained in online courses saw higher success rates. Students with lower Accuplacer scores withdrew from online courses in greater numbers, and students with higher Accuplacer scores withdrew from face-to-face courses in higher numbers. Student scores in reading also inversely correlated with student withdrawal rates in both modalities.  Carpenter, Brown, and Hickman suggest that something about the online delivery method leads to greater success if the students actually complete the online developmental writing course and do not withdraw. The authors conclude by providing a table listing their findings and offering suggestions for pedagogical improvements for the developmental writing course.

Keywords: developmental writing, student success, retention, two-year college, quantitative research

OWI Principles: 1, 4, 12, 15

Carter, Joyce Locke. “Texas Tech University’s Online PhD in Technical Communication and Rhetoric.” Programmatic Perspectives, vol. 5, no. 2, Fall 2013, pp. 243-68.

Carter first provides background on the department that houses the Online Ph.D. in Technical Communication and Rhetoric, which Texas Tech has offered fully online since 2004. She then provides the history of the program in the context of Texas Tech, which has a “large engineering, agriculture and professional student population” (244). Next, the article establishes the reasoning of developing an online doctoral program that had all of the rigor of the traditional face-to-face residential program and highlights two particular challenges in moving the program online: the questions of “residency and culture” (247). To address both issues, the program designed a 2-week residency in May. The article also outlines the curriculum and lists the courses and the dissertations and publications that have come out of each of the program’s areas of specialty (Rhetoric, Composition, and Technology; Technical Communication; Rhetorics of Science and Healthcare; Technology, Culture, and Rhetoric; and Visual Rhetoric, New Media, and User-Centered Design) (249). The showcase ends with sections that outline how the program is innovative, the facilities and faculty involved in the program, and professional challenges involved with continuing and building the program. This program showcase provides a template for how to develop, sustain, and build a rigorous online graduate program.

Keywords: program evaluation: English, technical and professional writing, online writing programs

OWI Principles: 15

Carter, Joyce Locke, and Rebecca Rickly. “Mind the Gap(s): Modeling Space in Online Education.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 123-39.

Carter and Rickly identify a variety of gaps in online education and theorizes that identifying and addressing these gaps can help instructors to build stronger online writing classrooms. Gaps in online education include physical gaps (the space between the physical learners in the class), virtual gaps (the spaces between representations of physical learning elements in a class), and cognitive gaps (involving learning styles, personality styles, gender, preparation and aptitude). The chapter makes comparisons between these gaps and Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and demonstrates how different classroom configurations support at-risk learners in online classrooms. Finally, the chapter provides concrete guidelines for preparation, communication, and context that will assist online writing instructors as they develop and facilitate courses that “mind the gaps.” This theory of online course construction and management provides a lens through which instructors might consider their online classrooms and assist them in designing classes that prepare students not only for the virtual academy but also for the world beyond that academy.

Keywords: course and program design: English, at-risk students, instructional design

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 5, 11, 12

Carter, Lorraine M., and Ellen Rukholm. “A Study of Critical Thinking, Teacher–Student Interaction, and Discipline-Specific Writing in an Online Educational Setting for Registered Nurses.” The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, vol. 39, no. 3, 2008, pp. 133-38.

In their qualitative study, Carter and Rukholm analyze student writing activity in an online course for evidence of critical thinking. Their findings suggest that high levels of critical thinking by nurse learners can be developed in an online setting. They looked at two bulletin board posts, using John’s Model of Structured Reflection (1995) to identify four different kinds of thinking: 1) aesthetic, 2) personal, 3) ethical, and 4) empirical.  They also examine student-teacher interactions and discipline-specific writing. They offer no comparison to onsite instruction and no argument that online is better or different, only that online instruction can be successful in teaching critical thinking.

Keywords: WID, discussion: WAC qualitative research
OWI Principles: 4, 11, 15

Cason, Jacqueline and Patricia Jenkins. “Adapting Instructional Documents to an Online Course Environment.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie. Baywood Publishing, 2013, pp. 213-36.

Cason and Jenkins identify how online instructional materials need to include the types of cues and interrelationships that face-to-face instructors provide in physical classrooms as they hand out and discuss those materials. Creating and adapting instructional materials, what Cargile Cook (2005) defines as the presentational aspects of the online course, requires that instructors interrogate the inclusion of context and connectivity through a revised version of Pare and Smart’s concept of “genre,” or patterns of regularity across textual features, composing practices, reading practices, and social roles (216-217). The authors “interrogate” a general education course, English 213: Writing in the Social and Natural Sciences, using this model to demonstrate how each of the four features is evident in the three stages of moving course materials from face-to-face to online: 1) the replacement practice, 2) the sequential learning unit, and 3) the multimodal turn. The authors encourage faculty moving to or revising materials online to consider a similar heuristic for understanding their roles and presence in online assignments in order to work within and, when necessary, outside of the technologies imposed upon them by institutions, such as a standard learning management system (LMS). The chapter provides a means by which faculty seeking to develop or refine their online classes might do so effectively by designing learning materials using multimedia components that better integrate the presentational aspects of face-to-face courses into online spaces.

Keywords: course and program design: English, multimodal, genre, instructional design, course management system,

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 5, 11

Castek, Jill, and Beach, Richard. “Using Apps to Support Disciplinary Literacy and Science Learning.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, vol. 56, no. 7, 2013, pp. 554-64.

This article showcases apps that enhance online learning for students. Castek and Beach discuss technological features of each app in terms of affordances, which they define as literacy practices that help students navigate the course learning goals. They review a variety of affordances embedded in a specific list of apps and explain how these support learning. Groups of apps are evaluated in terms of three literacy practices: 1) collaboration, 2) multimodality, and 3) shared productivity. The authors affirm that innovative uses of apps can support learning and that when exploited, the affordances provided by apps can help to build conceptual understanding of scientific topics. Castek and Beach argue that online learning provides unique supports in terms of apps that specifically connect students to course content.

Keywords: WAC, literacy, apps, mobile technology

OWI Principles: 2, 13

Chan, Mei Yuit, and Ngee Thai Yap. “Encouraging Participation in Public Discourse through Online Writing in ESL Instruction.” The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, vol. 16, no. 2, 2010, pp. 115-39.

Chan and Yap identify challenges to ESL students when instructors construct projects that involve socially-driven writing and engagement in civic awareness in online settings. In particular, the authors indicate two specific challenges that face ESL learners as they encounter public writing tasks in online classrooms: 1) ESL students must be familiar with English and comfortable writing in English, and 2) some ESL students are not comfortable communicating in the public sphere (119-120). The authors’ study “examined the extent to which the use of an online discussion board as part of a university ESL writing course requirement served to encourage ESL student towards participation in public discourse” (121). The online students (n=1400) were required to write at least 200 word discussion board posts over the course of a ten week online writing class. The students were then surveyed to “identify their perceptions on their English writing skills development, their confidence to write in public in English, the effect of audience on their writing, the value they place on participation in online discussion, and reasons for their intention to participate or not participate in future online discussions” (124). Survey results indicated that online ESL students appreciated the value of online forums, and the researchers concluded that online writing for ESL students was valuable and that “ESL writing instruction harness the benefits of public writing, and . . . contribute to the empowerment of students to enter into public discourse in the global community” (135). This research demonstrates the need for online writing faculty to engage ESL in online discussion activities in order to both build their English skills and their confidence in writing to real-world audiences.

Keywords: ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, surveys, agency

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11, 15

Chandler, Sally W. et al. “On the Bright Side of the Screen: Material-World Interactions Surrounding the Socialization of Outsiders to Digital Spaces.” Computers and Composition, vol. 24, no. 3, 2007, pp. 346-64. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2007.05.007.

Sally Chandler, Joshua Burnett and Jacklyn Lopez contribute to research that examines how “outsiders” resist Internet discourses shaped by a western perspective. Their ethnographic case study explores how those outside of discourse communities enter those communities. First, they provide a history of research on how individuals acclimated to new communities. They then investigate “how mindset differences affect teaching and learning when students and teachers are from different digital generations” (350).  The study extends strategies used by gamers to initiate an “outsider” named Sally, a digital immigrant, into the world of gaming. The authors provide concrete examples of the discourse that surrounded Sally’s acclimation to the gaming culture, suggesting that these strategies can be used by instructors to help students who are “cultural outsiders” engage in classrooms and writing centers. In particular, the authors recommend that online writing instructors and online peer tutors, “help students to seek out, create, and enhance effective support” by “emphasizing the importance of self-directed, peer-supported learning, validating learners’ needs to connect to learning practices they bring to the new community, acknowledging the difficulty and importance of making shifts in mindsets, and alerting students to the discomfort and frustration they may encounter” (362-363). This article provides a set of strategies for bridging the gaps between the language and learning strategies that novice writers use in online worlds and the language and learning strategies that will help them be successful in the online writing classroom.

Keywords: tutoring: English, gamification, online writing centers, ethnography

OWI Principles: 1, 11, 13, 14, 15

Charles, Cristie Cowles. “Why We Need More Assessment of Online Composition Courses: A Brief History.” Kairos, vol. 7, no. 3, 2002, kairos.technorhetoric.net/7.3/binder2.html?coverweb/charles/index.html.

Charles believes the problems with online composition courses have arisen because a thorough evaluation of their effectiveness has not been done. Large-scale distance learning programs often are based upon a corporate model that places the student as the consumer that excludes faculty input and control over curriculum. In contrast to the corporate model, Charles explores the development of online courses through individual instructor design. She suggests these online courses are more student-centered. However, instructor-developed courses are not often formally assessed. Charles sites the American Federation of Teachers’ 2001 proposal to provide “basic standards that will ensure a quality distance course.” Among some of the top recommendations were 1) that faculty control the curriculum, 2) that faculty are trained to teach online, 3) that students are prepared for distance learning, 4) that class size is determined by best practices in the field, 5) that assessment of student learning should be similar to what is done in face-to-face courses, and 6) that the courses should cover the same content. She suggests these proposals should be areas of evaluation for online composition courses in addition to assessing student writing.

Keywords: assessment, distance learning, evaluation, faculty development, student preparation

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Charlton, Claire. “Just A Click Away: Online Writing Labs at Universities Offer Free Help With Grammar, Style, Editing and Other Issues.” The Writer, vol. 119, no. 9, 2006, pp. 40-41.

Charlton offers a review of several OWLs and discusses how they can help online writers. Most of what she mentions are repositories; one is a game. She describes OWLs as “electronic version of your favorite grammar or stylebook.” In her reviews, she presents sites for different challenges like invention, technical writing, grammar, editing, and creative writing.

Keywords: online writing labs, gamification

OWI Principles: 4, 13

Chen, M.-H., et al. “Developing a Corpus-Based Paraphrase Tool to Improve EFL Learners’ Writing Skills.” Computer Assisted Language Learning, vol. 28, no. 1, 2015, pp. 22-40.

Because EFL learners do not have adequate resources for learning paraphrasing concepts, Chen et al. developed a program, PREFER, that offers a “corpus-based paraphrasing assistance.” In this article, they report the results of EFL learners’ experiences (n=55) with the tool.  The program utilizes “multi-word input” to generate “a list of paraphrases in English and Chinese” and produces examples of sentence variations students can model in their own writing. The authors claim that the program is effective after comparing students’ written performances against those who used the program and those who used an online dictionary or thesaurus.

Key words: EFL, quantitative research

OWI Principles: 1, 6, 15                                

Choi, Jessie. “Online Peer Discourse in a Writing Classroom.” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, vol. 26, no. 2, 2014, pp. 217-31, isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE26(2).pdf.

Choi outlines a study that addressed three research questions: “1) What types of online discourse appeared in the peer review process of a writing classroom with Hong Kong ESL undergraduates? 2) What is the role of explicit instructions and training for producing quality online peer discourse? and 3) What are the important elements that facilitate the production of quality online peer discourse?” (220). Participants in the study (n=27) were students in a Bachelor of Education program in Early Childhood Education in Hong Kong. Students participated in a writing assignment on a Blackboard wiki and were then asked to peer-review the content of their peers’ drafts both before and after they received specific instruction in the peer review process. The researcher then did content analysis to analyze whether students “showed a greater awareness of making quality comments than they did prior to taking the training and instructions on peer review” (221). Results indicated that students benefited from explicit peer review training, from evaluating their peer reviews, and from careful organization of groups. This study helps both blended and online instructors understand how to better facilitate peer review groups who work collaboratively online.

Keywords: peer review, collaboration, ELL, ESL, multilingual Writers, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 10, 11, 15

Clerehan, Rosemary. “Framing Writing Support Online for an International Student Population.” Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, vol. 1, no. 3, 2006, pp. 195-219.

Clerehan’s study investigated the issues that arise when students from other cultures (even from Western, English-speaking cultures) encounter post-secondary assignments from new cultures. The study investigates the efficacy of stand-alone online materials that support student writing in the disciplines. The objective of the research was to understand how incoming freshmen, many of whom were international students, responded to discipline-specific writing support materials posted online and “whether the theory (as embodied in the resource) correctly identified the students’ learning needs from the students’ perspectives” (201). Her results indicated that international students were “more likely to report the module elements as difficult or very difficult to understand than were the local students” (204). The survey indicated no significant difference on the helpfulness of the materials between local and international students. The motivation of local students to access and use the resources ranged from 59% to 67%, and the motivation of international students to use these resources was 92%. Clerehan concludes that “universities with diverse student cohorts who are concerned to internationalize their curricula and to improve their online teaching and support for student learning, research theoretically sound ways of doing so” (213). This research demonstrates that online writing faculty who teach international student populations review their materials to ensure that the writing suitable for diverse audiences.

Keywords: ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 13, 15

Cody, Jim. “Asynchronous Online Discussion Forums: Going Vibrantly Beyond the Shadow of the Syllabus.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 30, no. 3, 2003, pp. 268-76.

Cody studies how “online discussion forums uniquely contribute to the teaching and learning of community college students” (269). He first describes his research writing class, and then provides an overview of the LMS, WebCT. Cody sees a number of benefits in the online discussion forums in his class, including 1) the ability of the discussion forums to continue and build on the excitement of face-to-face class discussions and 2) the opportunity to bring “guest lecturers” into class for asynchronous discussions. The article ends with encouragement to use the tools available at an instructor’s home institution and to consider the possibilities of expanding class expertise in “many, sometimes unexpected, directions” (276). This article demonstrates one way that LMSs were used at the turn of the 21st century as writing instructors hybridized face-to-face courses.

Keywords: discussion: English, course management systems

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Comer, Denise K., et al. “Writing to Learn and Learning to Write Across the Disciplines: Peer-to-Peer Writing in Introductory-Level MOOCs.” International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, vol. 15, no. 5, 2014, pp. 26-82.

Comer et al. describe how peer-to-peer interactions enhance understanding, linking course learning objectives to positively contribute to students’ learning. They developed a coding protocol to best interpret peer feedback and discussion threads, including posts and comments, and concluded that 1) online discussion board forums intentionally linked to course content contribute positively to learning gains and 2) feedback on peers’ writing can meaningfully focus on higher order concerns across multiple disciplines. This research specifically targeted peer-to-peer interactions as adding value and increasing learning in the online environment where the concept of “community” is challenged.

Keywords: MOOCs, WAC, empirical research, quantitative research, discussion: English, peer review, student-to-student interaction

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 6, 11, 15

Committee on Disability Issues in College Composition. Composing Access. Computers and Composition Digital Press, 2016, composingaccess.net.

This Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) committee researched and made recommendations for ways to make NCTE, CCCC, and the teaching of writing more accessible and inclusive for individuals who identify as having a disability. Their work ranges from increasing the accessibility of conferences to considering employment practices within the field to researching and making recommendations regarding writing instruction practices for students with disabilities. In conjunction with other CCCC committees, their work is leading the way toward re-envisioning writing instruction for individuals with disabilities.

Keywords: access, disability studies

OWI Principles: 1

Committee on Disability Issues in College Composition. A Policy on Disability in CCCC. Conference on College Composition and Communication, 2006, www.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/disabilitypolicy.

This Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) policy statement advocates for full inclusion of individuals who identify as having a disability and for full inclusion of disability studies into the realm of composition studies, including its learning and instructional practices, scholarship, professional development, and employment practices. The policy 1) lays a foundation for taking practical action to improve access and inclusion immediately when possible through pedagogical changes and changes in conferences; 2) provides the groundwork for other committees, including the CCCC Committee on Disability Issues and the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction; and 3) provides a rationale for re-envisioning writing instruction for teachers and students with disabilities.

Keywords: access, disability studies

OWI Principles: 1

Condon, Conna, and Raul Valverde. “Increasing Critical Thinking in Web-Based Graduate Management Courses.” Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, vol. 13, 2014, pp. 177-91.

Condon and Valverde found that students who were participating in a graduate-level online accounting and operations management course were producing summaries of their assigned readings rather than composing critically engaged responses for discussion board posts. To understand this problem, faculty theorized that students may not have the same cultural writing processes that teachers expected, or that students who came from professional fields might not have been exposed to critical thinking strategies. To learn effective practices for encouraging critical thinking skills, researchers turned to the types of questions that were asked of students in their Discussion Questions (DQ) and surmised that they were not asking students to “exhibit analytical thinking.” Reframing the questions was not enough to elicit work that “included analysis or synthesis.” Thus researchers set out to answer whether “the DQ process from design through implementation and grading [could] be improved to increase the achievement of learning objectives and critical thinking in online class forum asynchronous?” (179) To do so, researchers compared a pilot course and original course in which they used mixed-methodologies (comparative case study, discussion question development, and writing quality development) to analyze responses to discussion questions. Condon and Valverde conclude that “ongoing content analysis could be used to identify whether any specific DQ was achieving the level of critical thinking intended for that DQ, as may vary by DQ type.” (188)

Keywords: discussion: WAC, graduate classes, empirical research, case study, mixed methods,

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11, 15

Conference on College Composition and Communication, Committee on Best Practices in Online Writing Instruction. Annotated Bibliography. Edited by Keith Gibson and Beth Hewett, 2008, www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Groups/CCCC/Committees/ OWIAnnotatedBib.pdf.

In 2008, the Conference on College Composition and Communication developed an annotated bibliography of research “pertaining to Online Writing Instruction (OWI).” The sources on this list cover approximately 28 years (1980 to 2008) and are organized into four categories: OWI Pedagogy, OWI Technology, E-learning, and Online Writing Centers (OWC). The annotated sources in this collection cover a wider range of issues that are related to online instruction (or distance education) in addition to sources devoted solely to online writing instruction. This annotated bibliography provides a historical view of what sources were considered the heart of research on online writing instruction and provides part of the research used to develop the CCCC Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction.

Keywords: annotated bibliography, research

OWI Principles: 15

Cooper, George, et al. “Protocols and Process in Online Tutoring.” The St. Martin’s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors, edited by Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood, 2nd ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003, pp. 255-66.

Cooper, Bui, and Riker question whether moving tutoring from face-to-face to online platforms hinders the foundations of writing center practice, namely the relationship between the tutor and the student. They conclude that, “Though principles of face-to-face tutoring [student control, interpersonal communication, and dialogue about writing] do not transfer completely to online tutoring, we can still retain a sense of collaboration and humanity in the online forum” (310). In particular, they recommend 1) setting an appropriate tone in the introductory remarks to a student, 2) establishing a dialogic relationship with the student through questions, 3) limiting remarks on grammar and punctuation, and 4) providing a summative comment in order to close the session. While these methods will not completely mitigate frustration with online tutoring nor replicate fully the face-to-face dynamics of on-campus tutoring, gathering student feedback about online tutoring sessions will help tutors to adjust their methods to reach online students. This chapter establishes some basic guidelines of good practice in online tutoring for those individuals struggling to move from face-to-face to online modalities.

Keywords: tutoring: English, feedback, tutor training, asynchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 10, 13, 14

Coppola, Nancy W. “Changing Roles for Online Teachers of Technical Communication.”  Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 89-99.

Coppola reviews literature establishing a variety of roles for online technical communication teachers. Cognitive roles involve constructing environments for students to learn and master content knowledge. Affective roles focus on developing environments that foster and sustain communication. Managerial roles involve designing environments where tasks can be planned and completed effectively. Coppola argues that for face-to-face writing instructors moving to online classes, understanding the similarities and differences in these roles will help them to manage that transition. This work provides an overview of different teaching perspectives regarding online classes and adds to the conversation surrounding how faculty can manage their personae in the classroom in order to build effective online classes.

Keywords: technical and professional writing, instructional design, collaboration, instructor interaction

OWI Principles: 5, 11, 12

Cotos, Elena. “Potential of Automated Writing Evaluation Feedback.” CALICO Journal, vol.  28, no. 2, 2011, pp. 420-59.

Cotos investigated the impact of automated writing evaluation (AWE) on student scores on standardized tests, teachers’ impressions of AWE, student impressions of AWE, impact on student writing, and student behavior as they use AWE applications—most notably, the Intelligent Academic Discourse Evaluator (IADE) program. Through the use of AWE, students’ writing performance improved notably through comparisons of their first and final essay drafts. Students also reported higher satisfaction rates with the instantaneous feedback provided through the use of AWE as compared to the time-delayed feedback provided by individual instructors. Using Likert-scale, yes/no, and open-ended survey questions that focused on tailoring computer automated responses to the individual, the study concluded that automated feedback stimulates computer-learner interaction which leads to better learning and retention of the information presented.

Keywords: automated writing evaluation, feedback, assessment

OWI Principles: 3, 6, 15

Cox, Stephanie, et al. “Promoting Teacher Presence: Strategies for Effective and Efficient Feedback to Student Writing Online.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 42, no. 4, 2015, pp. 376-91.

In this essay, Cox et al. argue that online teachers of writing courses must consciously choose particular feedback methods that remedy an inherent drawback—namely the lack of teacher presence—of an asynchronous learning environment that in traditional face-to-face courses prevents evaluation from being perceived as harsh, impersonal, or dismissive. They examine how instructors can achieve a social, cognitive, and teaching presence in their online courses by considering the tenets of the Community of Inquiry (COI) model. They argue that online instructors must consider the purpose of feedback, the effects of different delivery methods, and how these relate to teacher workload and satisfaction. The authors thoroughly examine feedback methods for both informal and formal writing, including how each method fosters a sense of teacher presence in online courses. Drawing upon their collective experience, they discuss the benefits and drawbacks of individual feedback, generalized group feedback, and no feedback for informal writing, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of using rubrics, in-text comments, holistic end comments, synchronous conferences, and audio responses as feedback methods for formal writing. The authors conclude that feedback that communicates to their students not only their subject expertise but also their teacher presence is one of the most effective tools in creating a successful learning environment at the disposal of instructors of online writing courses.

Keywords:  feedback, instructor interaction, community of inquiry, assessment

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 12

Crow, Kevin L. “Four Types of Disabilities: Their Impact on Online Learning.” TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, vol. 52, no. 1, 2008, pp. 51-55.

Crow identifies four major disability types: 1) visual, 2) hearing, 3) motor, and 4) cognitive impairments.  He illustrates the challenges that these disabilities present for learners in online environments. He suggests ways to make online learning accessible, including assistive technologies and universal design. After providing a list of accessibility resources, he suggests ways “to help make online learning more accessible to learners who have disabilities” (54).

Keywords: accessibility, universal design, disability studies

OWI Principles: 1

Crump, Eric. “At Home in the MUD: Writing Centers Learn to Wallow.” The St. Martin’s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors, edited by Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood, 2nd ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003, pp. 242-55.

Crump explores the opportunities offered to writing centers through online learning communities, which he calls multi-user dimensions (MUD). The article begins with an explanation of the operation of these online spaces. He continues by analyzing two of his own online communications with students in three “glances.” The first glance sees MUDs as a divergence from the oral boundaries of the writing. The second glance sees MUDs as a translation of writing center practices to an online arena, with little to no change. The third glance challenges the hierarchical model of the writing center. He posits that MUDs offer the chance to break down the barrier between student and consultant and create a community in which equal communication and sharing of ideas is encouraged.

Keywords: MUD, writing centers, community

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 13, 14

Cunningham, Jennifer M. “Mechanizing People and Pedagogy: Establishing Social Presence in the Online Classroom.” Online Learning, vol. 19, no. 3, 2015, pp. 34-47.

Cunningham applies the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework as a lens for understanding the perceived effectiveness of using avatars in an online classroom to create social presence. Voki—free, online, customizable avatars—were investigated as one potential means for establishing social presence. Students in seven sections of a prerequisite composition class at a community college were surveyed. Out of 140 students, forty completed a questionnaire that included three open-ended questions asking about their overall experience relative to social presence as well whether social presence was established using Voki specifically. Analyzing the open-ended question responses using content analysis informed by grounded theory, results suggested that Voki avatars had little effect on creating social presence. Receiving instructor emails and feedback as well as direct interpersonal communication with peers (i.e., a group project and peer workshops) was found to establish the most social presence. Adding to previous COI research, this research suggests three specific practices that best establish social presence: (1) an active instructor presence, (2) interactivity among students, and (3) the timeliness or immediacy of both.

Keywords: community of inquiry, instructor presence, qualitative research, feedback, email, student-to-student interaction

OWI Principles: 4, 11, 15

D

Dailey, Susan R. “Linking Technology to Pedagogy in an Online Writing Center.” Journal of the Legal Writing Institute, vol. 10, no. 1, 2004, pp. 181–206.  

Dailey explores the online writing lab (OWL) model for law schools and target groups of law students. She examines writing center pedagogy and the perception of the OWL model within that pedagogy. She then goes on to explain the possibilities of the OWL for law schools, offering specific features that enhance the writing center’s functionality. She analyzes the benefits of OWLs for three target groups: 1) the experienced writer, 2) the first-generation college student, and 3) the second-language (L2) law student. For experienced writers, Dailey argues that the OWL can provide information without insulting these writers’ established knowledge, instead supplementing it with resources to help them become better writers through professional samples. Because first-generation college students enter college, and subsequently law school, less prepared, their writing often suffers. The OWL model for these law students proves useful in techniques such as a error analysis and acknowledgment of unconscious grammar knowledge. L2 students’ law writing generally reflects a need for help in sentence and global level issues. Dailey posits that teaching contrastive pedagogical techniques will help these readers and that the OWL model is most beneficial because of the ability to hyperlink between multiple discourses simultaneously. Dailey sees the potential of OWL to offer real resources for the development of law students’ writing skills.

Keywords: online writing lab, ELL, ESL, multilingual writer, L2, WAC, WID

OWI Principles 1, 3, 13

Davis, Dan. “The Paperless Classroom: E-Filing and E-Valuating Students’ Work in English Composition.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 30, no. 2, 2002, pp. 162-76.

Davis describes how he implemented a paperless classroom conducted with a course management system (CMS) in a hybrid setting that uses technology-enhanced in-class activities as well as technology out of class in the form of email, online quizzes, e-conferences, and synchronous chat. While he acknowledges that technology can be a “diversionary tactic employed by frustrated teachers” (164) that gets in the way of learning, Davis reports on a business communication course for working adult professionals wherein technology made possible “an efficient and concise method for storing and evaluating papers and communicating with students” (163). While Davis does not argue that digital responses to student writing necessarily leads to better writing, he indicates that this medium allows for a clearer and more orderly space in which to respond, and that the students thereby benefit. This article is a useful historical document that outlines the concerns and benefits of the transition from fully face-to-face to hybrid classes partially hosted in an CMS.

Keywords: course management system, hybrid, email, synchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 10, 11

Davis, Evan, and Sarah Hardy. “Teaching Writing in the Space of Blackboard.” Computers and Composition Online, Spring 2003, www2.bgsu.edu/departments/english/cconline/DavisHardy/.

Davis and Hardy use Blackboard 1.5 to discuss shifts from the space of the physical classroom to the “space” of the virtual classroom, applying the theories of Michel Foucault, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Michel de Certeau to the then new virtual discussion boards and applications of the digital classroom. The webtext first provides an overview of the literal space of Blackboard 1.5. It then uses Foucault’s concept of the panopticon to illuminate how in the “contained space of the course management system . . . the disciplining of the student occurs,” thus altering the power dynamics in the classroom. Bakhtin’s concept of dialogue manifests in several ways in Blackboard, both in ways that restrain speech and in ways that encourage dialogue and remove hierarchies. The authors apply de Certeau’s concepts of “strategies” and “tactics” for navigating physical space to the virtual space of Blackboard, saying “If we understand Blackboard as a space that is comparable to a city, then what we are looking for is not a map of that city so much as a story of how a student moves through it.” In conclusion, the authors provide a list of thirteen ways that faculty can fully use this LMS to support students in developing community, engaging discussion, and fighting the binaries of power that Blackboard imposes. This web text, while written about a very early version of Blackboard, is still useful for the instructor who seeks to push the boundaries of the LMS and more fully incorporate democratic students encounters.

Keywords: course management system, discussion: English, Blackboard, power
OWI Principles: 3, 4, 10, 11

Davis, Marjorie T. "Applying Technical Communication Theory to the Design of Online Education." Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 15-29.

Davis contends that principles of technical communication in general can inform the design of online programs in particular. She identifies seven key principles of technical communication that directly inform online program development: 1) analyzing audiences (or program stakeholders), 2) analyzing purposes (creating mission statements), 3) developing and testing a prototype, 4) evaluating and selecting technological tools, 5) collaborating with partners, 6) marketing an online program and 7) managing an online program. Davis provides an overview of how each of these steps worked in relation to the online program she helped to develop at Mercer University and concludes that technical communicators are uniquely prepared to develop and lead online programs given their unique set of abilities and experience.  This source provides a method of designing, implementing, and marketing online programs that will assist those considering online programs at their institutions.

Keywords: technical and professional writing, writing, online writing programs, program evaluation: English, marketing

OWI Principles: 4, 7, 12

Day, Michael. “Teachers at the Crossroads: Evaluating Teaching in Electronic Environments.” Computers and Composition, vol. 17, no. 1, 2000, pp. 31-40. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(99)00028-6.

Day notes that, while many writing instructors at the turn of the 21st century were already incorporating new technologies into their writing courses, the use of technology was a risk for those learning to work with technologies. The primary risks are 1) students who are critical on instructor evaluations as they struggled to learn technologies and the content of the writing course, 2) the additional workload of incorporating technology might take away from other areas of teaching, 3) evaluators might misunderstand the “decentered or student-centered” nature of computer-mediated courses and thus see a classroom that they consider “messy or disorganized” (32-33). Day uses the term “electronic panopticon and provides an example in which a faculty member was given an “unfortunate” evaluation to provide guidelines for educating those who review computer-mediated classrooms for the purposes of faculty evaluation. He recommends, based on that evaluation process, that instructors ask questions in the hiring process that clarify how and how much they will be evaluated for their use of technology in the classroom, and that they also follow particular processes for creating retention, tenure, and promotion materials. Finally, he provides guidelines for those who are evaluating these materials and concludes that those working with technology in their classrooms will always need to carefully explain their work.  

Keywords: evaluation, computer-mediated communication, faculty development, tenure-track faculty

OWI Principles: 7, 8, 12

de Montes, L. E. Sujo , et al. “Power, Language, and Identity: Voices from an Online Course.” Computers and Composition, vol. 19, no. 3, 2002, pp. 251-71.

L.E. Sujo de Montes, Sally M.Oran and Elizabeth M. Willis analyze the role of race in online class discussions. In particular, the authors “apply theoretical frames of constructivism, symbolic interactionism, and critical theory [to] reveal issues of power and racism in student communications” (252), in particular, student communications centered around a disagreement on a course bulletin board that demonstrated “differing views of power, ethnicity and identity between majority and minority students” (252). The authors used inductive qualitative data analysis to study twenty-five students in a foundations course for a master’s degree who all had ESL students. The article includes narratives from the three researchers and an overview of the events that lead to the three encounters and associated events that were included in the study. The researchers talked about how the classroom discourse helped to demonstrate how ethnic identity for the students was presented in empowering and in less-empowering ways. They conclude with a reminder for online writing instructors not to “turn a blind eye on race, ethnicity, and power [that] denies minority students the conversations and confrontations critical for ethnic identity development” (268).  The article ends with actions that will help constructivist teachers to use critical reflection to interrogate their own issues surrounding power, language, and identity.

Keywords: power, constructivism, qualitative research, ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, culturally responsive pedagogy, race, graduate education

OWI Principles: 1, 11, 15

DePew, Kevin Eric. “Composing Identity in Online Instructional Contexts.” Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Communication, edited by Sigrid Kelsey and Kirk St. Amant, IGI Global, 2008, pp. 207-19.

DePew questions how online instructional situations shape the strategies instructors use to present themselves to their students, especially the ways that they try to establish credibility and their investment in their students’ success. After examining both the exaggerated promises and sobering realities of online identity composition, the author proposes a rhetorical approach to the identity composing process. To support this approach, DePew describes the situations of two courses in which the respective instructors used the available technologies’ affordances to create relatively favorable instructional situations. DePew concludes the emerging trend of online instruction may be an opportunity to rethink the traditional paradigms of education—such as one instructor to one classroom—and consider how the technologies’ affordances can support teaching models that best support students’ learning.

Keywords: instructor interaction

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 10, 11

DePew, Kevin Eric. “Social Media at Academia’s Periphery: Studying Multilingual Developmental Writers’ Facebook Composing Strategies.” Reading Matrix, vol. 11, no. 1, 2011, pp. 54-75, www.readingmatrix.com/articles/january_2011/depew.pdf.

As a follow-up study to DePew and Miller-Cochran (2009), DePew uses a similar research protocol to learn about the social media composing practices of multilingual students placed in developmental writing classes. DePew explains the complex linguistic capabilities most multilingual students develop when learning more than one language—capabilities ignored by many English speakers who expect near proficient syntactic written products. Moreover, because most writing instructors almost solely focus on language correctness, they overlook the rhetorical sophistication that many of their students already have. To demonstrate the advanced rhetorical strategies these developmental students have developed, DePew reports on three students giving a tour of their Facebook profiles. Like the advanced students in the DePew & Miller-Cochran research, DePew learns that these supposed developmental writers also mostly make deliberate decisions but also make a few decisions based on just trying to create a “cool” outcome. Also, like the previous study, audience is a key factor in the multimodal composing decisions these students make, such as whether to post a picture or not or whether to use Microsoft Word to spell check posts before posting them. DePew concludes that instructors should try to leverage this rhetorical sophistication by helping students transfer these strategies from their social media composing process. As with DePew and Miller-Cochran, this article can help OWI instructors design curricula that leverages the types of online writing that struggling students are familiar with as a way of helping these students see that they already know how to fulfill their audience’s expectations for several writing features.

Keywords: social media, multilingual writers, developmental writing, literacy, education

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 5, 11, 15

DePew, Kevin Eric. “Preparing for the Rhetoricity of OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 439-68.

DePew targets the complexity of Principle 2 of CCCC’s A Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for OWI, “An online writing course should focus on writing not on technology orientation or teaching students how to use learning and other technologies.” While the second principle discourages writing programs and instructors from teaching technology for the sake of teaching technology, DePew argues that writing courses should be seen as applied rhetoric courses, and as such, instructor and students need to develop an understanding that the digital technologies they use to deliver communication and assignment responses are rhetorical—someone designed them to serve specific social functions. Framing this argument with Selber’s (2004) multiliteracies (i.e., functional literacy, critical literacy, rhetorical literacy), DePew contends that writers are best positioned to use the best available means of persuasion when they understand the influence the programmer’s software design choices has on the texts they compose. Preparing instructors and students to develop this meta-awareness is particularly important for OWI because of the arguments that that instructors and students inherently make to each other (e.g., “The material I am teaching is important” and “I am a good student”) are almost solely mediated through digital technologies; therefore, these lessons have real consequences as these stakeholders prepare to engage real and diverse audience (Principle 1). This chapter has an appendix that illustrates how the principles discussed in the chapters can be put into practice as assignments.

Keywords: accessibility, teaching with technology: English, web design, audience

OWI Principles: 1, 2

DePew, Kevin Eric, et al. “Designing Efficiencies: The Parallel Narratives of Distance Education and Composition Studies.” Computers and Composition, vol. 23, no. 1, 2006, pp. 49–67. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2005.12.005.

Kevin DePew, Teddi Fishman, Bridget Fahey Ruetenik and Julia Romberger consider “the parallel historical narratives” of distance-education (DE) and Current-Traditional Rhetoric (CTR) in order to highlight the “trend toward mechanization” in order to bring greater “efficiency” to the teaching of writing (50). The article begins with a brief history of DE classes, paying close attention to the promises of efficiency embedded in the language surrounding DE. The authors then point to similar language in the narrative of CTR, in particularly how the “priority [is] placed on data and material information gathering set forth in an objective report” (52). As composition classes were prepared for distance delivery, even after social-epistemic pedagogies became more prevalent, instructors found themselves falling back on ideologies of CTR as they moved face-to-face classes online. The article demonstrates through examples how the goals of efficiency and scale touted by administrators clash with faculty’s desire for small, interactive, writing-intensive classes. Institutions must be mindful of the balance between cost-effectiveness and sound pedagogy when creating online writing classes, in particular to resist the separation of content and delivery and the desire to create courses as “packages” separate from instruction. The authors end with a call for practitioners to familiarize themselves with the histories of sub-disciplines within composition studies that drive current ideologies of efficiency and to research student and instructor experience to shape more effective DE pedagogies.

Keywords: constructivism, current traditional rhetoric, instructional design, course and program dsign: English, course caps, faculty development, online writing programs

OWI Principles: 5, 7, 8, 12

DePew, Kevin E., and Heather Lettner-Rust. “Mediating Power: Distance Learning, Classroom Epistemology and the Gaze.” Computers and Composition, vol. 26, no. 3, 2009, pp. 174-89. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2005.12.005.

DePew and Lettner-Rust argue that the interfaces that we use to mediate distance learning shape the power relationship between students and instructors. Using the works of Paulo Freire and Michel Foucault as a theoretical lens, they demonstrate that many interfaces are designed to support what Freire calls a “banking model of learning” by positioning the instructor as the only expert in this instructional situation. Some digital interfaces are designed to facilitate instructors’ dissemination of course content as text and video with little concern for the students’ contribution to the learning process. Additionally, certain interfaces can reveal personal information about students that might influence how instructors evaluate their work; this may be vexing for students marked by physical traits, such as their gender, race, ethnicity, and age. The authors initially examine the interfaces of the face-to-face classroom and the correspondence course and then study simulated classrooms and synchronous video classes. To illustrate each of these interface types, they closely study a writing center’s email tutorials, an instant messaging-based interaction between students, and a studio classroom that send live broadcasts to and receives them from students in remote locations. For the last interface, DePew and Lettner-Rust provide the perspective of both the instructor and the student.  The authors conclude that since the interfaces for online classrooms, like most software designs, are not neutral and support specific ideological positions, administrators and instructors of online writing courses need to interrogate the interfaces they choose for online writing instruction to determine whether the design helps or hinders their own pedagogical and thus ideological goals.

Keywords: critical pedagogy, gender, synchronous interaction, course and program design: English, email, online writing center, race,

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10

DePew, Kevin Eric, and Susan Kay Miller. “Studying L2 Writers’ Digital Writing: An Argument for Post-Critical Methods.” Computers and Composition, vol. 22, no. 3, 2005, pp. 259-78. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2005.05.001.

DePew and Miller describe the divergence and convergence of “digital writing studies (also known as computers and composition studies) and second language (L2) writing” (260). While scholars in either field might be confident in their own field, if asked “which computer-mediated writing technologies are most conducive for facilitating L2 writers’ academic literacy development, the available corpus of literature that addresses all aspects of this question decreases significantly” (260). The authors argue for a post-critical framework for the study of digital writing practices of L2 writers after first acknowledging the difficulties and benefits of applying that framework to “the interdisciplinarity of a digital/L2 inquiry” (263). Next, the article “place[s] post-critical methodologies into conversation with methodological trends of digital writing, L2 writing and their related disciplines” (269). Finally, the article ends with implications of post-critical research and a call for the use of this methodology to study the digital lives of L2 students. This article could be used to analyze, extend, or critique other studies of L2 learners in online writing instruction.

Keywords: ELL, ESL, multilingual writers, L2

OWI Principles: 1, 15

DePew, Kevin Eric, and Susan K. Miller-Cochran. “Social Networking in a Second Language: Engaging Multiple Literate Practices Through Identity Composition.” Inventing Identities in Second Language Writing, edited by Michelle Cox et al., National Council of Teachers of English, 2009, pp. 273-95.

DePew and Miller-Cochran seek to learn how social media writers, specifically those whom are multilingual writers, compose their identity in these spaces. To this end, the authors study three advanced multilingual students—from Thailand, India, and Belarus—who were using an array of social media—Facebook, hi5, Orkut, and Odnoklassniki. They asked them to give a virtual tour of their profile pages. From these three students, the authors learn that the students are often making deliberate decisions about how they use verbal language, images, and video to present themselves, yet they make some decisions because they think the outcome “will be cool.” The participants also described a conflicted relationship with their audiences in which they wanted to protect themselves from unwanted audiences (i.e., not all of these social media sites provided privacy setting for their users) but barely regulated what they wanted to post based upon their audience. Overall these students demonstrate advanced levels of rhetorical sophistication, similar to writing instructors’ expectations for academic prose. For DePew and Miller-Cochran these participants’ practices raise more questions about multilingual writers composing using social media, especially whether their social media composing practices reflect the same literacy practice for multilingual developmental writers. This chapter can help online writing instructors design strategies for helping multilingual students use backwards reaching transfer to connect familiar multimodal literacy practices with those they want students to use in their courses.

Keywords: ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, case study, audience, multimodal, literacy, social media, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11, 15

DePew, Kevin E., et. al. “Getting Past Our Assumptions About Web 2.0 and Community Building: How to Design Research-Based Literacy Pedagogy.” Emerging Pedagogies in the Networked Knowledge Society: Practices Integrating Social Media and Globalization, edited by Marohang Limbu and Binod Gurung, IGI Global, 2013, pp. 120-43.

DePew et al. interrogate the general promises certain vendors make that their technological applications or pedagogical designs will create community among students, especially in online writing instruction courses. Because the outcomes for achieving community are rarely defined, the authors question whether community can actually be created in online classrooms and, if so, how instructors can leverage a technology’s affordances to achieve their articulated outcomes for community. The authors theoretically reflect upon a “Community Analysis” assignment in which students are given the opportunity to create community by reading and responding to each other’s blog entries on the textual research they are doing. At the end of the research blog assignment students use the course readings on community to argue in the “Community Analysis” whether the students in the course had become a community or not. The authors learned that many of the students in the class felt a sense of community, but the blog assignment did little to facilitate it. Of the twelve students in the class, only seven of them commented on the blogs or commented on others’ comments ten times or more for the five blog entries. Over half of the total blog comments or responses to others’ comments were written in the last week of the blog assignment presumably in anticipation of “Community Analysis” assignment. This led many of the pre-service and in-service students to conclude that comment posts should be required after each blog entry was posted. While this requirement raises a question as to whether the students can truly be a community if they are compelled to interact with each other, the substantive interaction among those posts suggest that instructional motivations can be the catalyst students need to truly engage each other. Although the students did not feel a sense of community from the blog assignment and the blog’s affordances, many described feeling a sense of community resulting from how they used the affordances of other technologies in the class, such as the chat function on the synchronous video meeting application or the audio editing application that a group of students were piloting. The authors conclude that a deliberate approach to design online writing curriculum might entail collecting and studying data from how students are interacting in one’s class.

Keywords: community, blog, course management systems, qualitative research, discussion: English, synchronous interaction, course and program design: English, audio

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 11, 15

De Rycker, Antoon, and Prema Ponnudurai. “The Effect of Online Reading on Argumentative Essay Writing Quality.” GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 2011, pp. 147-62, journalarticle.ukm.my/2767/1/pp147_162.pdf.

De Rycker and Ponnudurai performed a quasi-experimental study with ESL students in Malaysia (n=45) to compare the students’ quality of argumentation when reading interactive texts presented on a screen or texts printed on paper. Students completed an argumentative essay after reading the texts, and that essay was scored using a modified version of Harrell’s rating scale. The researchers found that the modality of the text did not affect the length of the essays or the students’ abilities to present counter-arguments. However, more students who read the interactive online reading wrote thesis statements and overall arguments that were rated as “good” (156). The sample size limited the study, but this research sets the stage for additional, more robust studies of the effect of reading on a computer screen as opposed to reading a print text and how either of those modalities affect student writing ability in online and hybrid classes.

Keywords: ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, modality, qualitative research, reading, hybrid

OWI Principles: 1, 4, 13, 15

“Disabilities.” World Health Organization. World Health Organization, 2016. www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/#navigation.

The World Health Organization is another important resource to support arguments about accessibility and the numbers of people affected. The WHO definition of disability is also one that can be useful because it is much broader (along the lines of disability studies) than the US definition, which can be helpful depending on the type of argument you need to make. The site includes a variety of resources from statistical data to informational reports. Those studying OWI in regards to accessibility will find this useful to establish the parameters of disability in relation OWI.

Keywords: accessibility, disability studies

OWI Principles: 1

Dolmage, Jay. “Disability, Usability, Universal Design.” Rhetorically Rethinking Usability,  edited by Susan Miller Cochran and Rochelle L. Rodrigo, Hampton Press, 2009, pp. 167-90.

This essay rhetorically interrogates the relationship between usability and universal design (UD), arguing that disability has been variously incorporated or excised from definitions and uses of the concepts. Using the lens of disability studies, Dolmage attempts to problematize UD and usability and to critique each concept from the perspective of the other, establishing the ways that usability and universal design need one another.  Finally, Dolmage briefly outlines the ways that students themselves have demanded such inter-animation, and how their input shaped the arguments in this essay.  From this experience, Dolmage looks towards the future development of composition pedagogy that plans for difference through universal design and that gives critical voice to students’ different abilities and needs through usability.  He argues that involving students in the re-definition of pedagogy is a crucial project for the critical rhetorician.  For OWI, this essay offers a theoretical perspective that ends with a direct connection to pedagogy: that instructors need to ask students what is working or not working in their online classrooms. This recursive pedagogy is vital to inclusive learning spaces and can directly impact student learning.

Keywords: accessibility, universal design, disability studies, usability testing, pedagogy: English

OWI Principles: 1

Driscoll, Dana, et al. “Usability and User-Centered Theory for 21st Century OWLs.” Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices, edited by Pavel Zemliansky and Kirk St. Amant. Hershey, IGI Global, 2008, pp. 614-31.

Driscoll, Brizee, Salvo, and Sousa examine the theories of user-centered Online Writing Labs (OWL) and the research conducted on the usability of the Purdue OWL. They detail the history of the Purdue Writing Lab, the Purdue OWL Usability Project, and the implications of user-centered theory and usability research, primarily those involving collaboration with users to create an online literacy resource. In the study, two tests were conducted. In test one, the participants navigated the OWL and answered a survey, while in test two, participants responded to questions while using both the OWL website and a user-centered OWL prototype. Results suggest the prototype was more time efficient and participant responses to the prototype were positive. Researchers conclude that the necessity of usability research paired with participatory invention for the most effective user-centered website.

Keywords:  online writing labs, usability studies, user-centered design, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 1, 13, 15

Driscoll, Margaret, and John E. Reid, Jr. “Web-Based Training: An Overview of Training Tools for the Technical Writing Industry.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 73-86.

This article, written in the very dawn of online teaching, outlines four types of “web-based” training centered around the concepts of synchronous vs. asynchronous learning and individual vs. group learning. Driscoll and Reid call these four types of training Web/Computer-Based Training, Web/Electronic Performance Support Systems, Web/Virtual Asynchronous Classrooms, and Web/Virtual Synchronous Classrooms (75-76). The authors then review the benefits and limitations of each type of web-based training in terms of their use of hypertext and hypermedia, their components, their authoring program, and whether there is a need to invest in third-party hardware, software, or skills development (78). This article establishes the early terms and contexts for online and web-based learning and is valuable to researchers who study the history of terms in online teaching and learning as well as online technical communication and writing programs considering what types of online learning are most beneficial for their programs.

Keywords: synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction, course management systems

OWI Principles: 2, 3

Duffelmeyer, Barbara. “Learning to Learn: New TA Preparation in Computer Pedagogy.” Computers and Composition, vol. 20, no. 3, Sept. 2003, pp. 295-311. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(03)00037-9.

Duffelmeyer examines how student teaching assistants (TAs) experience their first-year composition classrooms and how well they adjust to these classrooms as they seek to incorporate computers into their pedagogy. She asked approximately twenty TAs to share their experiences with computers to study areas of “unease and dissonance with more intensive and advance[d] computer training” to establish the need for a communities of practice model for helping new TAs to be active participants in their preparation to teach in computer classrooms. She includes excerpts from TA narratives about their early teaching experience to demonstrate how these students encountered dissonance in the classroom and were tempted to fall back on old models of teaching and learning without computers in order to regain a sense of control in the classroom. Duffelmeyer selects two contrasting narratives to showcase how their comfort and skill in computer classrooms developed more organically in a TA preparation model that emphasized a community of practice. The benefits of this model are that TA’s experience “congruence among course goals, technology, and pedagogy” (305), they have “learning trajectories they can identify with” (306), and they can focus on “learning to learn” as they help to teach first-year students (308). The article concludes by positing the community of practice model against models that fall back on transmission modes in the classroom. This article, while in computer-mediated and not fully online or hybrid classes, demonstrates some of the very concerns that faculty might face in helping TAs move into online or hybrid classrooms.

Keywords: graduate teaching assistants, computer-mediated communication, narrative, community of practice, teaching with technology: English, faculty development

OWI Principles: 7, 15

Dutkiewicz, Keri, et al. “Creativity and Consistency in Online Courses: Finding the Appropriate Balance.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2013, pp. 45-72.

Dutkiewicz provides the results of survey research that captured student and faculty perceptions of a predesigned course (PDC) at Davenport University (DU) in Michigan. DU implemented a PDC structure to help improve quality and ensure alignment in the 50% of courses delivered online, including sections of professional writing on an accelerated, 7-week schedule. The PDCs were designed and maintained in-house and were taught in Blackboard. Course administrators solicited feedback from faculty and revised the PDCs regularly after testing practices in pilot courses. The survey research indicated that instructors using the PDCs appreciated that the courses allowed them additional time for interaction, with approximately a quarter of survey participants (about 50% of instructors) indicating that they would be willing to invest more time in customizing courses in exchange for the ability to be more flexible in course design. Student respondents indicated that individual guidance and help from instructors and links to outside resources were most beneficial in improving their learning. The authors scheduled Live Classroom synchronous sessions with instructors teaching the PDCs to share survey results and to address concerns and issues highlighted by the survey. The study concludes that faculty engagement and input in PDC course construction is important and that communication regarding the PDC can help strengthen the instructional design and course facilitation process. This chapter gives a research-based approach to understanding faculty satisfaction with the design and teaching of online courses as well as providing a model for implementing and assessing online courses.

Keywords: assessment, pre-designed courses, Blackboard, course management system, surveys, course and program design: English, qualitative research, faculty satisfaction

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 15

E

Eaton, Angela. “Students in the Online Technical Communication Classroom.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 31-48.

Eaton analyzes the results from a survey of online students at six institutions (n=37) who answered questions regarding what they liked about online classrooms, what they disliked about online classrooms, and what advice they had for online faculty. Participants reported that they primarily liked that online classes fit their schedule and that they could participate in classes without commuting. The two most disliked qualities of online instruction were the lack of face-to-face interaction with classmates and with faculty. Online students in this survey recommended that faculty understand and respect the amount of time and demands required of students in online courses, be clear about how the course activities were beneficial to their learning, and create consistent deadlines so that online students could easily schedule their assignments in hectic schedules. In addition, online students recommended that faculty “be involved,” by providing feedback regularly and being personable in their written comments. Finally, students suggested that faculty choose technology that serves the course (and not the other way around), be careful with limiting the face-to-face meetings in hybrid courses, and to be aware of how programs are marketed to students to make sure that they meet student expectations of online courses in programs. Based on these comments, Eaton concludes that online programs can best market to and serve online technical communication students by determining if the program can be found in a web search on the first page of search results, using the “word of mouth” technique, and recruiting through professional organizations. Finally, the chapter concludes by recommending that marketing methods focus on selling the benefits of studying at a distance and working classes into busy schedules. The data provided in the student comments to faculty reinforces the need for careful course design around instructor-to-student and student-to-student interaction, an awareness of time constraints for online students, and the clear and intentional use of technology to serve the writing in online classes.

Keywords: student satisfaction, technical and professional writing, marketing, instructor presence, surveys, hybrid, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 15

Eaton, Angela. “Students in the Online Technical Communication Classroom: The Next Decade.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2013, 133-58.

Eaton replicates and expands her 2002 study on online graduate student experiences and preferences (the results of which were published in the first edition of Online Education). While the number of students taking the second survey increased by 311% (2002, n=37 from six universities, 2010, n=152 from twelve universities), the answers to survey questions regarding students lifestyles and choices for selecting online classes remained largely the same. The bulk of features that were most disliked by students in 2010 were the perception that an online program was not as rigorous as a face-to-face program and a variety of options related to interaction with and feedback from faculty, in addition to technical problems. Advice to faculty most frequently involved recommendations for more (and more clear) communication, a consideration of the workload required in completing online assignments, and having backup plans for when technology does not work. Eaton notes that the bulk of the recommendations could easily be applied to face-to-face classes as well. Online students indicated that they selected an online program over a local program roughly 50% of the time, and students were most likely to have heard about online programs through Web searches and by visiting the programs’ Web sites. Eaton concludes with a call for further research into student experiences in online writing programs, particularly as those programs are rapidly expanding. These studies are valuable because they follow similar populations over a particular time period and correlate with information in the literature about best practices for teaching online.

Keywords: surveys, student perception, graduate students, program evaluation: English, quantitative research, marketing

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 10, 11, 15

Ehmann Powers, Christa. “A Study of Online Writing Instructor Perceptions.” The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors, edited by Beth Hewett, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015, pp. 174-82.

This study examines some of the experiences of online writing tutors at Smarthinking, Inc. in 2009 in an attempt to understand their attitudes about OWI and the roles they take as online instructors (also called e-structors at that time). Tutors primarily conducted asynchronous interactions where they commented on Web-delivered texts using a framework that called first for global comments with the addition of a few embedded local comments. Some tutors also provided synchronous conferences via a whiteboard and co-located chat box. Although unsolicited in the survey, many tutors remarked that they had pedagogical challenges when teaching using text (i.e., not voice) and struggled with the lack of instant feedback from students regarding whether the tutorial had been helpful. Tutors also spoke to what they saw as distinct features of OWI, including the ability for online writing instructors to self-reflect and assess their own work and the need for students to engage with different levels of cognitive processing. In terms of attitudes toward OWI, the online tutors expressed some concerns regarding whether OWI was pedagogically valid and potential political issues about the uses of OWI in educational institutions. Respondents claimed that OWI could have significant learning benefits for students and their writing processes while framing these benefits in terms of affect and the practical aspects of working online. Ehmann Powers ends with a series of implications for this research and the need for ongoing study of these issues.

Keywords: tutors: English, online writing center, asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction, faculty perceptions, research

OWI Principles 13, 14, 15

Ehmann Powers, Christa, and Beth Hewett. “Building Online Training for Virtual Workplaces.” Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices, edited by Pavel Zemliansky and Kirk St. Amant, Idea Group, 2007, pp. 257-71.

Ehmann Powers and Hewett address online and global workplace writing concerns for by outlining strategies for designing and implementing appropriate employee  document strategies and solutions for employers who design and implement online professional development and training programs for their employees. When employees work online and at a distance, not only are their everyday communications conducted online, but the authors theorize that the training also should occur in that setting, which focuses the training to the environment in which the work occurs rather than on the fiscal and practical concerns of bringing employees together in one geographical space. The authors ground their recommendations in common educational principles that have been used in a variety of fields. They offer a rationale for the training, a theoretical and practical framework, and a model for scalable and efficient training activities.  work provides (1) a rationale for leveraging the Internet for human adaptive training,  (2) a theoretical framework for practice, and (3) a model for deploying scalable and efficient training activities. The rationale and recommendations offered can inform OWI practices to include teaching and learning activities for students, and training and ongoing professional development for instructors.

Keywords: technical and professional writing, faculty development, professional development: English, business writing

OWI Principles: 4, 6, 7

Ehmann, Christa, and Beth L. Hewett. “OWI Research Considerations.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 517-46.

Ehmann and Hewett address key issues of research into OWI by considering development of research questions, theoretical frameworks, methods, analytical approaches, and dissemination venues. After a literature review that supports the exigency for OWI research, they discuss the need for qualitative and quantitative research, and they provide an analysis of some methodological research approaches with emphasis on replicable, aggregable, and data-supported (RAD) research. Organizationally, they align their literature review and discussions of various research topics with the OWI Principles and offer a series of research questions that readers can develop into potentially useful projects. OWI Principle 1 regarding access and inclusivity is a primary concern as it is one of the least explored considerations of online literacy instruction. Among the topics they consider for research are online tutoring, automated writing evaluation (AWE), and massive open online courses (MOOCs). This chapter may be especially helpful to those seeking to develop core research projects in OWI.

Keywords: access, automated writing evaluation, MOOCs, qualitative research, quantitative research, research, online writing center

OWI Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 15

Ekahitanond, Visara. “Students’ Perception and Behavior of Academic Integrity: A Case Study of a Writing Forum Activity.” Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, vol. 15, no. 4, 2014, pp. 150-61. DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals, doi:10.17718/tojde.55218.

This article researches students’ behavior and perception of academic integrity in an online discussion forum. Ekahitanond expresses concern about the authenticity of student responses in online learning environments and how instructors can adjust teaching methods to better address this concern. After participating in a written discussion forum, students were given an initial questionnaire to measure their perception of academic integrity and record their experience violating this policy. An interview was further conducted to investigate the reasons for dishonesty. Findings suggest that students do not have a clear understanding of academic misconduct, leading them to acts of plagiarism or collusion. Ekahitanond concludes that instructors should clearly inform students of the rules for good writing and what explicitly constitutes academic integrity. While not explicitly about OWI, this article demonstrates the need to be explicit when addressing academic integrity when creating and facilitating online writing courses.

Keywords: plagiarism, student perceptions, surveys

OWI Principles:  10, 11, 15

Elder, Catherine, et al.  “Evaluating Rater Responses to an Online Training Program for L2 Writing Assessment.” Language Testing, vol. 24, no. 1, 2007, pp. 37-64.

Elder et al. discuss the methodology and findings of a study conducted to investigate rater reactions to an online evaluation program designed to decrease variability and enhance reliability of rater scores. Data was collected in three phases to compare rater perceptions and mark behavior before and after training: pre-training questionnaire, online rater training, and post-training questionnaire. Diagnostic English Language Needs Assessment (DELNA) writing samples were given to the study group—most of whom were ESL instructors—to rate the fluency, content, and form of the samples. Once samples were rated, participants answered a brief survey dealing with training. Participants then took online DELNA training and were then asked to re-rate previous writing samples and fill out a follow-up survey. The findings suggest individual variation in receptiveness to training input and its effectiveness. Researchers conclude with suggesting a refinement of the online training program as well as further research into the factors influencing rater responsiveness.

Keywords:  ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, L2, assessment, surveys, qualitative research, faculty development

OWI Principles:  1, 6, 7, 15

English, Joel. Plugged In: Succeeding as an Online Learner, Wadsworth, 2014.

English’s book is targeted to students, but instructors can benefit from its content as well. English makes the argument that though online courses are convenient, it does not mean they are easy. He provides students with a realistic picture of what to expect from an online course and the tools and skills sets the will need or need to develop in order to be successful. He argues that students need to be honest with themselves about their computer skills, motivation, priorities, responsibilities, and how much they can take on at one time. English gives four fundamentals—motivation, self-discipline, communication and commitment—as his tools to success and elaborates on each throughout the book. The main emphasis of this book is outlining the differences between face-to-face and online courses with the aim of bringing awareness to students and instructors alike.

Keywords: retention, student success, student preparation, time management

OWI Principles: 1, 4, 10

F

Faigley, Lester. “Subverting the Electronic Workbook: Teaching Writing Using Networked Computers.” The Writing Teacher as Researcher, edited by Donald A. Daiker and Max Morenberg, Boynton, 1990, pp. 290-311.

Faigley provides an overview of an early networked classroom (1988) as one of the first versions of  an online discussion board used in a computer-mediated classroom. The students discussed a literary work the class, and the article provides a transcript of that discussion to demonstrate how discussion boards challenge the teacher’s control in an online setting. The transcript demonstrates that, unlike in traditional face-to-face discussions, instructors become students, or at least equal participants, in the online discussion board. He argues that student anonymity regarding gender is greater in the online discussion board and that closure does not need to be as artificial as it can be in the traditional face-to-face discussion. Faigley’s work addresses some of the early benefits and difficulties of implementing networked discussion boards, and while some of the data is only anecdotal, provides an early perspective on how discussion boards will challenge faculty authority in the online classroom.

Keywords: networked classrooms, discussions: English, gender

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 11

Ferganchick-Neufang, Julia K. “Harassment On-line: Considerations for Women & Webbed Pedagogy.” Kairos, vol. 2, no. 2, 1997, kairos.technorhetoric.net/2.2/binder2.html?coverweb/julia/honline.html.

Ferganchick-Neufang acknowledges the benefits of writing on the web to support student writing and to democratize the classroom, but she warns that we should not ignore problems that online instruction can create for women and people of color.  She focuses specifically on the issue of student-to-teacher harassment by first discussing a previous study on student-to-teacher harassment of women instructors in the traditional, face-to-face classroom. Despite being in positions of authority within the classroom, female instructors who responded to the survey for the study relayed incidents of sexual harassment and threats of violence from male students. The author warns that despite notions of computer-mediated instruction creating egalitarian spaces and discourses, the dangers female instructors can face in the traditional classroom are still present in online environments. She points to the exclusion of women in the fields of computer technology and virtual reality and discusses the real and perceived differences in computer expertise of men and women, which could hurt the ethos of a female instructor wanting to teach with computers. The author then points out that the opportunity for anonymity online may encourage the participation of some students to be aggressive or hostile. She provides the transcript from a MOO used in a class to demonstrate this point, noting that harassment through writing, like harassment that occurs over email or in virtual reality environments, is often ignored or brushed aside. This harassment is real, and female instructors should have administrative support when they are harassed in virtual environments. The article concludes with suggestions for addressing these concerns, including 1) not obscuring these difficulties by focusing too much on the positive possibilities of web pedagogy, 2) training students in netiquette, 3) creating disruptive behavior policies appropriate for web environments, and 4) opening up channels of communication regarding this issue. Though dated, this article provides an important perspective on issues and challenges that OWI instructors, particularly female instructors, might face.

Keywords: gender, race, surveys, qualitative research, email,

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 10, 11, 15

Fey, Marion H., and Michael J. Sisson. “Approaching the Information Superhighway: Internet Collaboration Among Future Writing Teachers.” Computers and Composition, vol. 13, no. 1, 1996, pp. 37–47.

Fey and Sisson detail the results of using computer-networked groups for future teachers of writing in order to both expose them to the technologies they would be using in their classrooms and to help them “experience the liberatory effects of collaborative pedagogy in long-distance, computer-mediated writing classes” (37). Sisson was a student in Fey’s class and provides a student’s perspective on the collaborative groups. Students initially met Fey for a face-to-face orientation and then collaborated primarily online. Sisson identifies technology difficulties experienced by various members of the group as well as the content that helped them to develop a close online community from their respective schools. Fey provides a final overview of how these online communities helped student teachers, particularly those in rural areas, to be more connected through the important transition from student to teacher, easing the sometimes difficult transition into the professional world.

Keywords: collaboration, community, faculty development, WAC

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 11, 15

Fleckenstein, Kristie S. “Faceless Students, Virtual Places: Emergence and Communal Accountability in Online Classrooms.” Computers and Composition, vol. 22, no. 2, 2005, pp. 149-76. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2005.02.003.

Fleckenstein highlights through concrete examples the difficulty of maintaining “communal accountability,” defined as “the reciprocal commitment among individuals to act in ways that promote the evolution and health of their interconnections online as is typical in face-to-face classrooms,” in online first-year composition classrooms (150). She argues that a complex-systems approach will allow for a language that honors both the sophistication of interactions in the online classroom as well as the individual activities that “comes into existence through . . . transactivity” or the transformative interaction that causes each element to change and become part of a larger entity (154). She outlines the challenges, including attendance for small group meetings, and describes in detail how the complex-systems approach gives us a new language and clearer understanding of the dynamics of place in online classes, one that goes beyond the initial attraction that students have to be able to be both in their homes and in their classes at the same time. Fleckenstein recommends that instructors in online courses should 1) “increas[ing] students’ opportunities to share language by offering multiple environments with multiple ways to link to each other,” 2) “reconfigure the online classroom is to open multiple chat windows,” and 3) “institute at the beginning of a semester a stop word, such as “stop,” that any student can use when the discussion careens out of control” (167). Overall, Fleckenstein calls for online instructors to be more cognizant of the ways that actions they take influence the ecology of the class, both positively and negatively.

Keywords: community, collaboration, first-year composition, discussion: English

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Ford, Michele. “Preparing Students for Assessment in the On-Line Class.” New Directions for Teaching and Learning, vol. 2002, issue 91, Fall 2002, pp. 77–82.

Ford suggests the need to explain to students what standards will be used for classroom assessment in online courses. Because online students might struggle to understand course concepts and assessments, Ford suggests using email and web postings for communicating assessment expectations. In addition, Ford provides suggestions for creating a sound syllabus, clear and robust rubrics, and a student-centered environment. This article reminder online faculty that redundancy is in online classes is essential to enhance student understanding and provides a brief overview of sound online course design that has been expanded by other scholars.

Keywords: assessment, feedback, course and program design: English, email

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

G

Gerrard, Lisa. “Feminist Research in Computers and Composition.” Computers in the Composition Classroom, edited by Michelle Sidler et al., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007, pp. 377-400.

This chapter sets an agenda for research of the association of computers with masculinity and how this can impact female students and how computers can both support and challenge feminist pedagogy. The author first considers how cultural associations with computers and computer technologies like video games often provide males more access to and experience with computers than females and how these different experiences could make female students reticent about computer-mediated instruction and learning. She suggests we need to understand the attitudes and experiences of students with these technologies. She then looks at how computers could support feminist pedagogies, focusing specifically on the internet as a place to share experiences which she suggests supports the consciousness-raising goal of feminist methodology. She shows, however, that studies have demonstrated conflicting results of whether female students did freely express their feelings in online settings and calls for further attention to how web spaces can encourage students to be open about their experiences. The author also advocates further research into how computer technology can be utilized to support the feminist goal of democratizing the classroom. Other potential areas of future research presented by the author include examining gendered experience of aggressive discourse online and testing assumptions about gendered learning styles and gendered writing and rhetorical styles within the computer-based classroom. Finally, the author calls for research into gender dynamics within the field of computers and composition studies itself. This chapter enumerates several areas of research for those interested in OWI and gender, many of which have been largely left unexplored currently within the field.

Keywords: gender, computer-mediated communication, research, gender, critical pedagogy

OWI Principles: 11, 15

Gibson, Keith and Diane Martinez. “From Divide to Continuum: Rethinking Access in Online Education.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2013, pp. 197-212.

Online education relies heavily on technology to make online courses available to students who typically cannot attend face-to-face classes due to various reasons, including scheduling classes, cost, and distance. While online teachers experiment with new technologies to increase the availability of online learning, Gibson and Martinez suggest that using new, innovative technologies may result in online courses that are equally inaccessible to students as are some face-to-face classes. All online students do not have the same access to high-quality, fast Internet connections. While many online technologies are effective with low-speed Internet access, many pedagogical choices are better-suited for faster, higher-speed Internet connections.  Some student populations have access to the same technologies that a university may provide for the instructor, but not all students will have that same access. Gibson and Martinez propose that the digital divide has become a digital continuum where speed and mobility of online access are impacted by cost, availability, and age of user. These factors can affect digital teaching and learning negatively based upon the type of online access a student has. Accordingly, all pedagogical choices should be made with a diverse student population in mind, considering the digital continuum, focusing first and foremost on pedagogy and later on the best technologies to enact that pedagogy in accessible ways for all students.

Keywords: accessibility, teaching with technology: English, non-traditional students

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3

Gillam, Ken, and Shannon R. Wooden. “Re-embodying Online Composition: Ecologies of Writing in Unreal Time and Space.” Computers and Composition, vol. 30, no. 1, Mar. 2013, pp.  24-36. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2012.11.001.

Gillam and Wooden draw on Marilyn Cooper’s ecological theories of composition to describing a multi-step assignment approach to online first-year composition pedagogy. They acknowledge that, compared to face-to-face collaborative interaction, it can be difficult for students to develop and express online personalities. They illustrate how to make peer groups central to online learning through using discussion boards and e-mail to work through a carefully scaffolded sequence of assignments to move students through several layers of ecological interaction: from individual considerations, to inclusion in their small group through email, to larger considerations involving the whole class through discussion boards..

Keywords: first-year composition, course and program design: English, collaboration, discussion: English, scaffolding, email

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Gillette, David. “Pedagogy, Architecture, and the Virtual Classroom.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 21-36.

Gillette discusses the pedagogical shifts from a traditional instructor role to those of course designer, technical support, and online teacher when transitioning to an online learning environment. He details the technology that one must familiarize oneself with in course design, maintenance, and communication, such as computer literacy, web design and graphics software, and browser and email functionality. By using the physical spaces and architecture of the university—lecture halls, workshops, student lounges, research centers—as a metaphor, Gillette explores the virtual space that must be created to best accommodate students’ educational experience and navigation in a student-centered course. He concludes that despite the challenges an instructor will face with the shifting roles of design and instruction in an online platform, the entire interaction with the course and materials becomes the student’s educational exploration. While dated, this article is helpful for faculty who are considering a conceptual framework as they move from face-to-face to online instruction.

Keywords:  course and program design: English, teaching with technology: English, navigation

OWI Principles: 3, 4

Good, Jennifer, and Kellie Shumack. “If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them: Emphasizing Writing Instruction and Online Learning in Faculty Professional Development.” Journal of Faculty Development, vol. 27, no. 2, 2013, pp. 5-10.

Good and Shumack argue that the same sorts of best practices used in OWI can, in several ways and for several good reasons, transfer over to online faculty professional development across the disciplines. This essay reports on a study of WAC faculty members’ thoughts on their experiences in using OWI-inspired training practices to enhance and improve teaching and learning in their writing-intensive courses. Some of the findings that emerged from the study, and have subsequently led to programmatic adjustments, include 1) adding Powerpoint slides to all presentations so that faculty can get a clearer sense of how their training can be realized in their instruction (including how individual peer interactions and evaluations can be accomplished through Blackboard, Jing, MyCompLab, and VoiceThread); 2) including a face-to-face orientation session was added to the overall training design; and 3) a decision to switch from Audacity to Jing for asynchronous recorded learning materials.

Keywords: faculty development, WAC, Blackboard, teaching with technology: English, audio, video, orientation, asynchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 7, 12, 15  

Goodfellow, Robin, and Mary R. Lea. “Supporting Writing for Assessment in Online Learning.” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 30, no. 3, 2005, pp. 261-71.

This paper illustrates research conducted in the Open University’s MA, an Online and Distance Education Programme in the United Kingdom, one where distance students interact with a tutor who provides written assessment of their work. Goodfellow and Lea suggest that online discussion board interactions are commonly seen as representative pieces of student writing that are often used in assessment practices in terms of measuring student participation on the course; however, the authors argue that these writings should be viewed as written rhetorical practices in their own right and not just as indicators of social presence. When interviewing non-native and native speakers in the programme, the authors found that the non-native students perceived themselves as being at a disadvantage when participating in conference-type discussion boards because they took longer to respond than native speakers, and often, by the time they did post, the discussion had moved on. In addition, the students felt as though the tutors’ comments on their writing in these spaces did not take into consideration the complexities of joining the online forums as non-native speakers. To increase non-native speakers’ success in the programme, the authors designed “eWrite,” a repository of resources that attempted to provide the student view of writing issues by highlighting students’ personal accounts of working within an online course, orienting themselves to academic study, and learning “Anglo-American academic communication conventions” (268). The space allows for students and tutors to comment on the writing and the issues of social interaction raised within the documents in eWrite. The authors suggest that the new program helps raise both student and tutor awareness of “academic writing as social practice and the consequence of this raised awareness for the development of student writers and the diversity of the texts they produce” (268); the new software can also help make the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students more explicit, which can ultimately aid in student production of written work, as well as within instructor assessment of the work these students produce in discussion boards.

Keywords: assessment, tutors: English, collaboration, discussion: English, feedback, student-to-student interaction, teaching with technology: English, ELL, ESL, multilingual writers

OWI Principles: 1, 6, 10, 11, 13

Goodfellow, Robin, Pat Strauss, and Marianne Puxley. “Web-based Writing Support: Making it Usable for Teachers.” European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-Learning. 26 Mar. 2012, www.eurodl.org/?p=current&article=492.

Goodfellow et al. argue that instructors in the disciplines who lack writing expertise may benefit from online writing resources as they teach distance courses. They propose a system to help faculty select relevant instruction to incorporate into comments on student writing. The authors developed categories to organize seventy common writing problems, then identified three to seven readily available online resources related to each problem type.  This information was organized on a website with links to the online writing resources that instructors could reference in their student feedback. The system was piloted with three instructors of a distance Masters of Education course. Though it took faculty extra time, the authors note that such a system of organizing writing resources was found useful by the instructors.

Keywords: online writing labs, feedback, WID

OWI Principles: 3, 13

Gos, Michael W. “Nontraditional Student Access to OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 309-46.

Gos discusses providing increased access and support to non-traditional students, positing that the online classroom can be a positive space for hard-to-reach audiences, including non-traditional, working-class, older students and remote students (rural, urban, military, and incarcerated students). The author first examines where such students can access computers and digital tools before turning focus to the digital divide and how instructors can narrow this gap. Non-traditional students often have limited access to computers or the Internet, and some lack the skills and time needed to succeed in an online writing course. Still others may feel anxious using newer digital technology. When access is available, lower-income students may not have the resources to buy computers that house the up-to-date technologies that OWI may require. Students who have limited access to resources or have to negotiate time restrictions can find participating in discussion boards or writing assignments difficult. Because asynchronous OWI courses often require that students do much of the writing on their own time, limited access to digital tools and the Internet can hinder the non-traditional student who might view the online class as being writing and time intensive. Gos suggests that instructors provide resources students can easily download with narrow bandwidth and create files that can be opened directly in the Learning Management System (LMS). Because access and technology skills may be limited, instructors and institutions should prepare students for the “unique and technological and pedagogical components of OWI” by creating both text and video guides, including short face-to-face course orientations. Overall, Gos suggests that instructors can help non-traditional students succeed in OWI classes by creating resources that cater to various learning styles and accessibility issues as well as guiding them toward university resources such as OWLs, 24/7 computer assistance, libraries, and counseling services.

Keywords: non-traditional students,  pedagogy: English, accessibility, teaching with technology: English, course management systems, student preparation, online writing labs, student success

OWI Principles: 2, 10, 13

Gouge, Catherine. “Conversation at a Crucial Moment: Hybrid Courses and the Future of Writing Programs.” College English, vol. 71, no. 4, 2009, pp. 338-62.

In this article, Gouge argues for the need to pay attention to the strong possibility that technology will increasingly pervade the teaching and learning of writing. She offers hybrid courses as the locus for this attention. The author emphasizes her belief that if compositionists do not take the initiative to open debates on the pros and cons of hybrid writing courses, others in administrative power positions will simply tell them what to do. Gouge elaborates on the fact that, because hybrid courses require more cross-institutional support than on-site courses, WPAs and their supporters need to discuss the challenges of hybrid courses on the departmental and programmatic level so they can have stronger voices at the college and university levels. In laying out her claims, Gouge covers the pros and cons of hybrid writing courses and offers several model hybrid programs from across the country. The author focuses on Texas Tech University’s ICON hybrid writing instruction program to highlight issues surrounding the objectivity/subjectivity debate in college writing assessment.         

Keywords: hybrid, assessment, writing program administration, course and program design: English    

OWI Principles: 4, 5, 12

Grady, Helen M., and Marjorie T. Davis. “Teaching Well Online with Instructional and Procedural Scaffolding.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 101-22.

Grady and Davis assert that strategic instructional design plays an integral role in developing a virtual learning space to foster a collaborative learning environment. A scaffolded approach to teaching and learning develops a collaborative learning space. In online classes, Grady and Davis argue, scaffolding “involves four major types of structure and cues: verbal, visual, textual, and procedural” (104). When teaching online, additional challenges exist in using these cues, making intentional course design even more critical. The majority of the chapter explores their instructional design model, which they refer to as “scaffolding for interactive online learning environments” (104). Key aspects of this design include 1) analysis of learners and tasks, 2) consideration of instructional strategy as it pertains to the online domain, 3) assessment and evaluation of student work, and 4) consideration of how scaffolding can enhance a sense of community.

Keywords: course and program design: English, instructional design, collaboration, scaffolding, community

OWI Principles: 3, 4

Grant-Davie, Keith. “An Assignment Too Far: Reflecting Critically on Internships in an Online Master’s Program.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood Publishing, 2005, pp. 219-27.

Grant-Davie provides a description of an internship assignment developed for online students in Utah State’s online master’s program in technical writing, identifies problematic language in the assignment construction, and identifies ways in which the internship assignment was strengthened based on feedback from students and colleagues. Complications with the assignment centered around the need for those completing the internship to have a foundation of scholarly knowledge that might best be developed in a seminar rather than in individual student work with faculty. This chapter demonstrates the importance of praxis in online education and the need for faculty to examine how they communicate with online writing students in assignment descriptions and the importance of receiving formative feedback.

Keywords: internships, praxis, graduate programs, reflection, instructional design, technical and professional writing

OWI Principles: 3, 11

Griffin, June, and Deborah Minter. “The Rise of the Online Writing Classroom: Reflecting on the Material Conditions of College Composition Teaching.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 65, no.1, 2013, pp. 140-61.

Drawing on results of the 2012 survey of online instructors conducted by the CCCC Committee on Best Practices in Online Writing Instruction (OWI), Griffin and Minter address opportunities for student literacy learning and collaboration provided by emerging technologies. At the same time, they point to the challenges of access for many students, including those who are English language learners, economically disadvantaged, or physically disabled. For faculty, the OWI survey results emphasize the need for workload compensation, class size limits, and training in technological tools and online pedagogy. Griffin and Minter observe that the information available within online courses offers an opportunity for data comparisons across institutions that may lead to better assessment of online teaching quality.

Keywords: accessibility, faculty workload, course caps, faculty development, surveys, ELL, ESL, multilingual writers

OWI Principles: 1, 7, 11, 12

Guanwardena, Charlotte N., and Frank J. Zittle. “Social Presence as a Predictor of Satisfaction Within a Computer-Mediated Conferencing Environment.” American Journal of Distance Education, vol. 11, no. 3, 1997, pp. 8-26.

Gunawardena and Zittle argue that social presence is a “strong predictor” of student satisfaction in a distance education setting. To determine this, the authors conducted a study to determine how social presence affects student satisfaction within a computer conference environment. According to Gunawardena and Zittle, many studies have examined the influence of social presence in face-to-face classes, but few studies explore this influence in the online domain. Fifty graduate students from five universities participated in this 1993 study that was based on an inter-university computer conference that offered a forum for graduate students to discuss their experiences with distance education. They completed a questionnaire to assess their opinions towards computer-mediated communication (CMC), the conference, and theoretical factors perceived to impact CMC. This study is relevant to OWI instructors because it establishes the significance of instructors using varied methods to communicate and teach online students to enhance the social presence of the course. Essentially, online faculty need to adapt to the online domain by developing communication skills that are best-suited for online teaching, which vary from the skills that are known to work face-to-face.

Keywords: instructor interaction, graduate students, computer-mediated communication, distance education,

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Guglielmo, Letizi. “Feminist Online Writing Courses: Civic Rhetoric, Community Action, and Student Success.” Computers and Composition Online, Spring 2009, www2.bgsu.edu/departments/english/cconline/CCO_Feminism/author.html.

This article discusses the impact of feminist course design on the development of community, the decentering of the virtual classroom, and student success and retention in online first-year writing courses. Guglielmo first examines the scholarship regarding technology in the traditional classroom and the loss of social aspects in online learning environments when shifting from a teacher-centered classroom to a student-centered classroom. She then defines feminist teaching and learning spaces through several pedagogical sources. Her study involved two sections of online writing and research where each section was asked to introduce themselves, discuss and provide netiquette in forum, and answer a set of questions throughout the course of the semester. Guglielmo concludes that students felt involved in shaping the course and felt they were responsible for their learning. The article concludes with future considerations in expanding opportunities for student collaboration and participation, while fostering co-teaching among students in online courses.

Keywords: student engagement, gender, community, retention, first-year composition, pedagogy: English, collaboration

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

H

Hailey, David E., et al. “Online Education Horror Stories Worthy of Halloween: A Short List of Problems and Solutions in Online Instruction.” Computers and Composition, special issue Distance Education: Promises and Perils of Teaching and Learning Online, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 387-97. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(01)00070-6.

David Hailey, Keith Grant-Davie, and Christine A. Hult address the potential “volatility” of the online classroom as instructors who are not prepared fully for teaching online are hijacked by students whose online attacks can threaten the instructors’ careers. Using concrete examples from online classrooms, the authors problem issues, such as inappropriate behavior, inappropriate collaborations, unteachable moments, and inappropriate channels for complaint, can subvert learning in the online classroom (388-391). The article describes why “flame wars” can derail an online discussion as “the combined effects of not having to look the audience in the eye, yet being able to compose and deliver an informal message to them within minutes or even seconds, may explain people’s tendency to suspend politeness and flame each other in online discussions” (393). Hailey et al. conclude the article with suggestions for instructors (including frequent email communication with students who are struggling and frequent presence in online discussion forums and other interactive areas of the class) and administrators dealing with issues of hostility in online classes.

Keywords: student perceptions, faculty satisfaction, discussion: English, email

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Handayani, Nani Sri. “Emerging Roles In Scripted Online Collaborative Writing In Higher Education Context.” Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 67, Dec. 2012, 370-79. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.340.

Handayani’s study investigates students’ competencies in completing collaborative written assignments following what he calls a “script,” which is defined as “a series of instructions prescribing how students should form groups, how they should interact and collaborate, and how they should solve [a] problem” (371). The researcher used a multiple case study design with eighteen students in an Introduction to the Learning Sciences class at the University of Sydney. Data was collected from recorded face-to-face group sessions, from online discussion spaces, and from in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants. The results indicated that while each group included members who evolved into particular group roles, the script was interpreted differently than what the researcher had intended. The three groups had varying levels of participation, which led Handayani to conclude that due to the variation in group work among the members, “it may be necessary to increase the role of the teacher during collaboration or to structure collaboration more strictly” (378). This research reinforces the need for faculty participation in hybrid or blended group projects and provides research into how blended groups operate when provided a specific plan of action for a group project.

Keywords: collaboration, discussion: English, case study, qualitative research, interviews, instructor interaction, hybrid, mixed methods

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 10, 11, 15

Harrington, Susanmarie, et al., editors. The Online Writing Classroom. Hampton Press, 2000.

This collection, edited by Susanmarie Harrington, Michael Day, and Becky Rickly, was published at a point where the “online writing classroom” primarily meant the networked or computer-mediated classroom. Harrington, Rickly, and Day bring together scholars who are working to view the lore of computerized and networked classrooms with “a more critical view” (3). The collection is divided into three parts: 1) Focus on Pedagogy, which “offer[s] a sense of the potentials and pitfalls of the online classroom by providing examples of pedagogical approaches and possible solutions” to problems with computerized and networked classrooms (15); 2) Focus on Community, which brings together chapters discussing successful pedagogies that build participatory community in computer-mediated courses; and 3) Focus on Administration, which focuses on the “behind the scenes” practices of departmental support, faculty preparation, and the material concerns of administering a writing program in computer classrooms. This collection rests on the line between the traditional, face-to-face classroom and the fully-online classroom and provides a rich historical context for how faculty and administrators navigated the move from face-to-face to online classrooms.

Keywords: pedagogy: English, faculty development, teaching with technology: English, community, writing program administration, online writing programs, assessment, networked classrooms, computer-mediated courses

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12

Harris, Heidi Skurat, et al. “Translation, Transformation, and ‘Taking it Back’: Moving Between Face-to-Face and Online Writing in the Disciplines.” The WAC Journal, vol. 25, 2014, pp. 106-26.

Heidi Harris, Tawnya Lubbes, Nancy Knowles and Jacob Harris describe a workshop conducted at Eastern Oregon University where the attendees were both face-to-face instructors making the shift to the online environment and experienced online instructors seeking to improve their writing intensive courses in a variety of disciplines. Based on discussions within the workshop, the authors present three stages of moving between online and face-to-face classes: 1) the translation stage where instructors attempt to move face-to-face pedagogy into the online classroom with little change in pedagogy; 2) the transformation stage, in which instructors, through trial-and-error, attempt to translate the pedagogy more appropriately for the online classroom; and 3) the “taking it back” stage, where instructors convert practices within the online class to deliver in face-to-face classes. The authors suggest that promoting effective writing instruction online poses three main challenges, including “promoting student engagement and interaction, helping students navigate the overwhelming amount of reading and writing in the online classroom, and scaffolding and sequencing course activities to help online students complete longer writing assignments effectively” (110). In response to these challenges, the authors offer suggestions that closely align with the OWI Principles. Harris et al. describe the instructors’ challenges and successes as they moved through the three transition stages of teaching online; the article offers theoretical and practical approaches for teaching online and can be used by administrators and instructors alike when promoting training for online teaching

Keywords: teacher training, curriculum development, instructional design, pedagogy: English, WAC, discussion: WAC, collaboration, scaffolding, student engagement, student-to-student interaction, instructor interaction

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7

Harris, Leslie D., and  Cynthia A. Wambeam. “The Internet-Based Composition Classroom: A Study in Pedagogy.” Computers and Composition, vol. 13, no. 3, 1996, pp. 353–71.

Harris and Wambeam describe an early version of an online course in which students connected students synchronously through a MOO and asynchronously through an email list. The article is a report on the design and pilot study of an online environment that connected first-year composition classes in Pennsylvania and Wyoming. Through this connection, Harris and Wambeam support the critical thinking and persuasive skills that are a part of the classrooms built around social constructionism. The article builds a body of theory on building playful communities in writing courses and then moves to a description of the pilot study, a mixed methods study of students’ internet journals and MOO meetings along with a pre-and post-test and questionnaires in order to measure whether “students improved as writers, but also whether computer-mediated discussions contributed to or helped foster their improvement” (360). Their results were that the experimental internet-based classroom was more effective in improving student writing. Harris and Wambeam conclude with an invitation for others to participate in similar classrooms to encourage active participation in writing classrooms.

Keywords: MOO, community, discussion: English, synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction, mixed methods, qualitative research, first-year composition, social constructionism

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 15

Harris, Muriel. “From the (Writing) Center to the Edge: Moving Writers along the Internet.” The Clearing House, vol. 69, no. 1, 1995, pp. 21-23.

Harris analyzes what were, in 1995, the three most common methods of electronic writing center work: (1) email, (2) Multi-user domain Object Oriented (MOO) environments, and (3) the Internet. Email allows students to more easily send writing to tutors, MOOs enable quick conversations, and the Internet provided some mix of each. This is one of the earliest theoretical explorations of OWI in the writing center setting.

Keywords: online writing center, MOO, email, tutoring: English, community, computer-mediated communication

OWI Principles:  13, 14

Harris, Muriel. “Using Computers to Expand the Role of Writing Centers.” Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum, edited by Donna Reiss et al., National Council of Teachers of English, 1998, pp. 3-16.

An early discussion Online Writing Labs (OWLs), this chapter discusses the value of developing a central online site (hosting a variety of Internet communication platforms) for achieving the mission of university writing centers. Starting with how a tutoring session might go with and without access to an OWL, Harris recounts many other features and functions of various OWLs, especially the Purdue OWL. In particular, she examines how OWLs can serve as hubs for distance collaboration, as repositories for student and instructor resources, and as highly visible channels for outreach to developing writers across the globe and across the educational spectrum. Harris notes, however, that there are many institutional challenges to establishing a successful OWL, not the least of which includes acquiring funding for trained personnel who can develop and maintain the site’s writing resources within ever-changing electronic environments.

Keywords: online writing labs, writing centers, online resources, collaboration, WAC, tutoring: English

OWI Principles: 11, 13, 14

Harris, Muriel, and Michael Pemberton. “Online Writing Labs (OWLs): A Taxonomy of Options and Issues.” Computers and Composition, vol. 12, no. 2, 1995, pp. 145-59. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/8755-4615(95)90003-9.

Harris and Pemberton’s article provides a review of how writing centers in the mid 1990s implemented online tutoring. The article discusses how OWLs might transition from face-to-face to online, giving helpful advice for these writing center directors. The technologies used in the mid-1990s, including email, Gopher, World Wide Web (WWW), newsgroups, synchronous chat systems, and automated file retrieval (AFR) systems, provide the precursors to tools and technologies that are still in use for OWLs in the 21st century. Harris and Pemberton analyze how user access, network security, computer illiteracy, institutional missions, writing center goals, computing center priorities, and computer programmers’ attitudes all impact the success of online writing centers. Successful OWLs place pedagogical goals ahead of technology use, according to Harris and Pemberton. This article is important for anyone interested in studying the development of OWLs. Written by two of writing centers’ most esteemed scholars, this essay maps out the pros and cons of the various tools available for OWLs in the 1990s.

Keywords: online writing lab, writing centers, online resources, tutoring: English, synchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 1, 13

Hawisher, Gail E. “Electronic Meetings of the Minds: Research, Electronic Conferences, and Composition Studies.” Re-imagining Computers and Composition: Teaching and Research in the Virtual Age, edited by Gail E. Hawisher and Paul LeBlanc. Boynton/Cook, 1992, 81-101.

Hawisher surveys what was at the time a small body of research on the electronic conference or “computer-mediated communication” (synchronous and asynchronous) in the composition class. Previewing many preoccupations of the research that has since emerged on online writing instruction, Hawisher points to the potential benefits of electronic conferences—including emphasis on writing, expanded ideas of audience, sense of community, high level of involvement, equitable participation, and decentering of authority—as well drawbacks—including flaming, communication anxiety, sensory overload, and replication of problems in traditional classrooms. In reviewing the research on electronic writing classes, Hawisher emphasizes the connection between the kinds of communication foregrounded by electronic writing pedagogy and compositionists’ increasing emphasis on social theories of writing.

Keywords: computer-mediated communication, synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction, audience, community, student engagement, pedagogy: English, social constructionism

OWI principles: 3, 4, 11

Hawisher, Gail, and Michael A. Pemberton. “Writing Across the Curriculum Encounters Asynchronous Learning Networks.” Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum, edited by Donna Reiss et al., National Council of Teachers of English, 1998, pp. 17-39.

Hawisher and Pemberton recount their exploration of Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) within three different courses in a WAC program, as well as for the purposes of conducting online writing workshops. The project was funded by a Sloan Foundation grant to study the use of such networks for “‘on or near campus’ learning” (18) and not primarily for online-only learning. The authors were particularly interested in examining what might happen when ALNs and WAC courses  come together. Brief examinations of ALN exchanges were used to show successes and shortcomings in assignment design and learner engagement as manifested in students’ electronic interactions. The authors concluded that ALN assignment designers should take into account already-recognized effective practices for WAC coursework, referencing Fulwiler. Moreover, Hawisher and Pemberton emphasize the importance of making students “accountable” for participation in order to ensure engagement in the online activities (36).

Keywords: asynchronous interaction, WAC, asynchronous learning networks, writing-to-learn, writing centers, student engagement

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Hawisher, Gail E., and Cynthia L. Selfe. “The Rhetoric of Technology and the Electronic Writing Class.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 42, no. 1, 1991, pp. 55-65.

Hawisher and Selfe explore their notion of the “rhetoric of technology.” The authors claim that, circa late 1980s, the rhetoric of technology in composition publications and presentations was all about uncritical enthusiasm aimed at persuading fellow compositionists of the value of teaching with technology. Hawisher and Selfe compare this idealist rhetoric to what they actually observed firsthand in computer-linked classrooms and during online conferences across the country. The authors conclude with cautionary warnings regarding the use of technology as yet another potential means of gate-keeping and authority-hoarding by well-meaning instructors of writing. They advise continuing scrutiny and critical inquiry so that practitioners can improve the teaching and learning of writing with technology, online or onsite.

Keywords: rhetoric of technology, computer-mediated classrooms, literature review, networked classrooms, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 4, 12

Hawisher, Gail E., and Cynthia L. Selfe, editors. Passions, Pedagogies, and 21st Century Technologies. Utah State UP, 1999.

Hawisher and Selfe compile one of the seminal collections dealing with technology use in the field of writing studies. The chapters in this collection investigate how “teaching and research are inherently social and political activities” (2) and that the collaborations that technologies promote among teachers and researchers encourage us to “share the important stories of teaching” and “reflect in critical ways on the work and profession that we share” (3). The collection is divided into four parts: 1) Refiguring Notions of Literacy in an Electronic World, 2) Revisiting Notions of Teaching and Access in an Electronic Age, 3) Ethical and Feminist Concerns in an Electronic World, and 4) Searching for Notions of our Postmodern Literate Selves in an Electronic World. This collection, while not explicitly about online writing instruction, brings together key players in the worlds of digital rhetoric and computer-mediated instruction to voice the concerns and promises that technology brought to the turn-of-the-21st-century writing studies world.

Keywords: collaboration, teaching with technology: English, literacy, accessibility, gender, identity, computer-mediated classrooms

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11

Hawisher, Gail E., and Cynthia Selfe. “Teaching Writing at a Distance: What’s Gender Got to Do With It?” Teaching Writing with Computers: An Introduction, edited by Pamela Takayoshi and Brian Huot, Houghton Mifflin, 2003, pp. 128-49.

Hawisher and Selfe discuss the roles of women as instructors and learners in a distance education setting. In doing so, they argue three premises. First, online environments have not succeeded in becoming the egalitarian spaces as many scholars in the field had hoped. Second, even making a claim that one can reduce gender differences in online courses to a single experience is not possible. Last, cultural and geographical contexts heavily influence how women experience online classes, both as students and as instructors. What can happen, Hawisher and Self argue, is that online classes can hope for creating classes that lead to the best possible learning environments for women. The article then addresses four elements: 1) statistics on and a working definition of distance education; 2) a review of research on distance education; 3) the views of five women who teach composition at a distance; and 4) the basics of a “feminist-informed pedagogy” for online and distance composition courses.

Keywords: gender, critical pedagogy, interviews, distance education

OWI Principles: 1, 4

Hawisher, Gail E., and Paul LeBlanc. Re-Imagining Computers and Composition: Teaching and Research in the Virtual Age, Boynton/Cook, 1992.

Hawisher and LeBlanc produce one of the first collections devoted to teaching writing with computers. It was compiled before the Internet age, so there is nothing specifically relating to OWI as we now conceive it, but the second section, titled “Looking Beyond Horizons: Teaching Writing on Networks,” provides interesting perspectives from some of the scholars considering the possibility of using technology to teach writing at a distance. Hugh Burns’ chapter on “Multimedia, Multinetworked Classrooms” is an especially interesting description of his first experience teaching students via network. This is an excellent text for reminding us of some of the expectations and apprehensions of OWI.

Keywords: multimedia, networked classrooms, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 2

Healy, Dave. “From Place to Space: Perceptual and Administrative Issues in the Online Writing Center.” Computers and Composition, vol. 12, no. 2, 1995, pp. 183-93. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/8755-4615(95)90006-3.

Healy argues that OWLs raise the issue of what the “space” of a writing center should be and whether the OWL is part of a decentring process that started as writing centers moved into dorms and other campus spaces. He provides a history of the debate regarding the “space” of the writing center, indicating that  “virtual writing center may be perceived differently by clients than the traditional, place-bound center” (185). He outlines the ways that decentralized, partially-online writing centers might affect the “scheduling, supervision, and ethos” of the writing center director and writing tutors. The article outlines a benefit of OWL work, the possibility of having a transcript of the tutoring sessions, a record of the “talk” of the conference (188). However, the “panopticon” effect that bringing technologies to the writing center conference would lead to is seen as both a positive and a negative. The article ends with a call from Healy to “preserve their semi-autonomous space” (191) of the writing center conference and to continue to focus on the human experience in any writing center modality.

Keywords: online writing labs, writing centers, tutoring: English

OWI Principles: 13, 14

Henning, Teresa. “Writing Professor as Adult Learner: An Autoethnography of Online Professional Development.” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, vol. 16, no. 2, 2012, pp. 9-26.

Henning argues that to overcome the challenges of preparing faculty for online teaching, faculty developers must take into account theories of adult learning. She reviews the literature concerning those challenges—which include instructors’ reluctance to change their teaching paradigms and roles, their concerns about shifting their work schedule or needing to devote more time to teaching than previously necessary, their difficulty learning to teach without visual or verbal cues, and their ability to use technology effectively—against the literature presenting adult learning theories—which suggest that adult learners require an environment that is respectful of their experience and that offers a degree of independence and self-direction. Henning synthesizes the two bodies of research to identify ways faculty developers can construct meaningful faculty development experiences. She then presents an autoethnography of her own experience auditing an online course called “ED 590: Designing Online Instruction” which she performed as a way of testing, challenging, and refining the ideas produced in her synthesis of the literature. Her presentation and analysis of her own experiences lead her to recommend that faculty developers should continue to research the factors that keep faculty from seeking out professional development for online teaching, explore how development experiences can better accommodate adult learners’ desire for control, ensure participants can self-direct their learning and avoid frustration while doing so, and encourage peer interaction and self-reflection. While this article is not specific to online writing instruction, its conclusions are applicable to the work that faculty developers and other teacher trainers do in the OWI field, and it provides many sound principles for the effective preparation of instructors.

Keywords: autoethnography, adult learners, non-traditional students, teacher training, professional development, reflection, student interaction

OWI principles: 7, 12

Hewett, Beth L. “The Characteristics and Effects of Oral and Computer-Mediated Peer Group Talk on the Argumentative Writing Process.” Dissertation, Catholic U of America, 1998.

In her doctoral dissertation, Hewett describes a naturalistic study with functional and qualitative analyzes and retrospective interviews regarding whether and how students use computer-mediated communication (CMC) and oral peer response group commentary differently when they revise their drafts. Using and adapting Anne Ruggles Gere’s 1985 linguistic function taxonomy and an iteratively derived revision analysis adapted from Lester Faigley and Stephen Witte’s 1981 revision analysis taxonomy, this study reveals key differences between uses of peer group response in asynchronous, hybrid CMC and oral settings. The “oral talk was more contextually-focused on abstract, global idea development; the CMC talk was more focused on concrete writing issues and group management; and each environment seemed to generate qualitatively different talk regarding referential and phatic contact” (ii). Referential and phatic talk were qualitatively different between the oral and text-based modalities. Both the talk and the student revision had different qualities between the two modalities, “suggesting that the medium shapes not only talk, but revision itself” (iii). Student individual writing styles and challenges revealed that students with visual or auditory challenges might have experienced better access in particular learning environments. Hewett’s study suggests a need for understanding CMC-based peer response as both connected to and separate from oral-based peer response. It suggests need for additional research into text-based peer response groups and the writing that emerges from them, as well as for research into how students with various learning disorders may benefit from either the traditional or online setting or a combination of both.

Keywords: asynchronous interaction, computer-mediated communication, hybrid, orality, revision, peer review, collaboration, quantitative research, qualitative research, modality, accessibility

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 15

Hewett, Beth L. “Characteristics of Interactive Oral and Computer-Mediated Peer Group Talk and Its Influence on Revision.” Computers and Composition, vol. 17, no. 3, 2000, pp. 265-88. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(00)00035-9.

Abstracted from her 1998 dissertation, Hewett details a naturalistic, functional, and qualitative study of interactive oral and computer-mediated communication- (CMC) generated (using Norton Connect) peer-response group talk and its influence on revision in two classes: a traditional oral class whose peer groups met orally and a hybrid asynchronous class whose peer groups worked via text. The CMC was a hybrid class where students met in a computer lab for each class. They interacted both orally and through text although text was the primary medium for peer group work. The study revealed that the interactive peer groups in both environments talked primarily about their writing. However, the talk had different qualities when students used different media, suggesting that medium shapes talk. Oral talk focused contextually on abstract, global, idea development, whereas written talk focused more on concrete writing tasks and group management. Each environment generated qualitatively different talk regarding referential and phatic contact. Revision changes revealed different qualities when developed in different environments, suggesting that medium shapes revision. Revision from talk included more frequent direct use of peer ideas, whereas revision from oral talk included more frequent intertextual (imitative and indirect) and self-generated idea use. Further study of these phenomena may confirm these findings and lead to additional theories of writing when that writing occurs in online settings and/or when peer response groups share ideas in online settings.

Keywords: asynchronous interaction, computer-mediated communication, hybrid, orality, peer review, revision, modality,

OWI Principles: 3, 15

Hewett, Beth L. “Theoretical Underpinnings of Online Writing Labs (OWLs).” The Owl Construction and Maintenance Guide, edited by James A. Inman and Clinton Gardner, International Writing Center Association Press, 2002, CD-ROM, https://www.slccswc.org/OWLguide/.

Hewett analyzes online writing labs (OWLs) both theoretically and practically, considering them not only natural outgrowths of the traditional onsite writing center but also sites of often misunderstood or unconsidered theoretical constructs, some of which do not fit the online model. Theoretically, she finds that OWLs tend to align with current-traditional, neo-classical, neo-Platonic (expressivist), and social constructivist positions. Practically, she finds that OWLs connect to the same theories: static learning materials can be connected to current-traditional thinking, for example, but this connection does not imply a negative utility for student learning even though contemporary scholars typically reject current-traditional thinking. Hewett finds theoretical complexity in both asynchronous and synchronous online tutorials and their resonance with the previous theories; she does not judge one as better than the other but sees each as a way of teaching students what they need to learn. She also considers OWLs through their utility as sites that support student and teacher publication, professional development, community outreach and support, writing across the curriculum (WAC), and inclusive learning support. Finally, Hewett provides offers her a vision of the OWL's as having a necessary place within a writing program in the same way that onsite, traditional writing centers have such a place, as critical to the writing program as a whole.

Keywords: current-traditional rhetoric, expressivism, neo-classical, online writing labs, social constructionism, asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction, faculty development, writing centers

OWI Principles 3, 4, 13, 14

Hewett, Beth L. “Asynchronous Online Instructional Commentary: A Study of Student Revision.” Readerly/Writerly Texts: Essays in Literary, Composition, and Pedagogical Theory, vol. 11, no. 1, 2004, pp. 47-67.

Hewett describes an empirical, practice-based study of asynchronous OWI undertaken to learn whether and how students apply commentary to their revision. The post-secondary developmental and first-year English students in the study received one-to-one asynchronous commentary from Smarthinking online instructors, called e-structors. The e-structor feedback was coded by breaking it down to idea units that revealed linguistically direct comments that inform, direct, and elicit and linguistically indirect comments that suggest. The students’ original and revised drafts were coded for revision changes according to Lester Faigley and Stephen Witte’s 1981 subtypes of revision changes. The study revealed that “the students 1) made approximately 40% of their revision changes in response to online instructional comments, 2) changed their writing more often at the surface formal and meaning altering levels from those comments, 3) revised in generally correct ways that had moderate to low rhetorical force, and 4) may have developed experientially from OWI.” This study addresses the fact that writing feedback provided in text-based, asynchronous online settings can lead to useful revision changes. However, it also reveals that students are more likely to use linguistically direct instructor feedback than linguistically indirect feedback, suggesting that knowledge of and training in writing such types of feedback is necessary.

Keywords: asynchronous interaction, feedback, revision, empirical research, developmental writing, first-year composition, grammar & style, quantitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7, 15

Hewett, Beth L. “Synchronous Online Conference-Based Instruction: A Study of Whiteboard Interactions and Student Writing.” Computers and Composition, vol. 23, no. 1, 2006, pp. 4-31. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2005.12.004.

Hewett reports on describes a small-scale, empirical study of synchronous conference-based OWI using an electronic whiteboard, where the tutorials were conducted by Smarthinking, Inc. tutors using their electronic whiteboard. She analyzed the talk of students and tutors involved in each tutorial using a previously tested linguistic analysis tool. Participant talk indicates that the interactions were focused on developing writing ideas and content and oriented to the task at hand as opposed to being oriented toward social exchange. However, despite the educationally transactional nature of the interactions, many interactions consisted of detailed dialogue in primarily declarative language. Nearly half of the talk was oriented toward communicative needs such as achieving interpersonal connections, facilitating the interaction, and communicating about the whiteboard's workspace. Most of the traceable writing and revision changes were meaning-preserving from the students’ original ideas and of minimal insignificant to moderate rhetorical force in terms of argument development. Hewett ends with suggestions for tutor training, preparing students for whiteboard use, and further research. The study suggests potential best practices for online instructor training, a need for student preparation to use whiteboard platforms, and ideas for future research into synchronous, text-based conferences.

Keywords: revision, empirical research, tutoring: English, synchronous interaction, revision, quantitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15

Hewett, Beth L. “Generating New Theory for Online Writing Instruction.” Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, vol. 6, no. 2, 2001, kairos.technorhetoric.net/6.2/binder.html?features/hewett/index.html.

In an article containing what may be the first published use of the term OWI, Hewett includes “computer-mediated communication (CMC) for classroom and writing/peer group situations, computer-based literary study, as well as individualized writing instruction such as that found in online writing lab (OWL) tutorials” under this term. This webtext specifically considers online writing labs and online writing courses (also known as CMC at that time) as examples of online settings where practice-based research is necessary for finding best practices in OWI. She outlines how the theories that ground OWI and OWLs particularly stem from the current-traditional, expressivist, neo-classical, and social constructivist constructs. Further, she provides examples and explications of tutorials from both asynchronous and synchronous (whiteboard-based) environments as tutored through Smarthinking, Inc. Finally, Hewett provides examples of tutor-to-tutor discussion threads that both demonstrate the educational principles of association and reveal self-reflective discussions.

Keywords: online tutoring, research, empirical research, online writing labs, theory, expressivism, constructivist, asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction, tutoring: English, reflection, discussion: English

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15

Hewett, Beth L. The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015.

In this book, formerly published by Heinemann Boynton/Cook in 2010, Hewett uses empirical research into online writing feedback and student revision to theorize that online writing students need especially clear and deliberate communication from their online instructors—both teachers and tutors. She calls this theory of OWI semantic integrity whereby the instructor is called on to consciously seek fidelity when communicating with students; in other words, the intention of the written message should be clearly delivered in language that helps students interpret the intention of the message. She also calls for instructors to intervene in the students’ writing in order to teach them what they can do in revision that might improve it. She provides a 4-step intervention plan of explaining 1) what the problem is, 2) why it is a problem, 3) how to address it (modeling revision using the student writing), and 4) to do something by working through next steps. Hewett expresses that online writing students may be served best when teachers and tutors use linguistically direct comments that inform students about their writing, direct their next steps in some manner, and elicit information through genuine questions (as opposed to rhetorical questions).  Her research indicates that students may not pay attention to linguistically indirect and conditional comments that suggest students might do something with their writing. She demonstrates how using indirection is inculcated into teachers and tutors through contemporary popular theory and practices and one-to-one tutoring where peer tutors are asked to consider themselves in Socratic positions with student writers.

Keywords: online conferencing, intervention, feedback, linguistically direct, linguistically indirect, semantic integrity, empirical research

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15

Hewett, Beth L. “Fully Online and Hybrid Writing Instruction.” A Guide to Composition Pedagogies, edited by H. Brooke Hessler et al., 2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2013, pp. 194-211.

In this article, Hewett provides a synopsis of OWI in both hybrid and fully online settings. Beginning with an historical view of literacy education, she considers early distance education and how OWI has caused specific concerns about quality, student learning, and empathetic interpersonal connection particularly. Hewett identifies six building blocks of OWI that, once defined for any institutional setting, can be moved about to form a unique OWI program or online writing course: (1) course setting, (2) pedagogical purpose, (3) digital modality, (4) medium, (5) student audience, and (6) technology availability. She purposefully addresses issues of technology last to demonstrate that despite its changeability, nearly any technology choices can be adapted to the online writing program or course purpose once the other five components are fully identified. She suggests some core resources that have been written with OWI’s earlier history in mind. Further, she considers issues of access, the need for more and better OWLs, and the development of financially compensated or otherwise rewarded training for teachers and tutors to be among the most critical concerns as OWI moves to the future.

Keywords: hybrid, literacy, distance education, pedagogy: English, modality, audience, accessibility, teaching with technology: English, online writing labs, tutoring: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14

Hewett, Beth L. Reading to Learn and Writing to Teach: Literacy Strategies for OWI, Bedford/St. Martins, 2015.

In this book, Hewett theorizes that the core literacy practice of reading is at the center of online writing instruction. In an online setting (whether hybrid or fully online, asynchronous or synchronous), much of the teaching and learning occurs through text, which must be read by students. When students are unskilled or weak readers, they may be less successful in online writing courses where their lesson content, primary readings, and teachers’ feedback and instructions typically are presented textually. Even when multimedia instructional tools are used for access or other reasons, reading is necessary for students to interpret teacher feedback to their writing and to then make use of such feedback in their revision. Teachers, too, face literacy issues in online writing courses as they must write content, instructions, and feedback for students using vocabulary and language that even less skilled readers can understand. Such writing differs dramatically from their typical scholarly writing. This book reviews the theory behind literacy challenges for the (new) nontraditional contemporary students whose reading habits are changing with digital technology. It provides specific literacy strategies for students (e.g., relearning such reading skills as metacognition, schema, inference, questioning, finding relevance, visualizing, analysis, and synthesis). It also provides writing strategies to help online writing instructors hone their writing to meet contemporary students’ literacy needs (e.g., using the 4-step intervention plan for feedback); such strategies include guidance for writing instructional text, providing readable feedback online, writing readable assignments, and offering thoughtful, tone-sensitive interpersonal communication.

Keywords: literacy, reading, multimedia, nontraditional student, intervention, feedback, assignment instructions, assignment design, assignment: English

OWI Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15

Hewett, Beth L. “Grounding Principles of OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 33-92.

Hewett provides the theoretical background that supports the OWI Principles. She explicates each OWI Principle and addresses it within the context of the first principle regarding access and inclusivity. Each OWI Principle is presented in its full text along with the rationale the OWI Committee had originally provided for each principle. Hewett then offers a discussion that provides the committee’s historical research and discussions regarding the principle; its theoretical rationale; its connections to replicable, aggregable, and data-supported (RAD) research; and its general importance to those who study, research, and teach with OWI.

Keywords: accessibility, asynchronous interaction, hybrid, research, synchronous interaction, CCCC OWI Committee

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Hewett, Beth L. “How Do You Feel? — Attitudes about Tutoring Online.” Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, edited by Sue Mendelsohn and Eliana Schonberg, Feb. 2004, www.praxisuwc.com/hewett-12/?rq=Hewett.

This article addresses issues that prospective online tutors should consider when preparing to tutor in online settings. Before making a decision, Hewett suggests that tutors determine their attitudes and comfort levels with technology. Although tutors need not be technology experts, the higher their skill levels with simple things like word processing tools, the better they can coach students in ways to change their writing. Hewett also asks tutors to consider their confidence in their abilities to work through a technological problem and their willingness to be uncomfortable while they learn. She also addresses the tutor’s attitudes about the relative values of working with technology for educational purposes. Specifically, Hewett asks prospective online tutors to consider whether they are skeptical about how well students can learn when tutored online, whether they think online tutoring is inferior to face-to-face tutoring, and whether they are open to new possibilities for what students can learn in online settings as opposed to traditional writing centers.

Keywords: technology, online tutoring, identity, tutoring: English

OWI Principles: 2, 13, 14

Hewett, Beth L., and Kevin Eric DePew, editors. Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015.

This book addresses the questions that OWI instructors and writing program, writing center, and other administrators should consider when developing viable OWI programs that have potentially effective practices. Each chapter corresponds to concerns raised in the 2013 A Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices published to the NCTE website by the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in OWI. The five parts of this book address relevant issues for a principle-centered OWI: (1) An OWI Primer, (2) OWI Pedagogy and Administrative Decisions, (3) Practicing Inclusivity in OWI, (4) Faculty and Student Preparation for OWI, and (5) New Directions in OWI. Hewett and DePew emphasize a future academy where most writing courses will be taught or otherwise presented in some type of online setting, which makes it a core text for the next generation of composition theory and praxis and valuable for those who teach and/or tutor students writing in online settings.

Keywords: accessibility, inclusivity, praxis, research, theory, writing program administration, online writing programs, student preparation, faculty development, tutoring: English, online tutoring, writing centers, CCCC OWI Committee

OWI Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Hewett, Beth L., and Kevin Eric DePew. “Introduction: A Research History of the CCCC OWI Committee.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 5-30.

Hewett and DePew outline the history of the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction (OWI) and its research. This historical background enables readers to understand the empirical quantitative and qualitative research that grounds the 2013 A Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices published to the NCTE website by the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in OWI. They begin by defining the work of the OWI Committee per its charges from the CCCC Executive Committee upon its 2007 constitution and 2010 reconstitution, and it outlines the vocabulary that the committee has used in its discussions of OWI. They continue by explaining the committee’s general research methods that included 1) determining core research questions, 2) developing an annotated bibliography of the extant literature up until 2008, 3) conducting site visits and personal interviews, 4) developing and launching two national surveys, 5) analyzing and reporting on those surveys through a report of the contemporary state of OWI in both fully online and hybrid settings, 6) developing an expert/stakeholder’s group that could advise the committee, and 7) writing the OWI Principles. They describe the importance of understanding all of its work in the context of a new understanding of access and inclusivity. Finally, they end by outlining the rest of the book by sections and chapters. This unique book has the potential to serve OWI administrators, teachers, and tutors as they assist and teach students through online media.

Keywords: CCCC OWI Committee, faculty development, research, literature review, interviews, surveys, accessibility, inclusivity, writing program administration, online writing programs

OWI Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Hewett, Beth L., and Christa Ehmann. Preparing Educators for Online Writing Instruction: Principles and Processes, National Council of Teachers of English, 2004.

Using common educational principles that evolved in traditional onsite settings, Hewett and Ehmann outline what they call their “principle-centered” approach to developing best practices for the training and ongoing professional development —both teachers and tutors. They outline five common educational principles—(1) investigation, (2) immersion, (3) individualization, (4) association, and (5) reflection—that they use to undergird their training program and practices at Smarthinking, Inc. Even though these practices are used in one for-profit, online learning assistance center, they are sufficiently broad as to be useful in developing professional development for online teachers and tutors at a wide variety of online educational institutions, regardless of their traditional or corporate structures. The book outlines the five principles, and Hewett and Ehmann use these principles to demonstrate experiences, difficulties, and successes in online writing instruction.  These principles, as well as a discussion about contemporary theories and philosophies relevant to OWI and what they call the “training spiral,” reveal a one-to group and one-to-one process of teacher/tutor training that can be used both asynchronously and synchronously. Hewett and Ehmann believe that such grounding makes their training approach educationally and practically sound regardless of the technology in use. The book is replete with examples, illustrations, and sample training materials.

Keywords: faculty development, online tutoring, mentoring, tutoring: English, synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 7, 12, 13, 14, 15

Hewett, Beth L., and Christa Ehmann Powers. “How Do You Ground Your Training: Sharing the Principles and Processes of Preparing Educators for Online Writing Instruction.” Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, vol. 10, no. 1, 2005, kairos.technorhetoric.net/10.1/binder.html?praxis/hewett/index.htm.

In this webtext, Hewett and Ehmann Powers contend argue that, like students, educators need acculturative and supportive training in online writing instruction (OWI). In particular, they need time and space for supportive professional development and mentoring. The authors review the available literature surrounding online training and professional development, and they discuss the five training principles first articulated in Preparing Educators for Online Writing Instruction: Principles and Processes--(1) investigation, (2) immersion, (3) individualization, (4) association, and (5) reflection--breaking them down to constituent parts and offering example scenarios. Their dual focus is on practical strategies of implementing the five principles and offering untapped areas of research into the strategies. They end the webtext with a call for program administrators and online instructors to dialogue more fully about their experiences and join together “to articulate, define, and theorize online training processes for both writing instructors and other educators.”

Keywords: writing program administration, faculty development, research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15

Hewett, Beth L., and Christa Ehmann Powers. “Online Teaching and Learning: Preparation, Development, and Organizational Communication.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, 2007, pp. 1-11.

Hewett and Ehmann Powers introduce this special issue on the need for training and professional development opportunities for online instructors at all levels of OWI and particularly for the technical writing field. They argue that there is a relative dearth of scholarly and practical articles written for training and professional development, possibly stemming from a lack of a shared vocabulary for such needs. The special issue itself addresses the need for considering the global setting, self-selection for educators and professionals, and the need for immersion and self-reflection in online instructional settings. This three articles in this issue address training, development, and organizational communication: 1) Kirk St. Amant’s “Online Education in an Age of Globalization: Foundational Perspectives and Practices for Technical Communication Instructors and Trainers,”2) Lisa Meloncon’s “Exploring Electronic Landscapes: Technical Communication, Online Learning, and Instructor Preparedness,” and 3) Kelli Cargile Cook’s “Immersion in a Digital Pool: Training Prospective Online Instructors in Online Environments.” Together, these authors provide perspectives on preparing educators for a global educational setting, self-selecting for teaching in online environments, and, in keeping with the principles of immersion and reflection, using course archives as “constructive hypertext” for training and development.

Keywords: technical and professional writing, faculty development, global, reflection, faculty satisfaction

OWI Principles: 6, 7

Hewett, Beth L., and Robert Lynn. “Training ESOL Instructors and Tutors for Online Conferencing.” The Writing Instructor, Sept. 2007, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ824633.pdf.

Using published literature to make the case that multilingual students need more support and intervention than may be common in contemporary tutoring practices, Hewett and Lynn argue that instructors who conduct one-to-one, online conferencing with multilingual students (ESOL) can experience particular challenges that require them to approach the students differently from what they would do with native English speakers. Particularly because online interactions have qualities of both talk and text, multilingual students may need different strategies that online instructors (both teachers and tutors) should receive in training. They suggest that training should be considered in terms of modality (asynchronicity and synchronicity) rather than one of selecting and using particular technologies. Hewett and Lynn offer example ESOL case studies to exemplify ten training points.  They additionally provide two ESOL examples in the appendixes. The ten strategies are 1) know how to give face, 2) sell yourself as an instructor, 3) make an art of clockwatching, 4) find out what the student wants, 5) learn how to talk to a particular student, 6) know what you’re talking about, 7) contexualize the conference, 😎 use clear language, 9) proofread, and 10) teach by doing.

Keywords: ELL, ESL, multilingual writers, L2, asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction, tutor training, tutoring: english, instructor interaction, faculty development, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 7, 14

Hewett, Beth L., and Scott Warnock. “The Future of OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 547-63.

Hewett and Warnock claim that the future of OWI is intimately connected to the future of composition “writ large.” They further argue that in the future, all composition will be taught in hybrid settings—if it is not already done so—and that there will be fewer distinctive features between OWI and onsite composition instruction. The term “OWI” may become something with meaning only to WPAs while what currently is considered hybrid and fully online OWI may just become “composition.” They define the potential for what they call “good OWI” by several features: 1) being a good teacher in any setting, 2) including both text-based and digital/multimedia-based compositions, 3) rethinking the nature of the students, 4) using technology thoughtfully for both alphabetic and digital text, 5) publishing the good teaching strategies that instructors have developed, 6) addressing core problems in writing research and assessment such that composition instructors and not outside bodies and companies determine the field’s future, and 7) being ethical and moral instructors fully aware of and responsive to issues of access and inclusion. Hewett and Warnock conclude by stating that “Good OWI should help the field of composition be better.”

Keywords: accessibility, assessment, literacy, research, composition, hybrid, multimedia, student preparation, research, inclusivity

OWI Principles: 1, 7, 9, 13

Hirvela, Alan. “Computer-Based Reading and Writing across the Curriculum: Two Case Studies of L2 Writers.” Computers and Composition, vol. 22, no. 3, 2005, pp. 337-56.

Hirvela’s study attempts to understand how, and to what extent, second language (L2) students use computers for writing across the disciplines. In particular, Hirvela studies how L2 students navigate screen-based literacy tasks as well as traditionally print-based literacy tasks. His case study of two undergraduate students draws from activity logs, personal interviews, course syllabi, and a final questionnaire as the primary means of obtaining a “testimony” about two L2 students’ computer use. In doing so, he hopes to answer two questions: 1) “What should be taught in ESL writing courses with respect to computer-based writing?” and “ “To what extent should faculty outside ESL writing courses be responsible for teaching students how to use the computer to perform literacy tasks assigned in their courses?” (338). The study concludes that L2 students used computers in complex ways in various settings, even in settings where the instructor did not explicitly teach students how to engage the computer to complete assignments. Hirvela concludes that both writing faculty and disciplinary faculty need to embed discourse-specific assignments that help L2 students navigate the particular constraints and affordances of screen-based writing tasks across the disciplines.

Keywords: L2, ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, literacy, WID, interviews, surveys, mixed methods, research, qualitative research

Principles: 1, 10

Houston, Lori. “Working With Learning Disabled Writers.” CompFAQs from CompPile, compfaqs.org/LearningDisabledWriters/WorkingWithLearningDisabledWriters.

Houston encourages instructors of composition to know their students and tailor their instruction strategies to meet individual needs. Assistive technologies like word processors can help students who have learning disabilities correct mechanical errors, while Inspiration Software can help visual organization to help with coherence and organization. Speech recognition software can help by capitalizing on students’ oral competence. Houston suggests that instructors provide explicit instruction on writing strategies to encourage self-regulation and to foster thinking processes. This source supplements those sources on OWI and accessibility by providing sound activities that can be implemented in any OWI class.

Keywords: assistive technology, disability studies, individualized instruction, accessibility, orality

OWI Principles: 1

Hoven, Debra, and Agnieszka Palalas. “(Re)Conceptualizing Design Approaches for Mobile Language Learning.” CALICO Journal, vol. 28, no. 3, 2011, pp. 699–720.

Although not about OWI, this study of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) in a hybrid English for Special Purposes (ESP) course addresses the theoretical grounds and operational models for developing online support programs. The development of resources intended to be accessed primarily from mobile devices outside onsite facilities is presented as a Design-Based Research (DBR) project, that is, as an iterative, evolving, and multi-disciplinary program for conceptualizing and improving educational technologies. The article focuses on an early stage in this research program wherein the authors determined that students volunteering to try the resources generally responded favorably to having access to downloadable instructional podcasts and videos at any time during their busy schedules. While these students also improved their scores on a standardized ESP test, this pilot study was not able to connect the improved performance directly to the use of the MALL tools.

Keywords: online support, mobile,  non-traditional students, English for special purposes

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 6, 11

Hruby, Alison, et al. “(BEG)ging the Question: Using Online Tools to Support Writing Feedback.” Kentucky English Bulletin, vol. 63, no. 2, 2014, pp. 30-36.

Hruby et al. explore the usefulness of feedback on student writing and encourage the use of a writing workshop approach within a composition course. They enhance the argument for writing workshops by arguing for the use of technology to help create a community of writers. Specifically, they examine the use of Blackboard, Edmodo, and Google+ as technological options to connect students and to provide safe places to support a writing workshop pedagogy, helping students to move beyond surface-level commentary on each other’s writing. Ultimately, with appropriate planning and support, technology can be used to enhance the writing workshop, helping students to improve their writing and their role within a community of writers. This article is not entirely focused on OWI, as some activities seem to be an extension of face-to-face classes. However, this helps to demonstrate that activities grounded in face-to-face pedagogy can be migrated to OWI with appropriate revision for the online domain.

Keywords: writing workshop, community, feedback, peer review, collaboration, Blackboard, technology, teaching with technology: English,

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 11

Hsieh, Wen-Ming, and Hsien-Chin Liou. “A Case Study of Corpus-Informed Online Academic Writing for EFL Graduate Students.” CALICO Journal, vol. 26, no. 1, 2008, pp. 28-47.

The authors examine the effectiveness and reception of “research-informed online course materials for the explicit teaching of [research article] abstract writing for EFL graduate students in applied linguistics” (29). In particular, the online materials included a combination of 1) text-based “lessons” and 2) various “tasks” focusing on review and revision of academic discourse “moves” in published and peer (student) writing (41). The students also posted descriptions of their work on a discussion forum to engage with classmates about their learning. Most pertinent for OWI professionals, however, is the use of two online tools: 1) a collaborative online editor enabling the researchers to examine students’ completion of peer review and revision tasks and 2) an online concordancer used by students to initiate their own phrasal searches (recorded for the researchers to examine) within the corpus of published abstracts. Hsieh and Liou conclude that the effects of the online unit on their students’ abstracts were mixed (44), while they nonetheless emphasize the overall potential of the combined lessons and tools for assisting students in developing English for academic purposes through their “interactive” and “inductive” approaches (45).  Hsieh and Liou’s research questions are founded on a moves-based understanding of discourse with an academic community (29-30), while their design of online tools is founded on the idea that active experimentation and reflective interaction among students facilitates the kind of “metacognition” and “metadiscourse” (quoting Elbow) needed to master those moves (37-38). This source is helpful in understanding how EFL students write and conduct research in online spaces within the confines of disciplinary discourse.

Keywords: online tutoring, revision, collaboration, ESL, ELL, EFL, multilingual writers, L2, discussion: English, student engagement, community, reflection, research, peer review

OWI Principles: 1, 4, 6

Hubbard, Danica. “Using a Blog Throughout a Research Writing Course.” OWI Open Resource, Conference on College Composition and Communication, www.ncte.org/cccc/owi-open-resource/blog-research-writing.

In this article, Hubbard explains that a student blog is one method for implementing OWI Principle 3, “Appropriate composition teaching/learning strategies should be developed for the unique features of the online instructional environment.” In Hubbard’s first-year research writing course, students begin their blog on the learning management system with an introductory post. Later,  students use their blogs to post their ongoing research and to share difficulties and successes with the research process. Hubbard points out that a blog can take the place of a research journal or portfolio used in a face-to-face classroom, noting that it can help contribute to a “Community of Inquiry” in the online writing course. Hubbard offers several tips for implementing blogs: 1) creating a rubric, 2) assigning credit for posts, 3) encouraging brevity and informality, and 4) emphasizing “digital citizenship” or student support of each other’s work.

Keywords: blogs, course management system, research writing, community, first-year writing, community of inquiry, assignment: English

OWI Principles: 3, 11

I

Ice, Philip, et al. “Using Asynchronous Audio Feedback to Enhance Teaching Presence and Student Sense of Community.” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, vol. 11, no. 2, 2007, pp. 325.

This case study presents an argument for using audio feedback in asynchronous online classes to promote student communities and meaningful relationships between instructors and students. In a study of an online class—Curriculum and Instruction 687, Advanced Teaching Strategies at West Virginia University—the authors asked instructors of the course to give text-based feedback for six assignments and audio feedback for five assignments. Using survey, interview, and final-project data, the authors found that students perceived the audio feedback to be more effective than text-based feedback in at least four ways: 1) conveying nuance, 2) promoting increased involvement in the course, 3) enhancing retention of content, and 4) increasing instructor-student interaction. The findings indicate that instructors should develop appropriate teaching strategies for the online environment by understanding how to adhere to students’ various learning styles in the inherently digital platform of the online class.

Keywords: asynchronous interaction, feedback, technology, teaching with technology: English, pedagogy: English, community, audio, surveys, interviews, research, qualitative research, retention, instructor interaction, instructor presence

OWI Principles: 3, 15

Imig, Stephanie. “Innovative Writing Instruction: Writing Rewired--Teaching Writing in an Online Setting.” English Journal, vol. 99, no. 3, 2010, pp. 80-83.

Stephanie Imig argues that teaching writing online is similar to f2f writing instruction, and writing instructors must rely on their knowledge of composition pedagogy in the online domain. The main challenge for Imig when teaching online is the ability to insert herself into her students’ writing processes and to offer feedback and advice as writing took place. To become more directly involved with students as they wrote, Imig developed an activity that she describes in detail within the article. Through this discussion, Imig establishes that success in any writing-based activity, whether f2f or online, can result when students feel a personal connection to the project, when students are encouraged to experiment and be creative with the project, and when they are given models to explore prior to creating their own texts. These guidelines ground many composition pedagogies, and no matter the modality of the writing class, Imig encourages writing instructors to rely on these guidelines.

Keywords: pedagogy: English, feedback, modeling, instructor interaction, student engagement, composition, modality

OWI Principles: 2, 4

Inman, James, and Dagmar Stuehrk Corrigan. “Toward a Doctoral Degree by Distance in Computers and Writing: Promise and Possibilities.” Computers and Composition, special issue, Distance Education: Promises and Perils of Teaching and Learning Online, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 411-22. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(01)00072-X.

This article, written when only two online Master’s programs in technical writing existed, outlines the possibility of universities offering Ph.D. programs online. Inman and Corrigan point out that there were, at the time this was written, a large number of adult learners who were place-bound by family or careers who would benefit from being able to earn a Ph.D. at a distance. Of concern was the benefit of a potential residency and whether online classes, even synchronous ones, could replicate the advantages of that residency. In demonstrating the value of online Ph.D. programs, the authors surveyed 71 four-year-only institutions and 58 institutions offering graduate degrees. A number of institutions surveyed at the time indicated that they did not see proficiency in computers and writing as a part of their hiring criteria. However, the authors concluded from the survey that, “the data demonstrate that room does exist in computers and writing education for an innovative program, one that continually adapts to the changing opportunities and implications of technology and one that well represents field diversity” (418). The authors close by proposing a consortium model to offer an online Ph.D., one that admits a limited amount of students and requires “four supervised research projects and a dissertation” (419). This article would be interesting to scholars who are completing historical research on online writing programs at the graduate level.

Keywords: non-traditional students, teaching with technology: English, technical and professional writing, graduate students, graduate programs, online writing programs, writing program administration

OWI Principles: 15

Inman, James and Donna Sewell, editors. Taking Flight with OWLs: Examining Electronic Writing Center Work. Routledge, 2000.

Inman and Sewell collect a variety of essays that take various positions on the development of the Online Writing Lab, both theoretically and practically. These essays explore the development of an OWL, discussing the theoretical groundings and institutional needs required for a successful OWL. The research then explores the ways OWLs maintain and diverge from analog writing center pedagogy. Some researchers argue that OWLs diverge from writing center pedagogy, failing to create dialogic models for their students, and as such, encourage readers to reexamine OWL practices to greater reflect accepted pedagogy and theory. Other researchers, however, see OWLs as an opportunity to expand and adapt pedagogy to the need for students to be technologically proficient and skilled writers in a digital age. Both groups, however, believe that as technology changes, the role of the writing center within the university should continuously evolve, establishing itself as part of the learning community, especially in the technological age.

Keywords: online writing labs, writing center, theory, online tutoring, praxis, community

OWI Principles 1, 3, 13, 14, 15

Inman, James A., and Clinton Gardner, editors. OWL Construction and Maintenance Guide. International Writing Centers Association P, 2002, CD-ROM, www.slccswc.org/OWLguide/.

This guide discusses the many factors that must be addressed in OWL construction and maintenance. The guide explores the “Contemporary OWL” by providing histories of predominant OWLs as well as examining a variety of other OWLs, including those at smaller schools. This examination looks at OWLs’ effectiveness through their web interfaces and self-reported data. In the construction and maintenance sections, articles provide the reader with a guide to OWL development. The articles provide ideologies and approaches to consider when beginning or continuing the work of an OWL. These sections discuss data collection, institutional support, and training, among other topics. The guide offers many positions, so readers develop their own theoretical framework for the OWL based on scholarly engagements. Each section also includes a summative checklist that readers can use to plan and evaluate their OWLs. The guide concludes with an annotated bibliography for additional readings helpful for OWL construction and maintenance.

Keywords: online writing lab, online writing center, research, administration, assessment

OWI Principles 1, 13, 14

Izzo, Margaretha Vreeburg, et al. “The Faculty Perspective on Universal Design for Learning.” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, vol. 21, no. 2, 2008, pp. 60-72.

This article presents the results of two studies on the applicability and use of universal design in higher education. In Study 1, the instructional climate for students with disabilities was assessed through a survey of 271 faculty members and teaching associates (TAs) and focus groups with 92 additional faculty members and TAs. Survey respondents ranked universal design for learning (UDL) as the most needed training topic. A web-based, self-paced professional development tool called FAME (Faculty and Administrator Modules in Higher Education) was developed, piloted, and revised in response to the training needs identified. In Study 2, a review of FAME by 98 faculty members and administrators supported the value of on-demand, multi-modal professional development in universal design. Ninety-two percent of respondents reported increased comfort in meeting the instructional needs of students with disabilities as a result of using this curriculum. The article recommends that faculty 1) create a classroom climate that fosters trust and respect, 2) use a variety of instructional methods, 3) identify the essential course content,  4) provide multiple means for students to access the essential course content, 5) integrate natural supports for learning, 5) stay current on new and promising instructional technologies, and 6) allow multiple methods of assessment. For OWIs, this research complements research within technical communication and composition on what it takes to create a successful online course for students with disabilities.  

Keywords: accessibility, universal design, disability studies, teaching with technology: English, faculty development, multimodal, research, instructional design, assessment, technical and professional communication, surveys, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 1, 7, 12, 15

J

Jacobs, Geert, et al. “A Multilanguage Online Writing Center for Professional Communication: Development and Testing.” Business Communication Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 1, 2005, pp. 8–22.

Geert Jacobs, Liesbeth Opdenacker, and Luuk Van Waes describe the Calliope Online Writing Center at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. The authors detail how Calliope is constructed around social-constructivist, problem-based learning that “combines learner-guided learning and system-guided learning” (9). Calliope allows users to follow a less-linear process in dealing with the inherently recursive nature of writing. In a preliminary assessment of student self-efficacy after using Calliope, Jacobs et al. found that Calliope was effective on twenty-six separate measures of self-efficacy on post tests. They also found that peer feedback in Calliope showed a “relation between the level of confidence and the quality of the feedback” (17) and that learners made more comments and felt more knowledgeable in those comments “(18). The authors indicate that they are encouraged by these preliminary assessments and will continue development of the project.

Keywords: feedback, teaching with technology: English, online writing center, constructivism, research

OWI Principles: 1, 13, 14, 15

Jaramillo-Santoy, Janie, and Gina Cano-Monreal. “Training Faculty for Online Instruction: Applying Technical Communication Theory to the Design of a Mentoring Program.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 91–112.

Expanding on Marjorie Davis’s 2005 argument regarding technical communicators as ideal online program designers, Jaramillo-Santoy and Cano-Monreal’s program Mentor2Mentor (M2M) utilizes faculty online teaching skills to help faculty new to online teaching become proficient. The chapter describes the development of M2M through an analysis of collaborative relationships at the institution, articulates the mission statement, analyzes the needs of the target audiences, and provides a model of assessing the mentee’s needs regarding both knowledge of online pedagogy and knowledge of tools for course design and/or delivery. Working with both the Quality Matters guidelines and an internal document created by the college’s Distance Learning Committee, the authors designed a program that fast-tracks the mentee through Neuhauser’s Online Course Design Maturity model. Then, the mentor works with the mentee to design a prototype course. Once the prototype has been approved, the mentor supports the mentee in the design and delivery of the course during the first term the course is delivered. Finally, the cycle is assessed through feedback from both the mentor and the mentee, and the institution provides appropriate compensation, certification, and recognition for both mentors and mentees. This chapter highlights a development, delivery, and assessment cycle for a one-to-one faculty professional development model that negotiates the needs of individuals, the requirements of sound online pedagogy, and the institutional limitations placed on online writing faculty.

Keywords: faculty development, mentoring, online writing programs, assessment, Quality Matters, instructional design, pedagogy: English, faculty satisfaction

OWI Principles: 3, 5, 7, 8, 12

Jarrett, Caroline, et al. “Designing for People Who Do Not Read Easily.” Rhetorical Accessability: At the Intersection of Technical Communication and Disability Studies, edited by Lisa Melancon, Baywood, 2013, pp. 39-66.

Jarrett, Redish, and Summers examine reasons why people may struggle with reading, including cognitive challenges, emotional challenges, and challenges that arise from the physical settings in which people read. The authors explore existing research from which their own knowledge has been shaped, and they offer specific suggestions to writers (in this case, quite applicable to online writing instructors) to help design texts that are more readable by a wide-ranging audience. Some of these suggestions include providing a sense of the structure of a text with a title and headings, chunking information in short sections, using plain language, designing to achieve visual clarity, and providing navigation guidance. Ultimately, all readers are individuals and will have unique challenges, and something that helps one reader may not help others. To investigate these reading challenges, the authors have developed the Design to Read project, in which researchers who have conducted investigations into reading difficulties through experimental studies at universities, exploratory studies within or beyond universities, formative evaluations, or case studies of individuals with specific disabilities are welcome to submit their findings.

Keywords: reading, accessibility, communication, instructional design, assignment design, assignment: English, research, case studies

OWI Principles: 1, 3

Johanek, Cindy, and Rebecca Rickly. “Online Tutor Training: Synchronous Conferencing in a Professional Community.” Computers and Composition, vol. 12, no. 2, 1995, pp. 237-46.

Johanek and Rickly argue that, while scholars have paid significant attention in the field of computers and composition as of the mid-90s, not much work had been done on the relationship between computers and writing centers, in particular, synchronous online conferencing in writing centers. In particular, the authors review the scholarship behind and their use of Daedalus Interchange (a part of the Daedalus Integrated Writing System) and the Ball State University Writing Center. The article first reviews the Daedalus Interchange, then describes how this product is used in this particular context. They then reviewed four transcripts from the writing center staff from Fall 1993 and Spring 1994. They point out several benefits of using synchronous online conferencing for peer tutor training,  including 1) a willingness for tutors to challenge each other's’ ideas, 2) tutors speak more frequently in the synchronous online conference, 3) and the ability to share experiences and archive those sessions for use with future tutors. Johanek and Rickly also conducted a survey of tutors using Daedalus and found the responses to be favorable. The article ends calling for more writing centers to consider synchronous tutor training, not only because of the previously-listed benefits but also to assist tutors who need to become comfortable using online tools in the classroom.

Keywords: writing centers, online writing centers, synchronous interaction, Daedalus, tutoring: English, online tutoring, tutor training

OWI Principles: 13, 14

Johnson, E. Janet, and Karen Card. “The Effects of Instructor and Student Immediacy Behaviors in Writing Improvement and Course Satisfaction in a Web-based Undergraduate Course.” MountainRise, vol. 4, no. 2, 2008, pp. 2-21, mountainrise.wcu.edu/ index.php/MtnRise/article/view/81.

This study suggests that “temporal immediacy,” defined as timely instructor and student response to emails and other interactions, can contribute to student success in the online classroom. Temporal immediacy can also include helpful feedback between instructors and peers combined with consistent guidelines. The authors advocate for dialogue between instructors and students that is reciprocal, cooperative, engaging, and supportive. In this study, the authors reviewed instructor-to-student and peer-to-peer interaction, finding that instructors’ use of immediacy had a direct impact on students’ motivation to learn. In turn, the students in the course modeled the behavior of the instructors when interacting with their peers in discussion boards and with their instructors when writing emails. The authors argue that temporal immediacy is even more important in the online classroom where the face-to-face element is removed.

Keywords: communication, collaboration, pedagogy: English, discussion: English, instructor interaction, student-to-student interaction, modeling, discussion boards, email

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Johnson, J. Paul. “Writing Spaces: Technoprovocateurs and OWLs in the Late Age of Print.” Kairos, vol. 1, no. 1, Spring 1996, kairos.technorhetoric.net/1.1/binder2.html?owls/johnson.html.

This short hypertext document provides an overview of the primary OWLs that were available online at the turn of the 21st century. While the article is dated and not all of the hyperlinks go to active pages, the article provides an overview and basic theoretical structure for the movement of OWLs from a focus on print-text-only medium or an online space that points to a physical campus location to what Johnson (through Eric Crump) calls “technoprovocateurs,” or “a writing space ‘where quietly subversive activity can emerge.’” Johnson notes that more of the OWLs he outlines fall into the former rather than the latter categories. However, he does nod to the fact that these OWLs embody Bolter’s concept of the “late age of print” in that they are remediations of more traditional writing center spaces that are solely focused on print. This hypertext provides a description of several early OWLs and, while not all of them exist in the form they were at the time of publication, provides insight to scholars researching the history of OWLs in terms of concerns that scholars and researchers voiced as the OWL moved from the 20th to the 21st century.

Keywords: online writing labs, research, hypertext

OWI Principles: 13, 14, 15

Johnson, Genevieve Marie. “Synchronous and Asynchronous Text-based CMC in Educational Contexts: A Review of Recent Literature.” TechTrends, vol. 50, no.4, 2006, pp. 46-53.

Johnson reviews the educational research on synchronous and asynchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) for their relative pedagogical strengths and weaknesses. She weighs the pros and cons of each in relation to online discussions, student achievement and satisfaction, and instructional viability. Johnson offers recommendations for using the best of both modalities, because studies indicate that a selective combination of both leads to higher student satisfaction and mastery of course materials. Johnson further claims that strategic combination of both approaches will more likely insure that educators will meet the needs of students with individual differences in cognition and personality.

Keywords: synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction, computer-mediated communication, research, discussion: English, student satisfaction

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 11

Johnson-Eilola, Johndan, and Stuart A. Selber. “The Changing Shapes of Writing: Rhetoric, New Media, and Composition.” Going Wireless: A Critical Exploration of Wireless and Mobile Technologies for Composition Teachers and Researchers, edited by Amy C. Kimme Hea, Hampton, 2009, pp. 15-34.

Johnson-Eilola and Selber argue that instead of viewing students’ use of instant messaging or texting technologies as a distraction in the classroom, instructors can instead use various forms of new media to teach students to view communication rhetorically. They emphasize the benefit of project-based, rather than genre-based, pedagogy. The authors present a framework of context, change, content, and tools that students can use to analyze various communication situations and select the appropriate communication technologies. While the chapter’s focus and two extended scenarios assume a face-to-face classroom setting, the “C3T” framework Johnson-Eilola and Selber advocate is a useful one for helping students approach online writing projects and consider writing technologies.

Keywords: mobile, genre, technology in teaching: English

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4

Jones, Dan. “Expanding the Scaffolding of the Online Undergraduate Technical Communication Course.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 237-56.

Building on chapters from the Cargile Cook and Grant-Davie 2005 collection, Online Education, Jones introduces three additional considerations for scaffolding in the online technical communication classroom: using a folder system in lieu of learning modules, using consistent evaluation rubrics to assess student work, and building instructor ethos through use of technology. These methods demonstrate online best practices and are concrete and easily implemented means to help students understand how to navigate and perform effectively in online classes.

Keywords: scaffolding, rubrics, instructor interaction, course and program design: English, navigation

OWI Principles: 3, 4

Jones, Rodney H., et al. “Interactional Dynamics in On-Line and Face-to-Face Peer-Tutoring Sessions for Second Language Writers.” Journal of Second Language Writing, vol. 15, no. 1, 2006, pp. 1-23.

Rodney Jones, Angel Garralda, Davis C.S. Li, and Graham Lock examine two types of peer-tutoring and compare online tutoring interactions with face-to-face tutoring interactions. Using Halliday’s functional-semantic view of dialogue, the logs of online tutoring sessions were coded and compared with those from face-to-face interactions. The results showed that online tutoring fostered greater participation on the part of the student being tutored, while face-to-face interaction tended to result in hierarchical structures of communication controlled predominantly by the tutor.

Keywords: online tutoring, qualitative research, tutor training, online writing centers

OWI Principles: 1, 13, 14, 15

K

Kargozari, Hamid R., and Hamed Ghaemi. “Web-based Writing Instruction and Enhancing EFL Learners’ Writing Quality.” Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, vol. 12, no. 3, 2011, pp. 36-45. Education Research Complete, 0-search.ebscohost.com.iii-server.ualr.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=67411951&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

This study questions the role of technology on students’ writing skills. Specifically, the authors ask whether technology incorporated in traditional face-to-face courses significantly improves the writing skills of EFL learners. The authors compared student test results from two classes that used the same textbook and assignments. However, the experimental class provided students with a supplemental website where students could interact and discuss concepts via asynchronous forums. The instructor also aided students in the technological component of the course, offering extra credit to students if they used the online course platform to communicate and create written assignments. Students in both classes took an essay test at the end of the course, and based on holistic scoring, the authors determined that the experimental class outperformed the traditional class. As such, the authors suggest using web-based instruction to improve the writing skills of EFL learners and assert that EFL trainers should be trained to use online instructional tools to effectively teach EFL students, providing sample training materials.

Keywords: EFL, ESL, ELL, multilingual writers, online tutors, asynchronous interaction, empirical research, quantitative research, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 1, 7, 14, 15

Kavadlo, Jesse. “The Message is the Medium: Electronically Helping Writing Tutors Help Electronically.” Praxis, vol. 10, no. 2, 2013, praxisuwc.com/kavadlo-102.

Kavaldo addresses the general skepticism she sees in the field concerning online writing centers by presenting the way she trains her tutors to approach online tutoring. She identifies both dangers and advantages of online asynchronous tutoring over face-to-face tutoring. On the one hand tutors may have difficulty connecting with students when only the writing is present. On the other hand, the tutors can take time crafting their responses and thus focus their remarks on larger purposes rather than on any and all problems that may arise during an initial reading. She then presents one tutor training methods, beginning their training with a template for responding to student writing asynchronously that helps them avoid its dangers and capitalize on its advantages. From there, her tutors practice responding effectively to student writing, and Kavaldo tutors her tutors electronically, responding to their work using the same medium to enable greater reflection and thus improvement. To illustrate this, she presents and discusses one tutor’s work over a year, along with her own responses, which show continued growth and development. She concludes by noting she is a “cautious convert” to the idea of online writing centers.

Keywords: online writing center, tutor training, asynchronous interaction, reflection, online tutoring

OWI principles: 14

Kear, Karen L. Online and Social Networking Communities: A Best Practice Guide for Educators, Routledge, 2010.

Kear’s guidebook provides a useful starting point for teachers and administrators new to online learning, providing basic definitions and discussions of associated teaching and learning theories and relevant computer-mediated communication and educational technologies. As the title suggests and the introductory chapter explains, the book primarily focuses on using communication technologies to build online learning communities, drawing on social constructivist approaches to learning. To support this discussion, numerous case studies are examined to illustrate the use of specific technologies for educational purposes, each presented in the course of explaining fundamental learning principles, practical instructional approaches, and potential challenge for online learning. Throughout the book, the benefits of online learning—including flexibility, convenience, and social connectivity—are reconciled with issues such as information overload, depersonalization, and interaction from a distance. While not explicitly about OWI this guide addresses a connection between the learning theories prevalent in OWI and how to build and support interaction in online writing classes.

Keywords: community, asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction, learning theories, non-traditional students, writing program administration, theory, social constructivism, computer-mediated communication

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11

Kimball, Sara. “Cybertext/Cyberspeech: Writing Centers and Online Magic.” Writing Center Journal, vol. 18, no. 1, 1997, pp. 30-48.

Kimball details how she used a MUD, in an online writing lab (OWL). Because of the nature of writing in a synchronous environment, she addresses how a conversation and what she calls the “magic” identity in online spaces can lead to online anonymity. The article argues that online communicating online can assist student writers and can give writing centers chances to engage with their constituencies in new ways. The article ends with a call for study of online mediums for online writing labs, including how identity is constructed in OWL environments and the promises of how these environments help students through anonymity.

Keywords: MUD, online writing lab, synchronous interaction, identity

OWI Principles: 13, 14

Kimme Hea, Amy C., editor. Going Wireless: A Critical Exploration of Wireless and Mobile Technologies for Composition Teachers and Researchers. Hampton, 2009.

The essays in the book Going Wireless are built on the premise that because of the proliferation of mobile technologies within the lives of teachers and students, composition and rhetoric teachers and scholars’ roles will evolve as they take on the role of technology teachers in addition to teaching rhetoric and composition. These teachers and scholars are not only in a unique position to be critical users of this technology, but they can also help students to become critical of how they use technology within an increasingly technologically-infused society. The book is divided into five sections, each focusing on a different aspect of wireless and mobile technology as it connects to teaching and learning. Section 1 explores how mobile and wireless devices change our perspectives of teaching and also our conceptions of what it means to compose. Section 2 considers how wireless and mobile technologies change the roles of teachers and students. Section 3 examines how wireless and mobile devices have been adopted through specific programs and initiatives into educational institutions. Section 4 focuses on how the mobility of these technologies provides potentials and limitations for composition pedagogy. Section 5 explores specific mobile devices and their impact on various domains. As students increasingly access online classes through mobile technologies, these issues will become increasingly relevant in OWI.

Keywords: mobile technology, pedagogy: English, composition, critical pedagogy, administration, faculty interaction, student-to-student interaction

OWI Principles: 2, 4

Kittle, Peter, and Troy Hicks. “Transforming the Group Paper with Collaborative Online Writing.” Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, vol. 9, no. 3, 2009, pp. 525-39.

The article offers practical suggestions for taking advantage of online communication platforms to coordinate collaboration for group projects, a genre of coursework Kittle and Hicks acknowledge as historically problematic. They ground their suggestions on a “new literacies” approach, considering especially the impact of new technologies on “ethos” development in collaborative environments. Invoking “remix culture” and acknowledging recognized variations in collaborative models, they “contend that these technologies can make the process more streamlined, transparent, and ultimately collaborative than [traditional] group writing” (528-529). They then discuss synchronous and asynchronous class activities using Google Docs and various wiki platforms, that fostered interactivity throughout the writing process rather than just at the end as a last-minute compiling of contributors’ work. The four in-practice examples show how technology and collaboration can enhance scholarship in online writing classes.

Keywords: collaboration, literacy, technology, wikis, synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction, wikis, interaction

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 11

Kramer, Robert, and Stephen Bernhardt. "Moving Instruction to the Web: Writing as Multi-tasking." Technical Communication Quarterly, special issue, Redefining the Technical Communication Service Course, vol. 8, no. 3, 1999, pp. 319–36.

Kramer and Bernhardt describe implementation of a web-based case study project in two face-to-face sections of a technical and scientific communication course. In a computer classroom setting, students worked individually with multiple linked documents in order to analyze the rhetorical situation of the case study and to design a visual solution that they communicated in a business memo. Students were surveyed about their technological and rhetorical expertise before beginning the project and were then observed by the researchers while completing the project. Few students reported having worked with visual information before, and many students who reported comfort with “multitasking” or moving between multiple open applications on the computer desktop were observed experiencing difficulty with these technological skills. In post-project reflection, the two instructors emphasized the benefit of teaching students to integrate visuals and text. The authors conclude that using web-based instruction can teach students technological and design skills at the same time they address rhetorical problems.

Keywords: technical and professional writing, technology, teaching with technology: English, research, case study, qualitative research, surveys, visual literacy, rhetoric

OWI principles: 3, 4, 15

Krause, Kerri-Lee. “Supporting First-Year Writing Development Online.” JGE: The Journal of General Education, vol. 55, no. 3-4, 2006, 201–20.

Focusing on first-year students in an entry-level behavioral science course, Krause studies their perceptions of their own writing skills as well as their evaluations of an online writing support program comprised of interactive tutorials. The survey on the program’s usefulness showed that the oldest demographic group (over 24 years) valued the online resource significantly more than younger groups, although the online program itself was generally perceived to help improve skills and reduce anxiety about writing. Even so, the participants generally “rejected the option of replacing face-to-face classes with an online resource such as the one under investigation” (215). Krause emphasizes the value of the results for understanding student perspectives of online tutorial resources, acknowledging problems with the study’s validity for positing how the tool may have actually altered students’ perception of their own writing (219). Although the opening justification for the study addresses community building, the conclusions noted above suggest such an online support program was viewed as contradistinctive to the “social interaction” characterizing face-to-face sessions (213). Academic socialization is discussed in the context of access based on the study’s analysis of the online program’s support of students reflecting different ages and routes to higher education. In this respect, the study shows how a flexible and simple self-paced tutorial system can provide non-traditional students a means to address concerns and anxieties about writing as they deem necessary—hence the discussion of “just-in-time” online learning (208). Finally, while the article briefly mentions relevant literacy studies, it is not clear how relevant composition pedagogy was integrated into the online tools.   

Keywords: non-traditional students, WAC, WID, online support, community, accessibility, composition pedagogy, students success

OWI Principles: 1, 6, 11, 13, 15

Kynard, Carmen. “‘Wanted: Some Black Long Distance [Writers]’: Blackboard Flava-Flavin and Other Afrodigital Experiences in the Classroom.” Computers and Composition, vol. 24, no. 3, 2007, pp. 329-45.

Kynard examines the digital communication of students of African descent in a predominantly black college in order to understand how the students construct their identities. Students “revocabularize” the academic setting to reconstruct knowledge about writing and about themselves. Kynard uses the metaphor of Flava Flav’s role in Public enemy to “bring light to the ways in which rhetorical practices of signifying constitute a culture/digitally unique type of spontaneous presence” (331). Kynard concludes with a discussion of his own vocabulary in the classroom and an analysis that places the students in reference to the work of John Oliver Killens. This article provides one of the most in-depth analyses of how students of African descent construct identity in Blackboard discussion boards and how online writing instructors might create spaces for empowering all writers.

Keywords: race, identity, rhetoric, culture, culturally responsive pedagogy, Blackboard, discussion: English, discussion boards

OWI Principle: 1, 11

L

Lang, Susan. “Who Owns the Course? Online Composition Courses in an Era of Changing Intellectual Property Policies. Computers and Composition, vol. 15, no. 2, 1998, pp. 215–28.

Lang points out that discussions about copyright for online composition classrooms had, up until 1998, been very limited. In particular, she addresses three questions: 1) “Who has historically and contractually controlled course materials created by faculty members? 2) Who owns course materials developed for particular courses? Why should the transition to networked computing environments change the nature of ‘course materials ownership’? And 3) Are there substantive differences between materials created for a traditional composition course and an online course?” (216). Lang provides an overview of then current copyright law in regards to copyright for instructor-developed course materials. She concludes that, because of the increasing numbers of composition programs who are taking decisions about curriculum development away from instructors and other part-time faculty, as instructional materials move online, composition faculty and universities have different view of what constitutes “currency” in regard to the materials produced by professionals (226). By tying the question about online course copyright to larger issues of intellectual property at the postsecondary level, the article concludes that how “faculty” is defined at the university will determine, in large part, who owns the curriculum for online classes.

Keywords: legislation, copyright, networked classrooms, intellectual property, curriculum, composition pedagogy, online writing programs, writing program administration, faculty workload, faculty satisfaction

OWI Principles: 5, 12

Lang, Susan. “Replicating and Extending Dialogic Aspects of the Graduate Seminar in Distance Education.”  Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2005, pp. 157-75.

Lang’s chapter outlines the rationale for and a method of facilitating synchronous online discussions as part of a graduate seminar. First, the chapter provides an overview of Von Krogh et al.’s four principles of good conversations: encouraging active (and balanced) participation, establishing conversational etiquette, editing conversations appropriately, and fostering innovative language. Then, it argues that asynchronous activities cannot replace the synchronous element of a graduate course because students need to participate in these elements of good conversations just as they would in a face-to-face class. The bulk of the chapter provides an extended case study of how synchronous class discussion is “an integral part” of the Texas Tech master’s degree in Technical Communication. This particular case study uses MOOs and addresses elements of faculty and student preparation, technical benefits and difficulties, and conversation dynamics in both main forums and back channels. This chapter provides a thorough description of the benefits and limitations of using synchronous discussion in graduate classes and serves a valuable introduction for faculty seeking to implement successful synchronous discussion in online graduate classes.

Keywords: graduate classes, graduate students, synchronous interaction, MOO, discussion: English, graduate programs, student preparation, instructor interaction, student-to-student interaction

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11

Langston, Camille. “Resistance and Control: The Complex Process of Creating an OWL.” Kairos, vol. 1, no. 1, Spring 1996, kairos.technorhetoric.net/1.1/binder2.html?owls/langston/langston1.html.

Langston’s hypertext gives a concrete example of the struggle for control of OWLs at a university in the late 1990s. While Langston assumed that putting resources into an OWL would be the biggest challenge in starting an OWL for commuter and non-traditional students at Texas Women’s University, she soon found that because the office of Academic Computing controlled the websites, she had to adjust how the question and answer discussion-list component of the OWL operated. Her example provides a glimpse into the institutional struggles one OWL faced in creating an early OWL. This hypertext is dated and contains several broken links (including the link to the original Texas Women’s OWL) but provides insight to scholars researching the history of OWLs in terms of concerns that scholars and researchers voiced as the OWL moved from the 20th to the 21st century.

Keywords: online writing labs, hypertext, administration, non-traditional students

OWI Principles: 13, 14

Lasarenko, Jane. “PR(OWL)ING AROUND: An OWL by Any Other Name.” Kairos, vol. 1, no. 1, Spring 1996, kairos.technorhetoric.net/1.1/binder2.html?owls/lasarenko/prowl.html.

Lasarenko’s hypertext catalogues the ninety-three OWLs that she found in 1996 and divides them into three categories: OWLs that advertise for on-campus labs, OWLs that offer on-site tutoring services, and OWLs that offer fully-online tutoring services. The links to each of these groups of OWLs are almost all broken, but the list itself provides a snapshot of which OWLs were functional in the mid-1990s and will provide scholars seeking to research the history of OWLs a basic list of then-operational OWLs on which to build.

Keywords: online writing labs, literature review, research, online tutoring

OWI Principles: 13, 15

Laurinen, Leena I., and Miika J. Marttunen. “Written Arguments and Collaborative Speech Acts in Practising the Argumentative Power of Language through Chat Debates.” Computers and Composition, vol. 24, no. 3, 2007, pp. 230-46.

Laurinen and Marttunen study argumentative student writing using student debates in an online chat forum. They examine both collaborative and non-collaborative writing by organizing chat responses into seven categories based on Baker’s “rainbow method”: 1) explore and deepen, 2) argumentation, 3) opinions, 4) task management, 5) interaction management, 6) social relations, and 7) outside activity (234). The authors find that a majority of speech acts in the debates can not be classified as argumentation. However, they note that many students engage in collaborative speech acts in the chat forum and desire to emotionally validate their classmates’ responses. The authors argue that chat debate forums can be useful to students as they use chat archives to reflect on their writing. The authors conclude that “the discourse used in schools should utilise and provide students with access to all the forms of language that have utility in knowledge work both for today and for the future” (244). This article is relevant to OWI because it considers one modality for teaching argumentation and demonstrates a method of using the online writing classroom as an archive of speech practices for students to analyze their own argumentation practices.

Keywords: collaboration, debate, chat, modality, argument: English

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Leonard, David. “The Web, the Millennium, and the Digital Evolution of Distance Education.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 9-20.

Leonard discusses the necessary shift in academia away from the “industrial age” model of education and toward a “digital age” in learning. He predicts that technical communication will need to shift to accommodate the increasing presence of knowledge shared freely on the World Wide Web (10). He compares and contrasts the two models of education, calling for a learning environment that “parallel[s] the digital networked environment that our students currently are or soon will be working in” (12). Leonard briefly discusses the shifts that universities will need to make to meet this new paradigm, including a shift from “teacher-centric” to “learner-centric” instruction (13). While some of his predictions, including the “demand for a tighter certification process for technical communication” (15), the ability for “students to consume the best possible interactive courses and content via the Web, no matter what their parent institution is” (16), and the “death of academic departments” have not been fully realized in the early 21st century, his predictions for what online writing programs are and can become serve as a fascinating starting point for individuals researching the evolution of online writing instruction.

Keywords: course and program design: English, technical and professional writing, online writing programs

OWI Principles: 15

Lewiecki-Wilson, Cynthia, and Brenda Jo Brueggemann, editors. Disability and the Teaching of Writing: A Critical Sourcebook, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.

As a collection of new and re-printed essays, this book is essential for understanding the wide range of issues associated with disability and writing instruction. While offering practical advice for the face-to-face classroom, some of the book’s advice can be modified for an online environment. However, the strength of this text is that it introduces those new to disability to key ideas and concepts that are necessary to teaching and learning. Sections in the book include disability awareness in teacher training, perspectives from teachers with disabilities, and resources for teaching disability concepts in the classroom. The last section on resources for teaching is the longest and includes subsections on re-designing the writing classroom, analyzing language and representation, using disability concepts, and entering cultural debates. The last section has the most practical application to teaching online as much of the information in this section can be re-purposed to an online environment.

Keywords: disability studies, accessibility, faculty development

OWI Principles: 1, 7

Lima, Jr., Ronaldo. “Practical Writing – An Online Interactive Writing Experience.” The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, vol. 14, no. 3, 2010, www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume14/ej55/ej55int/.

This article provides a brief, focused practicum piece on the core assignments of a six-week online ESL course on “Practical Writing.” Lima primarily emphasizes how the assignments integrated various online platforms to facilitate student interactivity throughout the writing process. The assignments also placed special emphasis on the advantages of ready publication and dissemination within online environments for the “post-writing” stage, which allows the student to see the purpose for the writing process. Within in the article, multiple pre-writing, drafting, review, and revision activities are described for helping students develop a personal introduction, a summary, a letter to the editor, job search materials, and a travel narrative. Integrated within the Moodle LMS, the course’s activities use discussion forums, multiple blog platforms, chat, and e-mail, drawing also on sites such as LinkedIn and Wordle. The article’s central discussion of online platforms to teach students the writing process addresses the advantages of online environments and adapting onsite composition theories to these environments. Lima also refers to the teacher’s role in directing the online activities within an accelerated, non-traditional format.

Keywords: ESL, EFL, ELL, L2, multilingual writers, writing process, revision, course management systems, composition theory, student-to-student interaction

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 6

Lo, Hao-Chang. “Design of Online Report Writing Based on Constructive and Cooperative Learning for a Course on Traditional General Physics Experiments.” Journal of Educational Technology and Society, vol. 16, no. 1, 2013, pp. 380-91.

This article reports on a study of wiki-based online report writing in physics experiments. The study focuses on fifty-eight undergraduates working in randomly-assigned groups of 2-3 individuals. The multi-method, quantitative and qualitative study collected data including questionnaires, interviews, online discussions, and student writing and instructor assessment of student writing. Study results indicated that students communicated more extensively with each other, students working online received higher scores than those writing in more traditional ways, and students and instructors responded favorably to the teaching and learning experience afforded by the wiki. The author concludes with recommendations for using computer-mediated communication through wikis to improve the social and cognitive teaching and learning experiences of both students and instructors of physics and a call for researchers to conduct similar studies. This article discusses how to apply appropriate pedagogical strategies to an online class and how to develop successful online communities for student success.

Keywords: wikis, WAC, WID, research, qualitative research, quantitative research, interviews, surveys, discussion: English, assessment, student-to-student interaction, computer-mediated communication, community

OWI Principles: 4, 11, 15

M

Mabrito, Mark. “Facilitating Interactivity in an Online Business Writing Course.” Business Communication Quarterly, vol. 64, no. 3, 2001, pp. 81-86.

Mabrito points to the importance of moving away from a presentation only style of online education to a collaborative online classroom.  Asynchronous discussion boards and synchronous virtual meeting spaces to create interactivity between students and content. Mabrito encourages student sharing of early writing drafts and a shared bibliography.  The class uses both ICQ and a shared web page URL for these tasks in an era before wide-scale use of packaged LMS products. Mabrito’s methods support the ongoing need for students to learn effective collaborative writing skills and the collaborative writing process because students will need these skills in the workplace.

Keywords: business writing, technical and professional writing, discussion board, interactivity, collaboration, discussion: English, writing process, asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction, course management systems

OWI Principle 4, 11

Maid, Barry and Barbara J. D’Angelo. “What Do You Do When the Ground Beneath Your Feet Shifts?” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 11-24.

Maid and D’Angelo describe a model for an upper-division, technical communication course offered online through the Multimedia Writing and Technical Communication (MWTC) program at Arizona State University. The course was a response to two exigencies: 1) budget constraints at the university that pushed more classes online quickly and 2) concerns from stakeholders regarding the quality and pedagogy of the service course. As a result of these factors, the authors described online course design centered on the concept of “Online 2G,” or an online course with a set of standardized outcomes and modules that could be customized by a wide range of part-time faculty. This chapter explores four concepts related to the move from more fluid to more standardized courses, including 1) issues related to changing administrative roles and university restructuring, 2) the ability for faculty to have both a consistent, assessable structure and some flexibility in choosing course content, 3) constraints with the Blackboard LMS, and 4) the need for (and the limitations surrounding) online communities consisting of faculty and students at a distance. The chapter ends with recommendations for structuring online courses and programs that are both consistent and flexible and the call to hire a diverse, experienced faculty to teach and interact in these programs.

Keywords: course and program design: English, curriculum, technical and professional writing, online writing programs, administration, writing program administration, Blackboard, course management systems, pre-designed courses, community

OWI Principles: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12

Marshak, Laura, et al. “Exploring Barriers to College Student Use of Disability Services.” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, vol. 22, no. 3, 2010, pp. 151-65.

Federal legislation requires most colleges and universities to provide equal access and reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. However, many students do not fully avail themselves of college disability services and accommodations. As a result, Office of Disability Services (ODS) personnel should understand the reasons for this as they attempt to best assist students with disabilities at their institutions. In this qualitative study, 16 college students with disabilities at a medium-sized state university were interviewed. Five major thematic categories emerged from the data analysis, which were identified as reasons why some students might not seek out or more fully utilize disability services and accommodations in postsecondary education: 1) identity issues, 2) desires to avoid negative social reactions, 3) insufficient knowledge, 4) perceived quality and usefulness of services, and 5) negative experiences with faculty. The authors provide suggestions to help ODS personnel eliminate institutional barriers and to help students overcome personal barriers. This article supports faculty seeking to reach out to their online students who may have a disability to connect them with services available through their institutions.

Keywords: disability services, accessibility, identity

OWI Principles: 1

Martinez, Diane, and Leslie Olsen. “Online Writing Labs.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 183-210.

Martinez and Olsen offer a comprehensive overview of OWL services, offering advice on accessibility infrastructure, function and pedagogy of services, and the essentialness of tutor training. This article emphasizes the idea that OWI must be supported by corresponding OWL services, concluding that all services and resources must be accessible to all students to insure inclusivity and that all services should be provided by highly qualified and well-trained online tutors who understand the specifics of online tutoring services. Faculty training is another key component of success for OWL services and support. This article supports OWI by insisting that OWI be accompanied by online support services.

Keywords: online writing lab, accessibility, inclusive, tutor training, synchronous interaction, tutor training, online tutoring, online resources

OWI Principle:  1, 7, 13, 14

McGrath, Laura. “In Their Own Voices: Online Writing Instructors Speak Out on Issues of Preparation, Development, and Support.” Computers and Composition Online, Spring 2008,  www2.bgsu.edu/departments/english/cconline/OWIPDS/introduction.html.

McGrath argues that “if faculty trainers, administrators, and other stakeholders are to make informed decisions about training and support, they need to know what online writing instructors are saying about these matters.” In order to provide this information, she conducted two surveys—one national and one local—as well as three interviews, each directed to online writing instructors asking about their perception of the training, professional development, and support they receive in their work. Her results indicate that most training is voluntary and focused on technological rather than pedagogical issues, that departmental and university administrators generally express little interest in instructors’ online teaching, and that most online instructors feel that their departments and institutions do not adequately value their online teaching and its time-intensive nature. McGrath calls for greater training and support, noting a special need for discipline-specific, pedagogy-based training to supplement general, technology-focused offerings, and recommends departments consider electing an “eLearning coordinator” to lead such efforts.

Keywords: teacher training, faculty development, administration, writing program administration, online writing programs, faculty satisfaction, faculty workload

OWI principles: 7, 8, 12, 15

McKee, Heidi A. “‘Always a Shadow of Hope’: Heteronormative Binaries in an Online Discussion of Sexuality and Sexual Orientation.” Computers and Composition, vol. 21, no. 3, Sept. 2004, pp. 315-40. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2004.05.002.

McKee’s article is based on working with face-to-face writing students who were asked to participate for an extended period of time in the Intercollegiate E-Democracy Project, an online discussion that covered a range of topics, including sexuality. The article first chronicles the literature regarding online discussions of homosexuality and then shifts to the need for her research that “situate[s] analyses of online discourse within the multiple perspectives of the participants who sent and received the messages” (320). She works with eleven students who provided the substance of their discussions and participated in interviews. She concludes that “heteronormative binaries can provide important catalysts for movement in students’ thinking about complex issues and that online spaces in particular are valuable forums for students to articulate and then complicate their understandings of issues relating to sexuality and sexual orientation” (318). Her article ends with an overview of some practical strategies for encouraging discourse around sexuality in online discussion boards. Her research and her conclusions would apply to blended courses that involve asynchronous discussion boards and demonstrate helpful, practical ways of setting up these discussions around sensitive topics such as gender and sexuality.

Keywords: gender, discussion: English, asynchronous interaction, research, accessibility, computer-mediated communication

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11

McVey, Mary. “Writing in an Online Environment: Student Views of ‘Inked’ Feedback.” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, vol. 20, no. 1, 2008, pp. 39-50.

The purpose of this study was to identify helpful feedback forms in an online class.  This study of fifty-seven students in a sixteen-week fully online course used student surveys to identify effective feedback methods.  The instructor utilized a handwriting tool on a digital tablet to mark student papers in a format that resembled traditional ink on paper feedback. She also utilized a feedback form, which contained live links to additional learning resources. Using the tablet feature, the instructor could write directly on the electronic version of the student paper, allowing her feedback to resemble feedback given in a traditional face-to-face setting. Students reported that the feedback was highly personalize and clear, allowing them to apply their learning to future assignments.  OWI studies in feedback may benefit from the continued study of the intersection of personalized feedback on student writing, student engagement, and student learning success.

keywords: feedback, research, surveys, qualitative research, student engagement, student success, instructor interaction, assessment

OWI Principle:  3, 4, 15

Mechenbier, Mahli. “Contingent Faculty and OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 227-49.

This chapter examines the challenges facing contingent faculty as a growing number of online courses—specifically online writing courses—are taught by adjunct instructors. Mechenbier details how the lack of training and communication for online writing instructors negatively affects the student learning experience, decreases retention of quality professors, and impacts the institution’s writing program over time. She goes on to describe the implications of limited access to university resources and the lack of community between part-time faculty and the institution. The remainder of the chapter discusses the poor compensation of contingent faculty and touches on issues regarding intellectual property and ownership of class materials. Mechenbier concludes with recommendations that serve to improve the relationship between adjunct faculty and the writing program administrators, leading to improved online writing instruction.

Keywords:  contingent faculty, adjunct, administration, faculty development, intellectual property, community, faculty workload, faculty satisfaction

OWI Principles:  3, 5, 7, 8, 10

Meloncon, Lisa. “Exploring Electronic Landscapes: Technical Communication, Online Learning, and Instructor Preparedness.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, 2007, pp. 31-53.

This article addresses the need for preparation strategies for teachers of technical communication and explores teachers’ readiness and self-selection processes. Using landscape theory from cultural geography, the author develops a framework for instructors to use to determine if they are ready and willing to teach online. This framework is grounded in cross-sectional reading practice developed by geographers, but it is updated so that the concept of “reading a landscape” can be used in different types of settings. For the purposes of online writing instruction, the framework includes five “landscapes”: personal, pedagogical, technological, managerial, and institutional.  Each landscape is accompanied by a starter set of questions so the instructor can reflect on their preparedness and readiness to teach online at their specific institutions. In addition to being a valuable tool for teachers new to online teaching, this framework is also an excellent tool to routinely determine the current “landscape” of online teaching resources on campus.

Keywords: faculty development, technical and professional writing, pedagogy: English, teaching with technology: English, faculty satisfaction, administration, writing program administration, online writing programs

OWI Principles: 5, 7, 12

Meloncon, Lisa, and Heidi Harris. “Preparing Students for OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 411-38.

Trying to fill the void in understanding the issue of student preparation and success in online writing classes, Meloncon and Harris gather literature across fields and specific to OWI to provide a current portrait of what we know about student preparation for online courses. They then provide recommendations for preparing students for online writing classes at the institutional level and instructor level. Institutionally, the authors propose the following recommendations: 1) create orientation modules, 2) use existing data to identify student preparation for online writing classes, 3) cap class sizes, 4) provide training and paid support for faculty, and 5) increase support structures for students. Orientation modules should be created to help students understand what resources may be available as well as specific technology-related orientations to ensure students are prepared to use the technologies they will need to succeed in class. Also, existing data should be leveraged to help understand their student population and learning needs better. Class sizes should be “capped responsibly” with a recommendation of 20 students per course.  Finally, institutions should provide and fund training for OWI teachers and more support structures for students. Instructors need to incorporate accessible elements into the design of their courses, build community within the courses, and prepare students for the online experiences of their writing courses. The authors give examples of how instructors can achieve these recommendations. The chapter  includes an appendix, “Student Preparation Checklist,” that instructors can modify and easily add to their online courses to help better prepare students for their online writing experiences.

Keywords: student perception, student preparation, orientation, community, pedagogy: English, online resources, course and program design: English, accessibility, class caps

OWI Principles: 1, 4, 9, 10, 11, 13

Meloncon, Lisa, and Lora Arduser. “Communities of Practice Approach: A New Model for Online Course Development and Sustainability.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 73–90.

Meloncon and Arduser illustrate how the concept of a Community of Practice (CoP) supports technical writing faculty in the process of designing, assessing, and modifying online courses. While in-house faculty professional development opportunities tend to focus on how to use an LMS or how to convert face-to-face lectures and instruction to multimedia components, the authors needed training opportunities for more technologically advanced faculty who were interested in examples of successful student engagement in online classes. The CoP model allowed instructors who had a shared domain and identity to organize both formally and informally to share resources and participate in ongoing discussions of their practice. The article provides specific recommendations for establishing and sustaining a CoP, encouraging those interested to invite different levels of participation, open dialogues about teaching and learning, and to focus on the value of the CoP. This article provides a structure for faculty who might feel isolated in departments or programs without a strong online pedagogy focus and also provides a means of supplementing what may be insufficient institutional faculty development training.

Keywords: faculty development, course and program design: English, instructional design, community of practice, community online resources, multimedia

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 5, 7, 11

Mick, Connie Snyder, and Geoffrey Middlebrook. “Asynchronous and Synchronous Modalities.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 129-48.

Mick and Middlebrook provide an overview of the two means of interacting with students in online writing course, synchronous and asynchronous, with the latter currently being the prevailing modality. After a discussion of the technologies available in each modality, the authors examine three dimensions that shape which modality might offer better pedagogical solutions in the end: inclusivity and accessibility, technical viability and IT support, and pedagogical rationale. Mick and Middlebrook conclude that while the asynchronous modality is more widely employed, some pedagogical goals are often better met with current synchronous tools. They observe that future technologies will make available additional tools that may lead to wider use of synchronous technologies in online writing instruction. The authors close with a reminder that both asynchronous and synchronous tools must be chosen based on a consideration of student access first and pedagogical rationale as a close second.

Keywords: asynchronous interaction, synchronous interaction, accessibility, technical support, pedagogy: English, course and program design: English,

OWI Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13

Miller, Susan. “How Near and Yet How Far? Theorizing Distance Teaching.” Computers and Composition, special issue, Distance Education: Promises and Perils of Teaching and Learning Online, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 321-28.

Miller provides a perspective on the dawn of what writing studies now knows to be the fully-online, for-profit school. In light of these new educational endeavors, Miller argues that “Composition Studies needs a theorized preparation for shifts in pedagogy that distance courses make visible” (322). She brings theories from Derrida and Baudrillard to show how distance learning asks us to question the roles of the student and instructor learning and teaching outside of a shared space. The article summarizes many of the key concerns of faculty and scholars wary about the ability to establish ethos and promote deep learning when removed in time and space from their students. After outlining her concerns, she closes by noting that the teacher in these online spaces “is at best an innovative facilitator of serious student purposes” and will require the field of composition studies to refashion our purposes and “refocus our views of writing pedagogy” (327). This article establishes several ongoing concerns with online writing instruction and sets the stage for the OWI Principles and Example Effective Practices and other works that seek to establish new and best practices for online writing instruction.

Keywords: pedagogy: English, asynchronous interaction, composition, best practices

OWI Principles: 3, 4

Miller, Susan. “A Review of Research on Distance Education in Computers and Composition.” Computers and Composition, special issue, Distance Education: Promises and Perils of Teaching and Learning Online, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 423-30.

Miller analyzes research related to online writing instruction (called distance-learning) that was published in Computers and Composition between 1994 and 1999 as part of a special edition of Computers and Composition . She identifies trends in the research, and her analysis of the twelve relevant articles from this period leads to her to identify two main categories 1) articles that theorize distance education in the context of writing instruction and (2) articles that describe distance education in practice. Articles in the first category address the need for new theories for computer-mediated instruction, a call to reconstruct of the concept of the physical classroom, and concerns about accessibility and ownership in online classes. Articles in the second category describe projects that seek to connect communities of distributed learners and highlight the benefits and limitations of “distance learning” (used first by Stacy, Goodman, and Stubbs, 1996) in composition classes. Miller ends by identifying the problems with making generalizations about online writing instruction using only articles from a single source within a single discipline based on only her definitions of “distance education” and “writing instruction” (428). She calls for the field of composition studies to do more research on distance education in writing instruction and for scholars in composition studies to explore how writing instruction is discussed in venues and disciplines outside of Computers and Composition.

Keywords: distance education, computer-mediated classrooms, community, research, literature review

OWI Principles: 15

Miller-Cochran, Susan, K. “Multilingual Writers and OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 291-308.

Miller-Cochran describes the linguistically diverse culture of online writing courses and shows how the CCCC Position Statement of Principles and Examples of Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction (OWI) should be interpreted to facilitate the inclusivity and success of all students, including multilingual students. She specifically uses the CCCC Statement on Second Language Writing and Writers to clarify and customize each OWI principle with pedagogical approaches and accommodations recommended for multilingual learners. She explains that multilingual writers have unique educational backgrounds and cultural understandings that make their specific needs difficult to identify. She also explains that multilingual students have varied experiences with technology, so competency with the specific technologies chosen for the course cannot be expected. Inclusivity thus depends on instructors overcoming their assumptions about online students being linguistically homogeneous and technologically competent. She argues writing instruction must be designed and delivered with the understanding that diversity is ever present, as are the challenges associated with teaching academic writing to students in the process of learning English as another language. She makes the case that instructors need to be prepared and appropriately trained to teach writing to linguistically diverse students. Referring multilingual writers to external resources such as writing centers is one option. However, Miller-Cochran also emphasizes that options, accommodations, and effective pedagogical practices for linguistically diverse students must be part of the instructional design.

Keywords: inclusivity, accessibility, ELL, ESL, L2, multilingual writers, course and program design: English, online writing centers, writing centers,

OWI Principles: 1, 13

Miller-Cochran, Susan K., and Rochelle L. Rodrigo. “Determining Effective Distance Learning Designs through Usability Testing.” Computers and Composition, special issue, Distance Learning: Evolving Perspectives, vol. 23, no. 1, 2006, pp. 91-107.

Miller-Cochran and Rodrigo present the results of the usability testing they conducted to assess the design of their online first-year composition courses at a large community college in the Southwest. They sought to answer the following questions: 1) “How well can students navigate and perform tasks in the course? 2)  What should be revised in the course to make it more usable for students? 3)  What aspects of the course design were helpful to students and why? 4) What can teachers learn about the strengths and weaknesses of their own course design through conducting usability testing, and how can they use the results to revise their courses? 5) What methodological options do teachers have for conducting usability testing and what should they consider as they design their own tests? 6) What overall guidelines for online course design can be developed to address patterns revealed through conducting usability testing?” (93). Using a heuristic evaluation method and a think-aloud protocol, they asked students to complete a series of course tasks. They divided their results into three categories: 1) “course-specific results,” 2) “guidelines for conducting usability testing,” and 3) “guidelines for designing online courses” (98). They conclude that the study highlighted the need for them to re-think the clarity of their online and face-to-face courses. Their tests offer a model for conducting usability testing of online writing classes to anticipate and alleviate design problems, and their analysis provides an understanding of approaches for course design in online writing courses. The former offers an indication of how to design the tests, gather the data, interpret the results, and implement their findings. The latter are guidelines developed after examining a number of writing classes and applying design principles from usability engineering.

Keywords: usability testing, first-year composition, course and program design: English, modeling, research, qualitative research, instructional design

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 10, 15

Minter, Deborah. “Administrative Decisions for OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 211-26.

Minter argues that WPAs must make smart and ethical decisions for online writing instruction in their programs and should look to the CCCC Position Statement of Principles and Examples of Effective Practices for Online Writing Instruction (OWI) for direction. Factors that WPAs should consider include class size and student preparation. Class size is pertinent for the same reasons class size matters for onsite courses; however, Minter references current OWI research that argues reading for both teachers and students in online writing courses can increase significantly with each new student, as both students and teachers read more for each student actively participating in the course. Student preparation for online learning is also a crucial consideration. WPAs should advocate for ethical support and professional development for online writing instructors, which extends to student preparation for online learning. Student orientations to online writing courses and comparable support, such as online writing consultation and access to library faculty, are crucial to student success. Minter closes with a brief discussion of the need for WPAs to advocate for financial support of online writing instruction and financial incentives for teaching online courses.

Keywords: writing program administration, course caps, reading, faculty workload, online resources, online writing programs, faculty satisfaction, student preparation, orientations,

OWI Principles 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13

Miyazoe, Terumi, and Terry Anderson. “Anonymity in Blended Learning: Who Would You Like to Be?” Educational Technology and Society, vol. 14, no. 2, 2011, pp. 175-87. ifets.info/journals/14_2/15.pdf.

Miyazoe and Anderson study the effect of anonymity in discussion forums and blogs in blended classrooms. In particular, the researchers asked three questions: “1) What are the participatory behaviors of students in face-to-face (with real names) and online (with pseudonyms) in blended course designs? 2) How did the students perceive and evaluate the different online writing tools using pseudonyms? and 3) What are the students’ learning outcomes?” (177). The study included sixty-three students taking English for Academic Purposes in a blended format. Students’ identities were concealed from both the other students and the instructor. The study used five data sources: 1) pre-/post-course English proficiency tests, 2) a paper-based survey regarding the students pseudonyms and online writing experiences, 3) semi-structured interviews on the course experience and pseudonym usage, 4) students’ writings on the LMS, and 5) attendance records of the students and teacher’s notes on class management (178). The researchers concluded that using pseudonyms in blended or hybrid courses were useful in increasing participation in classes, particularly among female students, and that “anonymity can be a crucial factor in increasing the amount of content and effort expended by EFL students” (184). This research helps faculty to better understand methods of encouraging EFL and gendered participation in online, hybrid, and blended classrooms.

Keywords: ELL, ESL, multilingual writers, discussion: English, hybrid, gender, identity, discussion boards, blogs, discussion: English, course management systems, faculty workload, student engagement

OWI Principles: 1, 11

Moberg, Eric. “The College Writing Center: Best Practices, Best Technologies." ERIC, 7 Mar. 2010, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED508644.pdf.

Moberg describes the key attributes that make writing centers successful, whether they are on-ground or online. The article highlights the importance of having a mission of lifelong learning; the necessity of well-trained tutors, organized services, and clearly defined leadership; and the benefits of technology. Moberg describes on-ground and online tutoring as fundamentally the same, the latter emerging to grant students greater access to services. Student-centered tutoring methods such as collaboration and modeling support adult, college-level learners. In the discussion about technology and in the section on Online Writing Labs that follows, Moberg explains how technology has improved the student learning experience with greater access to scholarly sources, making research easier and encouraging writing as a process. Tutors can also work with students at a distance using online tutoring rooms such as Adobe Connect. Institutions benefit by having fewer overhead expenses as tutors work from home. Even with these benefits, Moberg’s main point is clear. Technology is not more important than the quality of instruction.

Keywords: writing center, online tutoring, educational technology, best practices, technology, teaching with technology: English, student success, online resources, research writing

OWI Principles: 2, 13, 14

Mongillo, Geraldine, and Hilary Wilder. “An Examination of At-Risk College Freshmen’s Expository Literacy Skills Using Interactive Online Writing Activities.” Journal of College Reading and Learning, vol. 42, no. 2, 2012, pp. 27-50.

Mongillo and Wilder’s study focused on at-risk college freshmens’ ability to read and write descriptive text using game-like, online expository writing activities. The research explored online expository literacy tasks that required the at-risk students to read and write descriptive text for the purpose of having peers guess an object or subject. The findings suggest that these online activities improved at-risk students’ expository literacy skills in the categories of description of prominent features and word choice. When writing in an online environment, writers should not only select appropriate words but also know their audience. By reading their peers’ responses to their own writing, participants were exposed to diverse and varying viewpoints, which may have helped them to better understand their audience and their own writing. Mongillo and Wilder note that at-risk readers often disengage when presented with expository text, yet the authors know that many of them are proficient users of technology, utilizing the Internet for information when necessary. The researchers used Blackboard to facilitate their game-like activity, and the participants reported that the LMS was easy to use. However, not all students have access to computers, and as some participants reported, the platform is not always reliable. The authors’ research concluded that future research is needed to determine if the activities used in this study can serve as a lens to examine students’ reading and writing behaviors and strategies.

Keywords: at-risk students, gamification, audience, student engagement, Blackboard, course management system, reading, literacy, grammar & style

OWI Principles:  1, 3, 4, 11, 15

Moody, Suzan. “OWLs and ESL Students.” Kairos, vol. 1, no. 1, Spring 1996, kairos.technorhetoric.net/1.1/binder2.html?owls/moody.html.

Moody’s hypertext catalogues the 8 OWLs that provided services for ESL students as of Fall 1995. She divides the services into three categories: 1) OWLs that provide online tutoring through synchronous online environments (such as MOOs), 2)OWLs that provide asynchronous tutoring through email, and 3) OWLs that consist of list-servs that provide information about learning English. While this hypertext is dated and not all of the hyperlinks work, it provides scholars seeking to research the history of OWLs a basic list of ESL OWLs available in the 1990s.

Keywords: ELL, ESL, multilingual writers, hypertext, online writing lab, MOO, email, listservs, online tutoring

OWI principles: 1, 13

Moore, Jensen, and Khristen Jones. “The Journalism Writing Course: Evaluation of Hybrid versus Online Grammar Instruction.” Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, vol. 70, no. 1, 2015, pp. 6-25.

Moore and Jones conducted a study comparing a hybrid grammar course with an online grammar course. The hybrid course structure teaches grammar skills in online modules while more difficult concepts are taught in the classroom. Blending flexibility of online classes with the face-to-face interaction of traditional classes creates a more complex, beneficial learning environment. The authors’ study finds no significant difference in student performance between students enrolled in online and traditional classes, while hybrid classrooms demonstrate the best student results. Post-test scores for students enrolled in the hybrid courses were not dramatically different from those in the online or face-to-face classes. Overall, online and hybrid classrooms allow for more independent and self-directed learning. Students reported being more satisfied with the hybrid courses, but students’ abilities to learn and retain grammar concepts did not significantly differ among modalities. The authors conclude with a call for journalism teachers to spend in-class time working on higher-order journalism skills and using computer-mediated activities for grammar review.

Keywords:  hybrid, blended, grammar & style, student engagement, research, empirical research, modality, WAC, WID

OWI Principles:  3, 11

Moore, Noreen S., and Michelle L. Filling. “iFeedback: Using Video Technology for Improving Student Writing.” Journal of College Literacy and Learning, vol. 38, 2012, pp. 3-14.

Moore and Filling study the relationship between student engagement and instructor use of video feedback on writing assignments. Video feedback is beneficial in humanizing the instructor, providing a record of the instructor’s reactions to the writing, and allowing for more feedback provided more quickly than written comments. The researchers study addressed the following questions: “1) What characterizes the comments college students receive from instructors using video feedback? 2) What types of revisions do college students make after viewing video feedback? 3) How do college writers perceive video feedback?” (6). The participants were forty-five college students in a children’s literature and an English composition course. The instructors and peer tutors provided video feedback using iMovie, BBVista, and Quick Time Player and then asked students to revise their drafts and reflect on their revisions. After the students submitted final drafts, they were surveyed and interviewed. Using constant comparative analysis, the researchers concluded that students perceived the feedback as “better” than written feedback and that students revised at a global level. Students indicated that they listened to the feedback multiple times and continued to revise their work beyond the final draft for the portfolio. The implications of this study point to a need for additional studies on the efficacy of video feedback and an understanding of why revision improved after students received video feedback.

Keywords: feedback, revision, video, student engagement, instructor interaction, technology, teaching with technology: English, composition, tutoring, portfolios, research, surveys, interviews, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 15

Moore, Scott D., et al. “Leveraging Technology to Alleviate Student Bottlenecks: The Self-Paced Online Tutorial—Writing (SPOT).” The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, vol. 62, no. 1, 2014, pp. 50-55.

The authors begin by discussing general faculty perspectives of online learning. While many faculty and institutions find the value of the accessibility and economic advantage of the digital classroom, others find it problematic because it challenges faculty authority and freedom. However, the authors offer the Fresno State University SPOT Program as an example of effective OWI, especially in relieving course bottlenecks by allowing students to prepare for the Upper Division Writing Exam (UDWE). The SPOT Program helps students develop eight habits of effective writers based on research from composition researchers: curiosity, openness, engagement, creativity, persistence, responsibility, and metacognition. Students enrolled in SPOT complete a writer’s inventory adapted from Oregon State University’s “writer’s personal profile.” Based on the results of the profile, students created two goals that guided feedback from the writing mentor and peers. The authors claim that the SPOT Program is sustainable because it has an established curriculum, an assessable portfolio for each student, mandatory training for all writing mentors, and maintains consistency through the use of portfolios as future training and teaching material. The authors evaluate SPOT’s success as anecdotally successful in that all students completing the program, approximately 50 percent, passed the UDWE.

Keywords: online writing center, faculty satisfaction, composition, student engagement, reflection, surveys, curriculum, course and program design: English, mentoring, faculty development, tutor training, portfolios

OWI Principle 3, 6, 7

Morton-Standish, Leisa. “Using Online Media to Write Extended Persuasive Text.” The Reader Teacher, vol. 67, no. 6, 2014, pp. 419-29.

Given the increased demand by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) for students to produce persuasive writing at all levels, Morton-Standish purports using the already familiar online environments to create and publish persuasive texts. Using students’ new literacies in digital technologies can create engaging, persuasive text within a multimodal environment. Morton-Standish explains how teachers can use online sources to create student ownership, do online research to support arguments, write for real-world audiences, and write collaboratively. Giving specific assignment examples and listing specific CCSS-ELA standards which will be met using these methods, this article explains specifically how digital technology empowers educators and student writing, enabling students to write extended persuasive digital texts. This article is useful to OWI by discussing the possibility of digital media instruction to teach K-12 Common Core writing concepts.

Keywords: literacy, Common Core, argument: English, multimodal, audiences, collaboration, English Language Arts

OWI Principle:  3, 4, 11

Murugaiah, Puvaneswary, and Siew Ming Thang. “Development of Interactive and Reflective Learning among Malaysian Online Distant Learners: An ESL Instructor’s Experience.” International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, vol. 11, no. 3, 2010, pp. 21-41. ERIC, ISSN: 1492-3831.

Murugaiah and Thang study how interactive and socially-constructed approaches to online writing instruction helped distance learners in English proficiency courses at a university in Malaysia. Murugaiah and Thang conducted action research focused on Salmon’s five-stage model for online activity development: 1) access and motivation, 2) socialization, 3) information exchange, 4) knowledge construction, and 5) individual development. The study outlines how the instructor implemented each stage of Salmon’s model and demonstrates how the instructor facilitated the students’ self-directed learning. The authors found that, while the instructor at times found it difficult to maintain a focus on student-engagement, the students who “actively participated in the given task appeared to have learnt [sic] to reflect and managed to apply it in improving their writing skills in English” (36). While they acknowledge that the study is limited and not widely generalizable, it does demonstrate that students gained valuable cognitive skills and an increased awareness of their own learning.

Keywords:  collaboration, student engagement, social constructionism, ELL, ESL, L2, multilingual writers, EFL, reflection

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 10, 11

N

Nahachewsky, James, and Angela Ward. “Contrapuntual Writing: Student Discourse in an Online Literature Class.” English Teaching: Practice and Critique, vol. 6, no. 1, 2007, pp. 50-68.

Using a medieval Latin-based word normally used to describe music, Nahachewsky and Ward discuss student voices and critical literacy practices in an asynchronous online course that allowed for close reading of student text. By analyzing the asynchronous texts, the researchers found student discourse challenged the modernist idea of single authorship, linear text structure, and single purpose texts that only transmit ideas. Online discourse in this class created multi-layered texts that were both reflexive and recursive as students negotiated identity and learning through the ongoing flow of interactive discussions. The data shows that these World Literature students were able to construct and restructure meanings of texts and their world by viewing their writing in relationship to the writings of others about the same texts and topics. The researchers were surprised, however, when students did not challenge the course content or try to introduce new types of writing beyond the usual expository and reflective genres.

Keywords: literacy, asynchronous interaction, identity, discussion: English, literature, genre

OWI Principle: 3, 4, 10

National Federation of the Blind. NFB, 2016, nfb.org.

The National Federal of the Blind provides access to resources, products, and publications for individuals who are visually impaired in some capacity. The “Parents and Teachers” section specifically links to resources that may be helpful for supporting visually impaired individuals within home and educational environments. In the “I Want to Learn About…” sub-section, users will find a “Technology” area with technology access guides and information about the Kurzweil-National Federation of the Blind Reader. Another key area of the website is the “Resources” area, which includes “Resources for Learning” that link to other programs and tools, including NFB-Newsline, a newspaper source for individuals who are blind.

Keywords: accessibility, online resources, technology

OWI Principles: 1

Neaderhiser, Stephen, and Joanna Wolfe. “Between Technological Endorsement and Resistance: The State of Online Writing Centers.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 29, no. 1, 2009, pp. 49-77.

Starting with identifying the various definitions of the term “online writing lab” (OWL) and discussing the types of online services often provided in these spaces, this article lays a foundation for past and current practices of OWLs. The authors identify each type of service, explain the type of technology needed for each service, and explain the benefits as well as potential problems of certain technological services. The authors then discuss the results of a 2006 survey conducted by The Writing Centers Research Project that included 1,286 respondents from the US and Canada. The results conclude that the creation of OWLs  is increasing across institutions. However, the infrastructure of the OWL is sometimes expensive and not often supported by institutional funding. For some centers, this financial challenge has led to outsourcing online services to companies such as Smarthinking. The findings also concluded that 90% of OWLs still rely most heavily on asynchronous or email based services despite the advancement of synchronous online communication applications and that research institutions were more likely to try new technologies for an online writing conference.

Keywords: online writing lab, asynchronous interaction, writing center, technology, research, surveys, qualitative research

OWI Principle:  13, 14, 15

Nielsen, Danielle. “Universal Design in First-Year Composition—Why Do We Need It, How Can We Do It?” The CEA Forum, vol. 42, no. 2, 2013, journals.tdl.org/ceaforum/index.php/ceaforum/article/view/7018.

Nielsen tells readers how to integrate universal design for learning principles into the first-year composition course. Her first suggestion centers on the design of her course. She chose a textbook that was accessible electronically and uploaded supplemental texts in Word or scannable PDFs. She also shows assignments in class and reads them (which could be achieved in the online environment by recording), a process she also does for handouts and announcements. These same materials are then posted electronically. Nielsen also emphasizes the importance of communication with students in a variety of mediums. She redesigned her assignments to allow for student choice, particularly choice in the mediums in which they can create their assignments. Nielsen also acknowledges several critiques of UDL such as arguments against digitization and the additional time it takes to implement these suggestions.

Keywords: accessibility, universal design, assignment: English, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1

O

O’Sullivan, Mary F. “Worlds Within Which We Teach: Issues for Designing World Wide Web Course Material.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 61-72.

O’Sullivan outlines the shift from “self-taught Web site [sic] writers” creating courses online to the emergence of “course-in-a-box” software (61). In 1999, she identifies around twelve software packages for distance learning, and her study focuses on “how that software influences the creation of an online course” (62). In evaluating these products, she asks four questions: “What does the software produce or what pedagogy does it support? Is the resulting Web site static or active? How is the page created and what skills does it take to employ? How much control does the instructor have over the result, aesthetically and also mechanically?” (65). Her review of a variety of types of is later called Learning Management Systems (LMSs) provides valuable insight into the evolution of these products. She concludes that “Useful instruction using computer technology begins with thoughtful and appropriate use of that technology by instructors not only to support, but also to extend, their traditional pedagogies” (69). This article is a valuable historical overview of early LMS efforts and provides a catalogue of these products for researchers interested in the history of online writing instruction.

Keywords: course and program design: English, technology, course management systems, pedagogy: English, distance education, web design

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4

Olson-Horswill, Laurie. “Online Writing Groups.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 30, no. 2, 2002, pp. 188-97.

Olson-Horswill argues that, if used well, “discussion forum technology connects online students in interactive, real-life writing groups,” with results that “can be even more interactive and personal than in a traditional classroom” (188). The article uses case methodology to study a freshman composition course. The course used the process model of reading, discussion, writing, writing groups, and writing workshops. Olson-Horswill concluded that once trust was established, online groups showed similar traits of face-to-face groups. In addition, because these groups were not bound by the space and time of the classroom nor governed by body language or facial expressions, they were even more connected through the genuine expression of their thoughts in writing. Olson-Horswill details the methods she uses in designing and facilitating the course and identifies student work that exemplifies the concepts she emphasizes in her online writing course.

Keywords: community, collaboration, discussion: english, discussion boards, case study, research, writing process, reading, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 15

Opdenacker, Liesbeth, and Luuk Van Waes. “Implementing an Open Process Approach to a Multilingual Online Writing Center: The Case of Calliope.” Computers and Composition, vol. 24, no. 3, 2007, pp. 247-65. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2007.05.003.

Opdenacker and Van Waes describe a multilingual online writing center called Calliope. They begin the article with a demonstration of why European online writing centers differ from American online writing centers while noting that there is a diverse range of OWCs across Europe as well. The authors describe how they “developed a new theoretical framework, based on a constructivist pedagogical approach, aimed at supporting both different learning profiles and writing processes” (248). Calliope is fully embedded into third year Strategic Business and Management Communication courses, blended courses where students both meet face-to-face and complete writing activities online through the online writing center. Students use three different tools in completing reflexive and reflective writing assignments based on case studies: 1) a feedback editor, which is “a Web-based application that supports giving and receiving feedback on written products in different stages of the writing process” (252); 2) Escribamos, which is “a Web-based application developed to support collaborative writing activities” (254); and 3) a portfolio tool in Blackboard that links to the OWC (256). In addition to integrating these three tools, the OWC allows different learner types as identified by Kolb to create their own pathways through the learning module to cover the three components of each unit: theory, practice, and a case study (257). Opdenacker and Van Waes end the article by briefly discussing how they designed Calliope and conclude with the next steps they are taking in the project. This article provides an alternative version of the traditional, American OWL that integrates specific writing instruction into courses across the disciplines.

Keywords: ELL, ESL, multilingual writers, online writing labs, hybrid, feedback, Blackboard, portfolio, course management systems, business writing, technical and professional writing, collaboration, modules, WID, WAC

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 6, 10, 11

Olsen, Leslie.  “A Genre of its Own: Training Tutors for Asynchronous Online Conferencing.” 2002. Unpublished MS. Department of English, University of Washington. www.pnwca.org/files/UWBOWLTraining.pdf.

The author shows online tutoring as its own distinct genre in need of its own practices in order to fully support asynchronous online tutoring as a beneficial educational endeavor. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative data to trace improvement in peer tutor responses to asynchronous paper reviews after instituting a two phase tutor training program.  As part of the training, peer tutors utilized a two tutor written response method modeled after a business SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis called a SNO (strengths, needs, opportunities) response.  By implementing incremental changes over time with the two phases, tutors improved their response methods. After training, tutors began focusing on qualitative explanations to students and stopped editing student papers.  The online spaces became a valuable as a result of the established feedback model. This early study of online writing center practices supports OWI studies idea of the importance of training to establish value and best practices for quality online student learning.

Keywords: writing center, online writing center, asynchronous interaction, online tutoring, tutoring training, genre

OWI Principle 14

Oswal, Sushil. “Accessible ePortfolios for Visually-Impaired Users: Interfaces, Design, & Infrastructures.” ePortfolio Performance Support Systems: Constructing, Presenting, and Assessing Portfolios, edited by Katherine Wills and Rich Rice, Parlor P, 2013, pp. 133-52.

Oswal offers guidance on making ePortfolios accessible by first explaining that accessibility should also include usability. He points out that many sites, particularly educational spaces, may be accessible by legal definitions, but they are not usable for those with disabilities, particularly visual impairments. Oswal shifts the conversations on ePortfolios by explaining the importance of ePortfolios for those with disabilities and arguing that writing studies lack the pedagogical tools to help students with disabilities create portfolios. Oswal offers a user test of the portfolio option in the Canvas Portfolio tool, and the results indicate that the problems with this tool can be solved with greater attention to accessible design criteria as advocated by Section 508 and the web accessibility guidelines. Oswal ends his chapter with recommendations including an emphasis on accessible content generation through multimodal assignments and how to incorporate different activities for their development of those assignments.

Keywords: accessibility, legislation, portfolios, ethics, disability studies, multimodal, assignments: English, Canvas LMS, course management systems, usability studies

OWI Principles: 1

Oswal, Sushil. “Physical and Learning Disabilities in OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 253-90.

Oswal asserts that online courses do not include accessibility for all types of disabled students. In addition, large amounts of money are allocated into tools not properly representing the growing disabled minority group. In the current generation, technology continuously advances. Oswal further explains current technological advancements which are not delivered to online classrooms to benefit disabled students. The lack of proper accessibility in online classrooms is an issue to disabled students who strive for personal success in higher education. For disabled students, obtaining literacy skills can be difficult in online classes that are not accessible or do not design for accessibility using modern technology. Oswal argues for equal educational opportunities for each student rather than focusing on possible beneficial online technologies for disabled students. OWI Principle #1 states that “online writing instruction should be universally inclusive and accessible.” Oswal expresses the importance of understanding OWI Principle #1 and further considering disability and accessibility conceptually. He also provides examples of negative attitudes concerning disability. Nondisabled persons expect the same level of function from disabled students. However, LMS designs today do not include appropriate accessibility for disabled listeners and learners. A key component to effective education is creating more-than-desirable accessibility through improved LMS designs. Oswal concludes by calling for data gathering as an ongoing process for all OWI administrators and instructors in the near future until a threshold of understanding about inclusive pedagogies for OWI is found. Gathering data and improving upon advancing technologies will help online courses to be more modern and create equal educational opportunities for all students in online classrooms.

Keywords:  accessibility, course and program design: English, instruction technology, research, inclusivity, student success, student preparation, technology, teaching with technology: English, disability studies

OWI Principles:  1

Oswal, Sushil K., and Lisa Meloncon. “Paying Attention to Accessibility and Disability in Technical and Professional Communication Online Course Design.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 28, no. 3, 2014, pp. 271-300.

Roughly 1 out of 10 students in online classrooms have some form of disability, and now that a growing number of technical and professional communication (TPC) courses and programs are offered online, scholars need to adequately address accessibility in online course design. Calling on the field to pay attention to this issue, the authors report the results of a national survey of online writing instructors. They use Selfe’s landmark essay as a way to theoretically frame the results, which indicate that instructors do not understand the need of making their courses accessible and have little guidance at their institutions regarding where to start. The authors offer several suggestions on ways to help instructors make their courses more accessible. Suggestions include instructors’ need to be more proactive in embracing accessibility, use multiple means of representation of course materials, carefully select online tools, and build capacity for accessible design within writing programs.

Keywords: disability studies, inclusivity, accessibility, course and program design: English, online writing programs, technical and professional writing, faculty development, surveys

OWI Principle: 1, 15

Oswal, Sushil, and Beth Hewett. “Accessibility Challenges for Visually Impaired Students and Their Online Writing Instructors.” Rhetorical Accessability: At the Intersection of Technical Communication and Disability Studies, edited by Lisa Meloncon, Baywood, 2013, pp. 135-56.

Stating that access in online teaching most often refers to throwing a wide net to reach students in geographically distributed locations or requesting that disabled students contact the professor in the first week of class, Oswal and Hewett frame accessibility in online writing instruction in terms of the core issues that arise for people with disabilities, using visual impairment as the core example. The authors use results of the 2011 State of the Art of OWI report developed by the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in OWI to demonstrate that those who teach writing of any kind in online settings are underprepared to consider access issues and, in some cases, express a lack of interest in them. They relate problems inherent to defining access adequately as one source of the problem. Oswal and Hewett extend the extant literature on access and OWI by providing a series of adaptive technologies for OWI that include textbook and technological choices (i.e., modality, course management systems, multimodal text accessibility, visual aspects of formatting, resources beyond the OWI classroom, and online conferencing). They conclude with an appendix offering tools for improving accessibility of electronic materials for the blind that provides a place for interested educators to begin their search.

Keywords: accessibility, disability studies, assistive technology, multimodal, visually impaired users

OWI Principles 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 15

P

Palmquist, Michael E. “Network-Supported Interaction in Two Writing Classrooms.” Computers and Composition, vol. 10, no. 4, 1993, pp. 25-57.

Palmquist recounts an early empirical study of two asynchronous, computer-mediated composition classes to better understand the nature of the talk occurring in the online environment. He indicates that computer classrooms offer researchers an important tool for learning how student writers in peer groups address each other’s writing. The research, designed to answer whether and how networks have the ability to impact classroom content, he analyzes the conversations that students have in two classes. One is an information class where students independently researched topics of their own choices; the other is the argument class where students shared both a topic and a knowledge base. Palmquist’s findings suggest that students’ online discussions in the argument class revealed a stronger group cohesion and deeper critical skills, indicating that subject matter affects critical commentary in online peer groups.

Keywords: asynchronous interaction, computer-mediated classrooms, peer review, feedback, community, collaboration, networked classrooms

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Palmquist, Mike, and Sue Doe. "An Evolving Discourse: The Shifting Uses of Position Statements on the Contingent Faculty." ADE Bulletin, no. 153, 2013, pp. 23-34.

Mike Palmquist and Sue Doe note that numerous professional organizations have issued statements and resolutions focused on the status and working conditions of contingent faculty in the profession.  How these assertions and arguments in turn affect advances in recognizing the issues resulting from an increased dependence on contingent labor--especially in composition courses--has been discouraging.  Although the dialogue regarding these issues has been prolific at the national level, action at the local level comes with a distinctive set of structural challenges.  Palmquist and Doe recommend that universities and administrators revisit the conversations which are a part of this national concern so that approaches to tenure and alternate forms of job security can be explored, recognizing the contributions of contingent faculty in this period of shifting appointments in academic labor.

Keywords: contingent faculty, faculty satisfaction, faculty workload

OWI Principles: 7, 8

Palmquist, Michael, et al. “Contrasts: Teaching and Learning About Writing in Traditional and Computer Classrooms.” Computers in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook, edited by Michelle Sidler et al., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008, pp. 251-70.

Michael Palmquist, Kate Kiefer, James Hartvingsen, and Barbara Goodlew recount two empirical studies (the “Transitions Study” and the “New Teachers Study”) designed to assist educators as they cross boundaries between teaching in traditional and online settings. These studies, which compared classroom settings and student behaviors/attitudes over time, led to seven themes. First, differences in classroom settings impacted daily planning. Also, teachers adopted more “take charge” roles in the traditional setting and more decentralized roles in online settings. Palmquist et al. found that computer classroom students talked more often with teachers and that students used computer classrooms as a worksite, whereas traditional classroom students resisted writing activities. Teachers were able to transfer more successful activities from computer to traditional settings, and even when they believed in the pedagogical benefits, teachers who were less familiar with technology resisted using it. Finally, students in the two settings differed in their attitudes about writing, writing performance, previous writing instruction, and interaction.

Keywords: empirical research, research, instructor interaction, networked classrooms, computer-mediated instruction, pedagogy: English, student engagement, technology, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7, 11

Palmquist, Michael, et al. “Network Support for Writing Across the Curriculum: Developing an Online Writing Center.” Computers and Composition, vol. 12, no. 3, 1995, pp. 335-53.

Michael Palmquist, Dawn Rodrigues, Kate Kiefer, and Donald Zimmerman review their previous research on writing across the curriculum (WAC) efforts and argue that “computer-network technologies make it possible to consider an alternative to the indirect, top-down pedagogy used in most WAC programs” (335). By expanding the audience considered in WAC programs to not only faculty but also students themselves, Palmquist et al. insist that an integrated model of teaching, including team-teaching and content and writing specialists is the soundest model for WAC programs. However, because many campuses lack funding for such a robust WAC model, the article recommends instead centering the initiative in an online writing center (OWC). They then outline the process of developing their “network-supported writing-center-based WAC program” (340). They developed modular media courseware that was accessible by students using the Asymetrix Multimedia Toolbox 3.0 (344). In addition, they developed reference programs and tutorials to assist writers working at multiple stages of the writing process. Palmquist et al. conclude with a list of benefits and challenges to their model, and they encourage others seeking to implement this approach to begin with campus-wide conversations about the importance of writing at each individual campus.

Keywords: WAC, online writing center, research, literature review

OWI Principles: 13, 14, 15

Park, Chanho, and Sookyung Cho. “The Effects of Korean Learners’ Online Experiences on their English Writing.” The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 13, no. 3, 2014, pp. 202-09, www.tojet.net/articles/v13i3/13319.pdf.

Park and Cho look at how online writing experiences impact the self-efficacy, attitudes, and performance of English-as-a-foreign-language, or EFL, learners.  The study focuses on students working in a computer-mediated writing classroom (CMC) environment.  The narrower EFL context that this article addresses was relatively understudied as compared to more general research that has indicated a positive correlation between the extent of students’ computer experiences and their performance in a course.  Park and Cho studied a group of thirty-two Korean university EFL learners, some who wrote online frequently and others who did not.  The authors looked specifically at the degree to which students in the study group used online peer feedback in revision.  As Park and Cho note, “All participants had completed a basic writing course as a prerequisite, and as English majors or minors, their English proficiency levels were generally high” (203).  Results show that the fifteen students in the study group who wrote online on a regular basis had more positive attitudes towards computer-mediated environments and were relatively more likely to incorporate feedback into revisions than were the seventeen students within the study group who were not frequent (or “regular”) online writers.  The article concludes that when new technology is introduced, additional support for those not familiar with the technology should be provided.

Keywords: EFL, ESL, ELL, L2, computer-mediated classroom, revision, peer review, research, feedback, qualitative research, online resources, student preparation

OWI Principles: 1, 4, 10

Passig, David, and Gali Schwartz. “Collaborative Writing: Online Versus Frontal.” International Journal on E-Learning, vol. 6, no. 3, 2007, pp. 395-412.

Passig and Schwartz hypothesize that synchronous collaborative writing that is facilitated with technology, rather than occurring in the fully face-to-face (what they call “frontal”) mode, can produce higher quality writing.  Their study looked at a collaborative online document generated synchronously by graduate students and compared it to writing produced by similar students who also worked collaboratively but face-to-face. To evaluate written documents, the authors used the Cognitive Level and Quality Writing Assessment instrument, or CLAQWA. The technology used to facilitate the synchronous collaboration was called GROOVE.  According to the authors, the GROOVE platform “generates a shared space which serves as a private online work environment to which colleagues are invited to share information. The shared space enables all the online participants […]to process and edit text in an interactive, synchronic way” (398).  The authors found that despite some of the technical challenges presented by users having to install GROOVE on home machines, the student group that worked synchronously online produced what the authors describe as “a paper of a higher quality” (395) compared to the collaborative group that worked face-to-face, thus challenging what the authors express as the belief by others that technology is unlikely to improve student writing.

Keywords: synchronous interaction, collaboration, technology, quantitative research, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 3, 10, 15

Peterson, Patricia Webb. “The Debate About Online Learning: Key Issues for Writing Teachers.” Computers and Composition, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 359-70.

Peterson argues that, because the first-year composition course is so ubiquitous, writing teachers need to be more present in discussions about online writing courses. At the time of publication, Peterson notes that “most of the books and articles written about distance learning come from fields other than composition” (360). With this in mind, she attempts to create a map of the primary issues in online writing instruction that need further discussion. She first notes the tendency to “unbundle” course creation from delivery, and she outlines the history of the debate between online writing instruction as corporate training vs. online writing instruction as a humanistic endeavor. Next she focuses on concern about “what gets taught and how that content is consumed” (364). She cautions that online writing instructors should take a critical view of how technology is used in the service of learning. Finally, Peterson asks “How is student learning changed, bettered, or damaged by distance-learning courses?” (365). The debate between those who say that distance learning will be beneficial and those who find it harmful is outlined. She encourages in all three areas for the debate to go beyond the good/bad dichotomies so that we instead address a “complexity of the issues” (368) surrounding online distance education courses.

Keywords: composition, first-year composition, course and program design: English, teaching with technology: English, distance education

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Pickering, Kristin. “Developing Ethos in the WebCT Technical Communication Classroom: Diverse Voices.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 2, 2009, pp. 166-87.

Drawing upon activity theory and Engeström’s triangle of human activity (1987), this article focuses on student ethos development within an online course environment as a way to highlight the individuality of students participating in online, social forums. After contextualizing the concepts of ethos and persona, the author presents foundational activity theory concepts and explains the theory’s value as an analytical tool for studying distributed learning environments. The author analyzes email messages and discussion board postings from two students in the same online course through a case study approach and applies the activity theory triangle to suggest ways these students developed their own unique ethos within the course. For one of these students, the ethos constructed resulted from social conflict that developed within the course during the semester, including dis-identification. The article concludes by discussing limitations of the study, summarizing the benefits of applying activity theory to distributed learning environments, and suggesting directions for future research.

Keywords: student engagement, assessment, discussion: English, discussion boards, case study, research, qualitative research, identity

OWI Principles:  3, 11, 15

Pittenger, Amy L., and Becky Olson-Kellogg. “Leveraging Learning Technologies for Collaborative Writing in an Online Pharmacotherapy Course.” Distance Education, vol. 33, no. 1, 2012, pp. 61-80.

Pittenger and Olson-Kellogg investigated a graduate-level nursing course to understand how online writing could help faculty understand how graduate students “collaboratively create written communications appropriate for different audiences, namely, for the students in this project, patients, and other members of the health-care team” and demonstrate content mastery (63-64). Fifty participants in the study were assigned complex problems that combined physical therapy situations with pharmacotherapy issues. The researchers asked the following questions: “1) To what extent does collaborative writing within a wiki effectively facilitate learning? 2) Is it feasible to use a completed hypertext document to demonstrate content mastery and health professional competency? and 3) How does working within a group, addressing interprofessional as well as a patient audience, impact professional identity development?” (68). Participants completed an entrance survey and course evaluation and participated in focus groups after the projects were completed. Pittenger and Olson-Kellogg found that students were initially reluctant to work in groups, but they found the experience to be valuable after the project was over. The respondents indicated that “the complexity of the learning format allowed them to take on the role of a physical therapist in addressing the entire patient, both in designing physical therapy recommendations within a pharmacotherapy context, but also communicating with multiple audiences as the physical therapist” (73) through activities that helped them develop their professional identities. This study is important for those interested in writing to learn across the disciplines and for reinforcing the importance of writing across the curriculum as programs outside writing studies seek to expand their online offerings.

Keywords: WAC, collaboration, graduate students, wikis, WID, surveys, evaluation, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 15

Poniatowski, Kelly. “Getting Students Ready to Write: An Experiment in Online Teaching and Learning.” Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, vol. 67, no. 2, 2012, pp. 120-33.

This case study in course design demonstrates the success of a required one-credit online grammar and writing mechanics course. Over five semesters, Poniatowski studied an online grammar course and a traditional face-to-face grammar course and found that the engaging nature of the online course through interactive tutorials and podcasts led to greater student satisfaction.  The author also saw what appeared to be a positive relationship between the online course and student learning.  Course design, access to a significant number of online tools, and the potential to interact with the instructor all played a role in the success of the online grammar course.  In this study, faculty perceptions indicated a belief that students were better prepared for later courses when this grammar course was used as a gateway course to more advanced studies.  OWI studies benefit from the ongoing study of course design, student perception, and student achievement in online writing and grammar classrooms.

Keywords:  interactivity, grammar & style, writing mechanics, course design, student perception, student satisfaction, instructor interaction, WAC, WID, faculty perception

OWI Principle 3, 11, 13, 15

Porter, James. “Framing Questions about MOOCs and Writing Courses.” Invasion of the MOOCs: The Promise and Perils of Massive Open Online Courses,” edited by Steven D. Krause and Charles Lowe, Parlor P, 2014, pp. 14-28.

Porter addresses the question of whether writing can be taught in a MOOC in the affirmative. He separates the differences between the MOOCs themselves, which he says can be “a valuable addition to the toolbox of methods that writing teachers use to help writers” (14) and the hype around MOOCs. Instead of addressing whether MOOCs can teach writing, he instead addresses the question of whether MOOCs can teach writing as well as traditional composition courses. In addressing this larger question, he considers two other questions: “1) Is the MOOC a course—or is it more like courseware? and 2) What are we comparing MOOCs to?” (15). To answer the first question, he concludes that, while a writing course is composed of many elements, the course itself is the interaction of elements and the “surprises” that occur as the elements interact (21). In answering the second question, he defers to the SUNY Council of Writing’s Resolution on Massive Open Online Courses and the Teaching of Writing, which states that “Completion of the Writing requirement should always involve close work with a faculty member who can provide students mentorship, careful assessment and a genuine sense of a human audience” (25). He concludes by calling for more research to be able to definitively assess MOOCs and the possibility of their replacing the first-year composition course. This article is beneficial in asking pertinent questions about what we consider to be the first-year writing experience and how we handle scalability in online courses.

Keywords: MOOCs, first-year composition, audience,

OWI Principles: 6

Q

Qiu, Mingzhu, et al. “Online Class Size, Note Reading, Note Writing and Collaborative Discourse.” International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, vol. 7, no. 3, 2012, pp. 423-42.

Mingshu Qiu, Jim Hewitt, and Claire Brett studied the “relationship between class size and note reading loads, note writing locas, and collaborative discussions in online graduate-level courses” (424). Because student participation and interaction are crucial to a successful online course, students can experience information overload in large online classes. Their researchers used a mixed-methods approach which demonstrated a positive correlation between class size and the number of notes that students read. However, “when the number of notes that students were meant to read increased beyond a certain point, the percentage of notes they actually read declined, mainly because of information overload” (429). Some students, when faced with more notes to write, chose to write more notes with more simple language. When asked about the instructor’s notes in discussions, students indicated that when instructors did not write enough notes, the students considered them “absent” (432). The researchers concluded that the ideal class size for online graduate classes was between 13 and 15 students; fewer students would lead to slow class discussions, and more students lead to information overload for both students and instructors. This study is important in demonstrating the correlation between class size and student performance in online classes.

Keywords: graduate classes, course caps, collaboration, discussion: English, reading, student engagement, student-to-student interaction, instructor interaction, research, mixed methods, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 15

R

Ragan, Tillman J., and Patricia R. White. “What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate: The Criticality of Writing in Online Instruction.” Computers and Composition, vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 399-409.

Ragan and White stress a need for new writing skills to meet the learner in the online environment, and they offer some specific, practical examples that are developed primarily for email communication. They explain that the speed of online communication leads to the possibility for miscommunication between teachers and their students. They suggest using their two “Golden Triangles of Online Communication” as a model for communication. The first Golden Triangle focuses on the learner, the context, and the task. The second Golden Triangle encourages online instructors to ask these questions: “(a) What is this about?; (b) Why should I care?; and (c) What am I supposed to do?” (399). The authors conclude with an emphasis on clarity in written communication for online courses and online correspondence with students.

Keywords: email, communication

OWI Principle:  2, 3

Rangin, Hadi, et al. A Comparison of Learning Management System Accessibility, University of Illinois Disability Resources and Educational Services, 2013, presentations.cita.illinois.edu/2011-03-csun-lms/.

This paper is useful in understanding the accessibility limitations of the most common learning/content management systems. This team of researchers compared Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, and Sakai. They focused on functional tasks rather than testing specific page tools. The authors tested the login, forms, navigation, personalization and customization, help and documentation, common student facing modules/tools, and authoring tools and content creation. This report provides an overview of the findings in these categories, and it does not provide an evaluative judgement of any of the systems. In other words, this report is a user test that provides informational results only, which can be helpful to instructors who may have the choice of selecting content management systems. This report could also be helpful to argue against using a CMS since most experience major accessibility problems.

Keywords: content management systems, accessibility, usability testing

OWI Principle: 1

Rankins-Robertson, Sherry et al. “Multimodal Instruction: Pedagogy and Practice for Enhancing Multimodal Composition Online.” Kairos 2014, vol. 19, no. 1, http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/19.1/praxis/robertson-et-al/

Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Tiffany Bourelle, Andrew Bourelle, and David Fisher argue for using multimodality in online courses to “design online writing courses with digital tools to deliver instructional content and facilitate feedback.” This webtext not only lays out the argument for multimodality but mirrors the content through the design of the text, which looks like what a student using Writer’s Studio might encounter when accessing and navigating through a class that implements multimodal elements. Each section of the webtext demonstrates how the course is designed while simultaneously describing what elements would go in each section of the course and how those elements supported student learning. The webtext provides a sample assignment sequence and student response to that assignment to demonstrate how a multimodal sequence in the online class works. Finally, the authors discuss the challenges and constraints of both encouraging students to create multimodal projects and providing multimodal feedback to those students (samples of multimodal feedback is included as well). Instructors implementing multimodal course assignments and learning objects are encouraged to keep assignments simple, to use popular media, and to plan assignments so that they can be reused. This article provides a thorough theoretical and practical description of how multimodal assignments can work effectively in the online classroom with a clear description of the challenges of implementing these assignments.

Keywords: multimodal, learning management systems, video: English, collaboration, student-to-student interaction, student engagement

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15

Rao, Kavita, and Adam Tanners. “Curb Cuts in Cyberspace: Universal Instructional Design for Online Courses.” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, vol. 24, no. 3, 2011, pp. 211-29.

Rao and Tanners advocate for online courses that incorporate universal design for learning and universal instructional design principles, which increase accommodation for students with disabilities. They report on the findings of student feedback of a graduate level course that followed these design principles. Rao and Tanners provide a useful mapping exercise in which instructors can map their course elements to the different principles for effective online course design. These mapping instruments are easily adaptable to any OWC and provide a useful and easy-to-follow way to help instructors match their course content to principles of universal design for learning. Students who took the course designed according to these principles were highly satisfied and reported positive feedback on many of the features.

Keywords: universal design, accessibility, feedback, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 1

Reilly, Colleen, and Barbara L’Eplattenier. “Redefining Collaboration through the Creation of World Wide Web Sites.” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, vol. 39, no. 4, 1996, pp. 215-33.

The authors establish the benefits and challenges of small-group, task-based collaborative environments as both a part of everyday workplaces and as a teaching strategy with an emphasis on “workplace writing roles and practices” (2). While scenario-based projects, such a consulting tasks, can replicate some of the complexities of collaborative writing in the workplace, whole class project scenarios can more adequately replicate the full range of workplace complexity. In addition, the discourse community borrowed from the actual workplace and transferred to the Web adds another layer of complexity. The article describes the project, conducted at Purdue University in Fall 1995, and provides student feedback on how the project challenged them to think rhetorically for multiple audiences. The project described in the article and the time period in which it was conducted provide insight into how course projects implemented during the early days of the Internet integrated new technology into professional writing pedagogy.

Keywords: technical and professional writing, collaboration, pedagogy: English, business writing

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 11

Reilly, Colleen, and Joseph John Williams. “The Price of Free Software: Labor, Ethics, and Context in Distance Education.” Computers and Composition, vol. 23, no. 1, 2006, pp. 68-90.

Reilly and Williams investigated whether open-source software choices were influenced by instructors’ institutional pressures and structures. They concluded that “due to time constraints, inadequate technical expertise, and institutional mandates, both proactive and implied, many instructors select commercial courseware—such as Blackboard and WebCT—when teaching their distance-learning courses.” (69). Even though open-source software more closely aligns with the liberatory and participatory nature of many university and college writing courses and programs, the time and knowledge constraints on online writing instructors can dissuade them from using open-source software. In a survey distributed to the WPA-L and TechRhet listservs, participants identified ease of use as the primary motivating factor in selecting course systems for online classes. Also at issue are the tension between philosophies that encourage the sharing of knowledge and the concerns that institutions and others might monetize the software and content produced by instructors using open-source tools. The authors review three open-source course management systems in terms of their viability for use by online writing instructors: Drupal, Plone, and Sakai (75). They concluded that the most viable course management system was Drupal. They also reviewed Blackboard and WebCT and concluded that these proprietary systems could be rigid and complicate the idea of open sharing so important to writing pedagogy. They conclude with case studies of four educators who use course management systems and identified a “disconnect between the professed support for open-source applications and the extent of their use for delivering writing courses in a distance-learning format” (88). This study raises crucial questions about who controls the environment of the online writing class and how the increasingly contingent nature of faculty positions might prevent instructors from fully implementing innovative and open-source technologies.

Keywords: accessibility, open-source software, teaching with technology: English, surveys, research, Blackboard, course management systems, academic labor,

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 5, 6, 12, 15

Reiss, Donna, and Art Young. “WAC Wired: Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum.” WAC for the New Millennium: Strategies for Continuing Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Programs, editors Susan H. McLeod, Eric Miraglia, Margot Soven, and Christopher Thaiss, WAC Clearinghouse, 2011, pp. 52-85, wac.colostate.edu/books/millennium/chapter3.pdf.

Reiss and Young start their article by coining the term ECAC—or “Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum”—as “another approach to literacy, communication, collaboration, and community outreach for educational programs and institutions” (53). They provide a history of departments across the curriculum that are actively using computers and digital spaces to supplement and enhance their writing and communication instruction. They do so with three goals in mind: “1) an increase in information technology to support the activities of WAC/CAC programs, 2) an increase in alliances between instructional technology programs and WAC/CAC programs, and 3) additional emphasis on communication-intensive uses of technology, or ECAC, among teachers and institutions that emphasize active learning and the development of communication competence in all their students” (56). The history that the authors detail spans four decades from keyboarding classes in the 1970s to the fully-online classes of the 2000s. In particular, they focus on classes, instructors, and programs that use digital technologies to improve the writing-to-learn focus of classes across the curriculum. Reiss and Young also briefly recount the background of online collaboration and teaching and learning centers that have a focus on ECAC. They end with a section that predicts increased use of e-portfolios, an increase in the use of computer technologies to teach and to learn, and warnings about the possibility of unequal access to high powered computers and networks and challenges to faculty seeking tenure and promotion and job security as they teach in digital spaces. This article provides an important historical perspective on work in WAC and WID disciplines and identifies challenges and opportunities that may or may not have come to pass as writing and communication classes in the disciplines move fully online.

Keywords: WAC, WID, collaboration, faculty development, writing-to-learn, portfolios, instructional technology

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 6, 14

Remley, Dirk. “Writing in Web-based Disciplinary Courses: New Media, New Disciplinary Composing Expectations.” Computers and Composition, vol. 32, June 2014, pp. 1-18. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2014.04.002.

Remley’s article surveys writing instructors who teach writing intensive courses (WIC) across the disciplines to ascertain the differences in assignments and modalities required in face-to-face WIC courses and web-based WIC courses. In addition, Remley sought to understand faculty perceptions of where they think students should learn digital literacy skills and what, if any, professional development resources were available to faculty in WIC classes who sought to implement multimodal assignments. He designed two surveys that elicited feedback from faculty who taught WIC classes and non-WIC classes in each modality. He concluded that faculty who taught web-based WIC classes were more likely to incorporate multimodal assignments in their classes. Fewer web-based WIC instructors indicated assigning the research paper. Only some of the classes mentioned grading for digital literacy skills in their assignments. Disciplines with greater numbers of online offerings were more likely to require multimodal assignments, but only about half of faculty across disciplines assumed that students would come to their classes with digital literacy skills. Overall, over 80% of respondents thought that first-year writing students should be learning some slide-show-related literacy skills. Remley concludes that a factor in the differences between web-based and face-to-face digital literacy expectations may be related to class size in that those programs which offered online classes had larger online classes, and therefore did not require as much writing from students. He also concludes that faculty from across the disciplines need knowledge and professional development to help students develop digital literacy skills across the curriculum. This article helps researchers understand the similarities and differences in the types of assignments required in online WAC and WID courses and to help support faculty in developing multimodal assignments and assessments in these courses.

Keywords: multimodal, faculty development, WID, WAC, research, surveys, qualitative research, course caps

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12,

Rendahl, Merry, A. “It’s Not The Matrix: Thinking about Online Writing Instruction.” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, vol. 42, no. 1, 2009, pp. 133-50.

Encouraging readers to think critically about the possibility of teaching online writing, Rendahl addresses inherent fears and ideological mis-steps that quickly surface for teachers without any experience in online teaching. Rendahl explains that distance is created by more than physical space, naming common classroom issues such as hot or noisy classrooms to personality traits that prevent students from speaking up in class. She also suggests a teacher’s theories about language and writing instruction will influence the online teaching methods, potentially humanizing the digital space or creating distance. Supporting the online writing environment, the author suggests online courses may actually give students a chance to focus more closely on textual analysis and writing production. This article supports OWI by challenging common negative assumptions about teaching online writing courses.

Keywords: online writing instruction, critical thinking: English

OWI Principle: 3, 4, 11

Rendahl, Merry, and Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch. “Toward a Complexity of Online Learning: Learners in Online First-Year Writing.” Computers and Composition, vol. 30, no. 4, Dec. 2013, pp. 297-314. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.compcom.2013.10.002.

Rendahl and Kastman Breuch used a mixed-methods approach to answer the question, “What do students in an online first-year writing course perceive as good study habits, and what helps them succeed?” (298).  They used a case study research design to observe two sections of an online first-year writing (OFYW) course. They also used a student survey, statistics from the course management system, information from online discussions, online peer review session notes, and interviews with both students in the OFYW class and interviews with both instructors teaching the classes and students in the classes. They analyze this data through social cognitive theory, in particular the theories of Albert Bandura, in order to understand the complex dynamics of student choices and motivation in OFYW classes. Rendahl and Kastman Breuch found that, “Students ranked interactions with course content as a more frequent and more typical activity than interaction with the instructor, which was subsequently ranked as more frequent and more typical than interactions with other students” (306). Students who rated themselves highly on use of study time did not necessarily receive better scores than individuals who rated themselves moderately on those scales. Course structure was a significant external factor in students’ satisfaction with the course. Students who logged into the course early were more likely to successfully complete the course. The authors end the article by calling for researchers to revisit the place of participation in the online classroom and to further explore social cognitive learning theories for what they can tell us about student behavior in the online classroom. This study is useful for researchers attempting to identify internal and external student motivations in OFYW classes and provides a model study that could be replicated with different first-year-student populations.

Keywords: first-year writing, mixed methods, research, course management system, student preparation, case study, surveys, qualitative research, instructor interaction, student-to-student interaction, student engagement

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11, 15

Rice, Jeff. “What I Learned in MOOC.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 64, no. 4, 2013, pp. 695-703.

Less concerned with MOOC courses taking over higher education or inadequate peer feedback or grades with a large format course, Jeff Rice points to a different issue in online course pedagogy. This analysis and reflection of his experience with an early Coursera course offers an in-depth perspective on interaction with online course content.  Reflecting on his own lack of desire to engage in the written aspects of the course, Jeff Rice suggests that the static, non social nature of the course design created no space in which to engage in knowledge creation. In his words, there was no “emotional occasion” with which to engage with the course (702).  The format, structure, and design of the separate course element simply did not create a desire for him to respond.  For OWI, considering the pedagogical implication of creating technological spaces for student engagement within different course formats is worthy of ongoing study.

Keywords: MOOCs, feedback, peer review, reflection, Coursera, student engagement, pedagogy: English, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principle 6

Rice, Rich. “Faculty Professionalization for OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 389-410.

Online writing instruction and online writing courses must be supported by faculty who have access to ongoing, dynamic, professional development and fair compensation.  Professionalization of the field of OWI includes providing spaces for shared resources and reflective practices and the ability to create flexible, reusable curricula that meet program goals and objectives. Support systems must be put in place to allow faculty to critically evaluate their work so they can improve their work over time.  Technology and the delivery of online courses continues to change.  Therefore, to create the best learning experiences for faculty and students, there must be time, space, and clearly supportive systems within which faculty can foster ongoing reflective praxis and scholarly pursuits.

Keywords: faculty development, faculty workload, academic labor, online resources, faculty satisfaction, praxis, reflection, course and program design: English

OWI Principle 7, 8, 12

Rodrigo, Rochelle. “OWI on the Go.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp. 493-516.

Rodrigo discusses the pedagogy, faculty requirements, and institutional support necessary for successful online writing instruction (OWI). She begins the chapter by describing the changes in technology use inside, as well as outside, the classroom. Rodrigo cites data to indicate that instructors often neglect to recognize newer mobile technologies in their consideration of OWI. She also asserts that successful OWI pedagogy, while not focusing on technology as the course content, uses the technology in its instruction. Instructors should orientate their students to the format, but they should also use the online format to create an online learning environment in which students do not simply consume instruction but also create and edit their own material. Instructors then should work to address the concerns that arise through OWI with campus instructional technology to build more accessible courses, especially for writing content. Additionally, the institution should offer and encourage its faculty to become knowledgeable of online course design and offer professional development opportunities.

Keywords: accessibility, pedagogy: English, mobile technology, digital literacy, student engagement, instructional technology, faculty development

OWI Principles 1, 2, 3

Rose, David H., et al., editors. The Universally Designed Classroom: Accessible Curriculum and Digital Technologies, Harvard Education P, 2005.

Through research gathered through the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum (NCAC) at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), this book explores the relationship between the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and ways Universal Design for Learning (UDL) might increase educational opportunities for students of all abilities.  Educational reform in the early twenty-first century facilitated progress in general education curriculum based on core educational assumption that students are either disabled or not disabled. The authors propose ways UDL might close gaps in standards of expectation and evaluation governed by IDEA and NCLB as they show ways UDL might provide appropriate education for students of varied abilities. They provide examples of thematic curriculum design enhanced for accessibility following best practices and offer methods of providing differentiated instruction in a UDL framework.

Keywords: accessibility, disability studies, universal design, differentiated instruction

OWI Principle: 1

Rubin, Lois. “‘I Just Think Maybe You Could . . .’: Peer Critiquing through Online Conversations.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 29, no. 4, 2002, pp. 382-92.

Rubin points to then-recent studies that demonstrate the benefits of peer review, including peer review using computers, to argue for why she prefers her students to do computer-mediated peer-review. She finds that peer-review done online lead to longer, more conversational, more robust commentary. The article outlines the various politeness techniques that her students used and the language that demonstrated that they believed themselves to be part of a group. Student surveys indicated that a majority of students in her three classes gave positive evaluations of computer-mediated critiquing. They indicated that the increased distance between themselves and the students they were critiquing helped them to focus on responding to the text and kept them from venturing into “off topic” conversations (389). Overall, Rubin concludes that the online critiques were “lively and personable” in contrast to the flat marginal comments of hand-written peer review.  

Keywords: peer review, computer-mediated communication, feedback, surveys, qualitative research

OWI principle: 11, 13, 14, 15

Rubens, Philip, and Sherry Southard. “Students’ Technological Difficulties in Using Web-Based Learning Environments.”  Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2005, pp. 193-205.

Rubens and Southard identify how they planned the initial online courses around research on web design and interaction through freeware and shareware, distribution lists, and Instant Messenger (AIM) and ICQ chat rooms for an online Certificate in Professional Communication and an online master’s degree in English, Technical, and Professional Communication. They provided training opportunities for students new to the technologies of the courses. In spite of this preparation, they found students still had difficulties navigating and participating in online courses. A study of email messages, threaded discussions, and summaries of phone and face-to-face interactions with students indicated that students required additional support to use discussion software, understand commands in browsers, and access course materials in various browsers. This study concludes with a list of ways in which faculty and programs can prepare their classes and their students for using technologies necessary to be successful in online settings.

Keywords: instructional technology, technical support, graduate programs, graduate students, student preparation, email, discussion: English, discussion boards

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 15

Rude, Carolyn. “Strategic Planning for Online Education: Sustaining Students, Faculty, and Programs.”  Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2005, pp. 67-85.

Rude establishes considerations for programs seeking to develop online programs, using Texas Tech’s graduate program in technical communication (started Fall 1997) as a model. First, local circumstances were taken into account. Next, Texas Tech developed a sustainable, quality program that worked within university and system guidelines for delivering graduate programs. Finally, Rude provides an overview of how Texas Tech’s program uses synchronous delivery to enable student-to-student interaction and to fulfill the need for content delivery. Synchronous communication has been highly rated by both faculty and students in the program. This program provides a model for other programs seeking to move their graduate programs fully online by demonstrating how synchronous classes can function as the core of a successful program.

Keywords: synchronous interaction, graduate programs, course and program design: English, student-to-student interaction, online writing programs

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 5

S

Sánchez, Fernando. “Creating Accessible Spaces for ESL Students Online.” WPA: Writing Program Administration, vol. 37, no. 1, 2013, pp. 161-85.

Sánchez’s study examines the accessibility of OWL websites for international students. The study sample consisted of eight universities with 6,000 or more international students. Sanchez then tested each university website for accessibility based on four factors: 1) intercultural needs, 2) writing resource needs, 3) plagiarism needs, and 4) readability. Intercultural needs involved the website’s clarity of purpose in explaining the goals and purpose of the writing center, and writing resource needs involved the OWL’s ability to provide resources readily. Plagiarism needs were defined as how well ESL students could understand and avoid plagiarism, and readability involved how easily the website could be read and understood by ESL students. Sánchez then searched for each OWL through the university’s homepage and continued his search for each category through the use of keywords and phrases. In order to test readability, Sánchez copied and pasted student expectation pages into a Microsoft Word document and used the Readability Statistics function. While he found that every website contained intercultural needs criteria, only three websites contained writing resource needs. Some of these failures were indicative of a more systemic problem of the failure to assist ESL students. Plagiarism was widely addressed, but only one website explained cultural differences regarding borrowing work. Every website scored as readable, although some scored more difficult to read than others. Sánchez recommends that websites be more tailored to the needs of ESL students, including resources that go beyond grammar, as well as improving the readability of these sites.

Keywords: ESL, ELL, EFL, multilingual writers, accessibility, writing center, online resources, online writing centers, online writing labs, accessibility, plagiarism, research, usability testing, culturally responsive pedagogy

OWI Principles 1, 3, 15

Sanderson-Cole, Karen, and Danielle Watson. “Academic Writing Within An Online Learning Environment: Assessing The Impact Of Peer Evaluation On Lesson Planning, Execution and Assessment.” Journal of International Education Research, vol. 9, no. 2, 2013, pp. 115-26.

In this study, Sanderson-Cole and Watson assess the impact of peer evaluation and collaboration among teachers of various sections of the online course English for Academic Purposes, a compulsory level one course for students entering the University of the West Indies. While the extent of peer evaluation in developed countries is mostly limited to addressing administrative tasks and providing technical frameworks for course development, the authors note that peer evaluation in developing countries, such as those in the Caribbean, lacks even these basic resources.  In their study, which consisted of teacher pairs assigned various activities to prepare content for delivery to English for Academic Purposes, Sanderson-Cole and Watson examine whether teacher pairing results in greater standardization of course content, the impact on standardization of approaches to learning, and the extent to which collaboration results in new strategies for improving student learning in an online environment.  Based on their findings, the authors conclude that peer collaboration enhances the learning environment through identification of specific areas that need improvement in course delivery both in general and in individual practice. Furthermore, the authors conclude that peer collaboration is an effective tool for promoting self-reflection and is useful in terms of course planning among learning facilitators. The authors end with a call to further study peer evaluation in the face-to-face learning environment as a means to address territorialism and professional identity.  

Keywords: collaboration, peer review, reflection, English for Academic Purposes, research, qualitative research

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 11, 15

Savenye, Wilhelmina C., et al. “So You Are Going to Be an Online Writing Instructor: Issues in Designing, Developing, and Delivering an Online Course.” Computers and Composition vol. 18, no. 4, 2001, pp. 371-85. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/S8755-4615(01)00069-X.

Wilhelmina Savenye, Zane Olina, and Mary Niemczyk present guidelines for the design, development, and delivery of online writing courses as well as recommendations about how to best support students and teachers associated with such courses. Drawing from the field of instructional design, they recommend a three-step process for online course design. First, instructors analyze the context, learners, and goals of the course. Second, they use that analysis to guide the creation of the online instructional materials. Lastly, they engage in formative evaluations to make improvements to the design. The authors subdivide and discuss each of these steps, synthesizing relevant instructional design principles and applying them to online writing instruction. They also direct the reader to additional research and resources for each step. At the end of the article, the authors discuss ways that students need extra support in online courses—not only in accessing and learning to use new hardware and software but also in taking on a more active role in their learning. Additionally, they argue that instructors, too, need access to and training for new technologies as well as help transitioning to “their new roles as online facilitators, mentors, and guides” (381), and they make suggestions for how such training might best be implemented.

Keywords: instructional design, course and program design: English, faculty development, accessibility, student engagement

OWI principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10

Schelly, Catherine, et al. “Student Perceptions of Faculty Implementation of Universal Design for Learning.” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, vol. 24, no. 1, 2011, pp. 17-30.

The anecdotal benefits of implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) at postsecondary institutions are well documented. The literature suggests that UDL offers students with disabilities enhanced opportunities for engagement, expression, and academic performance. Responding to the call by educators for empirical evidence of UDL’s beneficial effects on student learning, performance, persistence, and ultimately retention, the researchers used focus groups and surveys to measure changes and/or improvements in instruction as perceived by students following UDL instructor training and subsequent course delivery modifications. Students reported statistically-significant increases in faculty UDL use after training. Even though this study was conducted using psychology classes, the findings suggest that OWIs can benefit from professional development in the principles of UDL because that training resulted in significant increases of UDL principles in online course development.

Keywords: faculty development, universal design, learning outcomes, empirical research, WID

OWI Principles: 1, 7, 15

Schneider, Suzanne P., and Clark G. Germann. “Technical Communication on the Web: A Profile of Learners and Learning Environments.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 37-48.

Schneider and Germann describe the results of their demographics study of students taking online courses at University of Colorado at Denver (CU-Denver) and Metropolitan State College of Denver (MSCD) and discuss how online learning may support adult learning practices. The authors examined three demographic areas of students enrolled in online courses: age, sex, and ethnicity. Their results demonstrated that students enrolled in online courses were on average older than students enrolled in face-to-face courses. At MSCD there was no significant enrollment difference between men and women, and at CU-Denver, a slightly higher percentage of women were taking online courses. The authors compare this finding to statistical data of general Internet usage of men and women. This data demonstrated that although a higher percentage of men than women used the Internet, this statistic does not seem to impact women’s enrollment in online courses. Therefore, Internet use does not seem to be a barrier for women to enroll in online education. All of the ethnicity data from their study comes from MSCD, and the data demonstrated that significantly more White-Caucasian students enrolled in online courses than non-white students. The authors conclude from their demographic data that providing equal access to online education is an important and continuing issue. The authors then consider how the five characteristics of a learning environment best suited for adults presented by Kolb, Rubin, and Oswald could be met through online education. They discuss notions of reciprocity, experienced-based learning, personal application, and learning that is individualized and self-directed as well as that which integrates learning and living. The authors conclude with a discussion of the importance of an interactive learning environment and discuss how writing technologies, such as email, threaded discussions, and synchronous chat can support teacher-to-student and student-to-student interaction.

Keywords: nontraditional learners, adult learners, accessibility, technical and professional writing, gender, race, research, empirical research

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 11, 15

Scopes, Lesley, and Bryan Carter. “Cybergogy, Second Life, and Online Technical Communication Instruction.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 179-95.

This chapter describes how Second Life and other online virtual worlds, in addition to gaming, serve a number of purposes. One of these purposes is in the technical writing classroom as students practice social knowledge construction in these worlds which help them to engage in problem solving for shared common goals. The authors describe how experiential writing and writing for machinima (or films produced using characters in virtual environments) can be used to meet the learning outcomes in technical writing classes. This chapter provides a potential synchronous classroom environment to increase creativity in online writing classes.

Keywords: virtual classroom, synchronous interaction, gamification, technical and professional writing,

OWI Principles: 2, 6, 11

Seale, Jane, and Martyn Cooper. “E-learning and Accessibility: An Exploration of the Potential Role of Generic Pedagogical Tools.” Computers and Education, vol. 54, no. 4, 2010, pp. 1107-16.

This article presents and evaluates the quality of specific accessibility tools. The authors discuss limitations of accessibility tools which could benefit from further development based on pedagogical principles rooted in mainstream learning theory and tool design. They suggest that analyzing the potential effectiveness of accessibility tools by “blending” accessibility tools with more general pedagogical approaches can lead to developing more accessible e-learning for disabled learners. The authors highlight teacher and learner agency, encouraging readers to pay close attention to accessibility in online writing principles. In addition, they stress teaching and learning strategies that address specific learning theories and pedagogies and foster institutional support of teachers and learners for better online writing instruction praxis.

Keywords: accessibility, agency, blended, disability studies, praxis

OWI Principles 1, 3, 4, 10

Selber, Stuart. Multiliteracies for a Digital Age. Southern Illinois UP, 2004.

Selber’s seminal work offers a framework to structure writing classes and assignments that move students through three levels of multiliteracy: functional, critical, and rhetorical literacy. He argues that writing students and writing instructors should be a part of conversations about the technology that we use in classrooms, particularly in the design and implementation of that technology. The book argues that in order to be a literate user of technology in the 21st century, users must understand, question, and produce technology, including applications and software. Selber’s approach to the literacies that students need is aimed at addressing “one-way literacy models as a foundation for computer initiatives,”  wherein “many teachers of writing and communication simply transfer wholesale to the screen their existing assumptions, goals, and practices”(23). This book provides a framework for including digital literacies into online courses to help students become more functional users of computers and more critical and rhetorically savvy consumers and producers of digital text and applications.

Keywords: digital literacy, teaching with technology: English, critical pedagogy, rhetoric, course and program design: English

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 10, 11

Selfe, Cynthia L. Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Importance of Paying Attention. Southern Illinois UP, 1999.

Selfe’s seminal book, as Hugh Burns writes in the introduction, “transforms our [then] current limited discussions about technological literacy into more fully informed debates acknowledging the complex relationships between technology, literacy, education, power, economic conditions, and political goals” (xxii). In doing so, Selfe takes on three different facets of the conversation about technology and literacy: 1) the challenges of the new literacy agenda, 2) the social investment in the new literacy agenda, and 3) the responsibility of literacy educators to plan for action and change. This book coined the term “paying attention” in terms of technology use and is a primer for anyone working with literacy and technology. This collection, written at the turn of the 21st century, raises questions that permeate online writing instruction, and while the collection is not explicitly about online writing instruction, Selfe identifies the key elements that will echo through the field.

Keywords: literacy, technology

OWI Principles:  1, 2, 10, 13

Severino, Carol, et al. “Comparison of Online Feedback Requests by Non-Native English-Speaking and Native English-Speaking Writers.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 29., no. 1, 2009, pp. 106-29.

The authors conduct an empirical study of the types of feedback requests made by Non-Native English Speakers (NNES) in comparison with those made by their Native English Speaker (NES) counterparts. The study used feedback requests from the online tutoring program at the University of Iowa writing center and were categorized based on the type of request, ranging from “satisfy assignment or task” and “development” to “style and syntax” and “grammar and punctuation” (116). The study asked whether NNES writers were more likely to submit requests for certain types of feedback, and if so, what kind. The results prove that NNES writers do submit more requests for grammar and punctuation help, but they are almost equally as likely as NES writers to submit requests for help in other areas of concern, including higher-order skills.

Keywords: empirical research, ESL, ELL, EFL, L2, multilingual writers, grammar & syntax, online tutoring

OWI Principle 1, 13, 15

Shih, Ru-Chu. “Can Web 2.0 Technology Assist College Students in Learning English Writing? Integrating ‘Facebook’ and Peer Assessment with Blended Learning.” Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 27, no. 5, 2011, pp. 829-45.

This article presents the findings of a study examining a writing course for first-year students at a technical university in Taiwan that used Facebook, peer assessment, and classroom instruction in a blended learning environment. For this course, students were required to post their writing assignments to Facebook, respond to each other’s writing via Facebook’s comment function, and then respond to each other’s feedback. For the study, twenty-three students were divided into three groups based on their National College Entrance Exam scores. Shih used both quantitative and qualitative methods to ascertain the perspective of students and the instructor about the class and changes in students writing as a result of the class.  Results of a pre- and post-test demonstrated improvement for all students, but particularly those who were in the lowest scoring group. Content analysis showed that those in the highest scoring group commented the most, most likely due to their higher competency with English. Shih found that many students used emoticons or the “like” button within Facebook to accompany their comments. Results of a survey given to students revealed moderate to high satisfaction with aspects of the course. Interviews with students corroborated these findings; students seemed to appreciate the opportunity to communicate with and receive feedback from their peers on Facebook. The instructor’s reflection suggested that a blended learning model relying on online peer assessment may actually require more time and effort for instructors. Shih concludes that the study supports the effectiveness of this course model and calls for future research with a larger sample of students.

Keywords: blended, social media, assessment, peer review, community, research, empirical research, ESL, EFL, ELL, L2, multilingual writers, accessibility, faculty workload, time management

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 8, 11, 12, 15

Shute, Valerie, and Diego Zapata-Rivera. “Adaptive Technologies.” ETS Research Report Series, vol. 2007, no. 1, pp. i-34, 2007. Wiley Online Library, DOI: 10.1002/j.2333-8504.2007.tb02047.x.

The paper presents adaptive technology research that can connect to form a more comprehensive systems approach to teaching and learning. Accordingly, adaptive systems can create flexible environments for learners with varied abilities and backgrounds as well as disabilities and interests. The paper demonstrates how to organize adaptive technologies, presents key challenges and systemic problems, and suggests the benefits of adaptive systems for learners who may or may not be disabled. The paper includes discussions surrounding inclusive and accessible education, how an adaptive systems approach can envelop a diverse range of learners’ needs, ways in which specific pedagogical and theoretical approaches can be connected to be made relevant, and how an adaptive approach can embrace alternative theories.

Keywords: adaptive technology, disability studies, accessibility, inclusivity

OWI Principles 1, 3, 4, 6

Sidler, Michelle, et al. Computers in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Michelle Sidler, Richard Morris, and Elizabeth Overman Smith bring together research surrounding the use of computers in the composition classroom. The book is divided into six sections: 1) the earliest theoretical frameworks for the field of computers and writing; 2) literacy and access; 3) writers and identity; 4) writers and composing; 5) institutional programs; and 6) upcoming “New-Media” multimedia composition writing and pedagogies. The text, available free to educators through the publisher, is a potentially valuable collection that will assist with program development and teacher training regarding OWI.

Keywords: literacy, accessibility, multimedia

OWI Principles:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14

Simpson, Katherine. “Collaboration and Critical Thinking in Online English Courses.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 33, no. 4, 2006, pp. 421-29.

Simpson details her efforts with piloting an “online peer-tutoring program that included synchronous… and asynchronous discussion” (421). She encouraged the tutors to facilitate their own discussions, to coach students through the drafting process, and to act as guides for students in the learning process. She demonstrated success with the program in a number of ways, including student testimony, increased numbers of students completing the tutor training, and positive responses from students in regards to their confidence. She then reviews how she implemented an embedded tutor structure in her online first-year writing courses. She encouraged tutors and students to connect synchronously through a school resource called “Tapped In,” which students and tutors seemed willing to learn in order to connect with each other. Simpson provides examples of chat transcripts to demonstrate how students were able to work to develop critical thinking and research skills with the help of the embedded tutors. The article ends with Simpson encouraging other instructors to employ synchronous chat in their classes with the help of tutors when possible.

Keywords: online tutoring, discussion: English, writing process, tutor training, synchronous interaction, critical thinking: English, research writing, embedded tutors, two-year colleges

OWI Principles:  3, 11, 14

Slatin, John M. “The Imagination Gap: Making Web-Based Instructional Resources Accessible to Students and Colleagues with Disabilities.” Currents in Electronic Literacy, vol. 6, 2002, currents.dwrl.utexas.edu/spring02/slatin.html.

Slatin offers some of the earliest advice in the field in what he calls “AccessFirst Design,” which is a way to approach the technical challenge of making “web-based instructional resources’ accessible to students with disabilities. For Slatin, meeting the technical challenges of accessibility is both a legal and ethical obligation. While some of his advice does not hold up through time, what is important about Slatin’s work is his emphasis on access first and his concept of focusing not on what students may not be able to do, but rather focusing on what they can do and how to match your pedagogy to that. Slatin offers the idea that students and instructors should do more to imagine disability. He encourages instructors to imagine using the web from the perspective of those with disabilities from going mouseless for a week to a week without images. This exercise raises awareness about creating and posting accessible information in our online courses.

Keywords: disability studies, accessibility, course and program design: English, legislation

OWI Principles: 1

Snart, Jason. Hybrid Learning: The Perils and Promise of Blending Online and Face-to-Face Instruction in Higher Education, Praeger, 2010.

This book offers a thoroughly researched and critical exploration into hybrid teaching and learning. While not a “how-to” book for online and hybrid teaching and learning, readers looking for ways to create and/or improve their online or hybrid classes can find a plethora of ideas for classroom application through the thought-provoking discussions about the historical, political, financial, technological, and pedagogical aspects of online and hybrid classes. Snart provides an insightful and critical examination into the most controversial issues facing higher education that many administrators think will be solved by online classes, such as increasing enrollment, retention, and completion rates, and increasing profit.  The book is divided into seven chapters that address challenges in higher education; reasons for increased interest in hybrid classes; cultural motivations; profiles of hybrid classes, programs, and student experience; the use of technology to build community and increase collaboration; and speculation about the future of hybrid delivery.  

Key words: hybrid, blended, computer-mediated classrooms, educational technology, pedagogy: English, culture, online writing programs, collaboration, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Snart, Jason. “Hybrid and Fully Online OWI.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, Parlor P, 2015, pp. 93-127.

Beginning with definitions of “fully online” and “hybrid” courses, this chapter explores the similarities and differences between these two types of instruction. According to Snart, “hybrid describes an environment where traditional, face-to-face instruction is combined with either distance-based or onsite computer-mediated settings” (95), whereas a fully online course has no face-to-face or onsite components to it (95). He also notes that these terms carry different definitions from one institution to the next depending on many factors, such as administrative perspective and the needs of different student bodies. For instance, a fully online course may have a requirement that students take tests onsite, and hybrid courses are not always split 50:50 between onsite and online class time. Another important consideration when defining these two types of instruction is that one is not a variant or deviation from another; they are both separate and unique delivery methods that do have some overlap but also have specific and defining characteristics of their own. For instance, when migrating material from a traditional face-to-face setting to a hybrid environment, some instructors believe that at least half of their classroom instruction should be replaced or simply put online. Snart explains that teaching strategies do not always function equally in both settings; instructors should choose which activities work best in face-to-face classes and which activities would work better online. Furthermore, issues associated with access, pedagogy, organization, presence, and community take different shapes depending on the type of instruction and the ratio of time spent online vs. face-to-face or onsite. Instructors should consider what they do well in each setting and capitalize on those strengths when building online and hybrid classes. Additionally, technology should not lead course design; online and hybrid courses should be objective-based where teaching is grounded in pedagogy first and foremost so that the design enables students to best meet course goals and objectives.

Keywords: blended, hybrid, instructional design, modality student success, faculty development, time management, faculty workload, course and program design: English, pedagogy: English, learning outcomes

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13

Snart, Jason. "Video Welcome Announcements in the LMS."OWI Open Resource, Conference on College Composition and Communication, 2013, www.ncte.org/cccc/owi-open-resource/video-welcome-lms.

This website includes Snart’s “Welcome” video for a new online course where he provides students with information about the course, such as course content, the pace of the course, due dates, and how much time is required for class work. Along with the video, the website includes text in which Snart explains his reasons for using videos for online classes. He believes that even in online classes, students need to feel a connection to the instructor, and the videos help provide that connection. He also explains how he embedded this online video into Blackboard. This website not only has an example of a“Welcome” video Snart uses for an online class but also gives insight into the purpose of the video and how instructors might create these videos for their classes.

Key words: orientation, student success, pedagogy: English, video: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10

So, Lee, and Chung Hyun Lee. “A Case Study on the Effects of an L2 Writing Instructional Model for Blended Learning in Higher Education.” Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 12, no. 4, 2013, pp. 1-10, www.tojet.net/articles/v12i4/1241.pdf.

L2 students in traditional onsite classes face many challenges in improving their writing, particularly those associated with time and guided practice. In response to these challenges, So and Lee designed a blended instructional model grounded in writing process theory that enabled students to interact with each other and each other’s drafts online. Doing so gave students more time to write and more opportunities to have their work reviewed by their peers and teacher before submitting the final draft and reflection. The instructional model mapped the five main stages of the writing process—prewriting, drafting, revising, revising and polishing, and reviewing—onto a blended model that started and ended in the onsite classroom. Students interacted with each other in both the onsite and online environments through the initial brainstorming session, two rounds of peer review, and the final assessment and reflection activities. Student learning was measured by language proficiency tests administered at the beginning, middle, and end stages of the semester. All of the participants’ writing improved, which So and Lee attribute to “the abundant opportunities to produce multiple drafts, the giving and receiving of feedback, and the explicit practicing of discrete writing components through guided writing exercises” (9). This study would be useful to OWI instructors, especially those who teach blended classes, as an example of how to sequence and support the stages of the writing process across multiple learning modalities.

Keywords: blended, L2, ELL, ESL, EFL, multilingual writers, writing process, interactivity, peer review, revision, empirical research, quantitative research, modality

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 15

Sommers, Jeff. “Response Rethought… Again: Exploring Recorded Comments and the Teacher-Student Bond.” Journal of Writing Assessment, vol. 5, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1-22.

Sommers focuses on the development of the teacher-student working relationship and proposes a taxonomy of comments consisting of three types of response. By using time-based metaphors to frame retrospective, synchronous, and anticipatory comments, teachers can 1) relate their feedback to the larger context of the course, 2) connect with each student individually, and 3) indicate the ongoing interaction between student and teacher. Sommers speculates that these types of comments are far more likely to occur in audio response rather than written response, thus concluding that audio response can provide feedback that differs not only in quantity but also in depth from written response. This article provides a framework for providing clear and effective audio comments on online student text.

Keywords: feedback, student-to-student interaction, audio, assessment, instructor interaction

OWI Principles:  3, 4

Sommers, Jeff. “Response 2.0: Commentary on Student Writing for the New Millennium.” Journal of College Literacy and Learning, vol. 39, 2013, pp.  21-37.

This article examines the challenges of response to student writing and how the methodology of Response 2.0 addresses and alleviates some of these obstacles. With the results of several studies and direct surveys, Sommers reasons that providing commentary in an audio recording (versus only written remarks) can improve the quality and depth of responses, strengthen the rapport between student and teacher, and entice students to be more actively engaged in understanding and applying feedback. Though some disadvantages are present, these drawbacks are not strong enough to prevent continued use of the Response 2.0 method.

Keywords: instructor interaction, audio, student engagement, feedback

OWI Principles:  3

St. Amant, Kirk. “Distance Education in a Global Age: A Perspective for Internationalizing Online Learning Communities.” ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin, special issue on Online Learning Communities, vol. 25, no. 1, 2004, pp. 12-19. ACM Digital Library, dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1067702.

St. Amant identifies ways in which online writing instructors can design online writing courses with a global audience in mind. St. Amant outlines the special challenges faced by instructors who are building online learning communities of international learners. He provides strategies for instructors in terms of the language and rhetoric in their online classes; the interfaces and visual design of their online classes; and the culture, technology and information access in online classes. Finally, he provides resources for online writing instructors seeking to know more about designing classes for international students. This article provides key ideas for educators wishing to create more inclusive, accessible classrooms for international learners.

Keywords: accessibility, culture, communication, global, audience, rhetoric, visual design, course and program design: English, inclusivity

OWI Principles: 1, 10, 13

St. Amant, Kirk. “Online Education in an Age of Globalization: Foundational Perspectives and Practices for Technical Communication Instructors and Trainers.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, 2007, pp. 13-30.

St. Amant highlights the conditions for opportunities to offer online courses in technical communication to students across the globe and discusses the pedagogical implications that need to be considered when designing a course that will be effective for international students. St. Amant points to several trends that create opportunities to make courses available to international students, including increased Internet access around the world, deregulation of global education, increased interest and acceptance of online education, and international interest in technical communication coupled with a dearth of technical communication experts or scholars in non-Western countries. He suggests that these conditions highlight that the time is right for institutions to bring online technical communication education to the international marketplace. However, St. Amant argues that opening courses to international students is not enough; courses must be designed specifically with a diverse international audience in mind, and instructors must receive training on how international factors affect the effectiveness of their courses. St. Amant offers four areas to consider when designing a course for international students: access, design, scheduling, and language. In terms of access, factors such as telecommunication infrastructure, power-electric infrastructure, and bandwidth capabilities will impact students’ ability to access online content. The author offers several strategies for instructors to consider in addressing this issue including allowing the use of alternative media like phones or fax, distributing course materials in hard copy form prior to the start of a course, designing course pages to download quickly and be easily printed, and limiting the number of online activities required. In terms of design, the author points out that different cultures have different associations with design features such as images and colors; therefore, he suggests limiting the use of images, or at least including text that provide context with images. St. Amant then discusses scheduling, highlighting that because students will be in diverse time zones, details such as including time zone designation on due dates and avoiding using terms like “yesterday” or “tomorrow” which may be relative to a specific time zone, can make a difference in avoiding confusion. Finally, St. Amant argues that because online communication is often done through writing, written language proficiency is crucial to students’ success. Asking students to share their background so an instructor can anticipate language challenges, offering a weekly glossary of terms for all students, or providing a link to a dictionary are important steps to help students avoid the obstacle of language related struggles. St. Amant points out that while these suggestions might seems simple, they are crucial for designing a course where international students can be successful. This article expands on St. Amant’s previous article “Distance Education in a Global Age: A Perspective for Internationalizing Online Learning Communities.”

Keywords: technical and professional writing, globalization, global, course and program design: English, accessibility, best practices

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 13

St. Amant, Kirk, and Rich Rice. “Online Writing in Global Contexts: Rethinking the Nature of Connections and Communication in the Age of International Online Media.” Computers and Composition, vol. 38, no. B, 2015, pp. v-x.

St.Amant and Rice note online media require writing instructors to re-think the notion of audience as a topic now inherently global in nature.  They also explain how current metaphors used to conceptualize and discuss this context often prevent instructors and students from understanding the complexities that can affect composing practices in international cyberspace.  St.Amant and Rice go on to argue the key to negotiating such factors involves identifying those areas – or friction points – that can affect how online compositions are accessed, read, considered, and used.  Some of these factors are connected to aspects of technology, others to geopolitics, and still others to cultural differences in rhetorical preferences and expectations.  Identifying such friction points, for St.Amant and Rice, is a matter of approaching online writing in international contexts as a three-part process they refer to as the “3Cs.”  The first of these Cs – contacting – focuses on how individuals use online media to access audiences in other cultures.  The second C – conveying – looks at the rhetorical strategies writers use to present ideas in ways that grab and hold the attention of readers from other cultures.  The third C – connecting – casts the writing process as one that should foster international dialogue by teaching students to compose in ways that encourage international readers to respond in writing to engage in broader discussions of a topic.  St.Amant and Rice conclude by noting the 3Cs approach can help instructors and students identify and address friction points in a way that can lead to more successful methods for teaching writing online in international contexts.

Keywords: course and program design: English, student engagement, student satisfaction, accessibility, interaction

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 14

St.Amant, Kirk, and Filipp Sapienza. Culture, Communication, and Cyberspace: Rethinking Technical Communication for International Online Environments.  Baywoood 2011.

This edited collection examines how aspects of culture and language affect online interactions at a time when the Internet was becoming increasingly international in scope as more nations and regions of the world were gaining online access.  Central to the entries in the collection is the issue of online education and the implications culture and language have for how conventional approaches to teaching writing in online education should (or need to) adapt to and evolve in relation  to this new global environment.  Within this context, chapters examine aspects such as how culture affects perceptions and uses of information systems, how cultural aspects influence attitudes toward online education, and how linguistic factors shape approaches individuals can use to engage in online educational settings.  In so doing, the overall volume bridges gaps between the research done in computer-mediated communication and in intercultural communication through a focus on educational practices associated with writing and communication.

Keywords: technical and professional writing, instructional design, student satisfaction, accessibility, interaction

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 14

Stacey, David, et al. “The New Distance Learning: Students, Teachers, and Texts in Cross-cultural Electronic Communication.” Computers and Composition, vol. 13, 1996, pp. 293–302.

David Stacey, Sharon Goodman, and Teresa D. Stubbs describe the collaboration among the three of them, with Stacey and Stubbs residing in Missouri and Goodman living in England. The authors detail the benefits of email for speeding correspondence and how the correspondence influenced Stacey’s advanced composition course by allowing students the opportunity to receive feedback on their assignments from someone in another culture via email. While this article is certainly dated and the conclusions that they reach about the benefits of internet communication seem archaic, this provides insight into how faculty and students used then new technologies to facilitate communication in ways that would form the foundation for fully online international classes.

Keywords: collaboration, email, composition, feedback, culture, computer-mediated communication

OWI Principles: 3, 11

Starke‐Meyerring, Doreen, and Linda S. Clemens. "Theoretical and Practical Considerations for Virtual Learning Environments in Technical Communication: An Annotated Bibliography." Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 2, 1999, pp. 125-41.

This article provides an annotated bibliography of sources related to virtual learning environments for technical communication. Starke-Meyerring and Clemens note that they chose sources that related to praxis, including sources published on the Internet and aimed for a middle ground between theory and practice. They arrange sources according to the steps technical communicators take when entering the field: overviews, designs, implementation, and evaluation. Their annotations provide a summary of the sources and an evaluation of their usefulness for those in the field of technical communication who are also interested in online learning.

Keywords: technical and professional communication, virtual classroom, praxis, literature review

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 7, 13, 15

Stella, Julia, and Michael Corry. “Teaching Writing in Online Distance Education: Supporting Student Success.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, vol. 16, no. 2, 2013, www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer162/stella_corry162.html.

Intervention is described as a counseling action that an instructor may use to support a student who struggles to work productively in an online writing course. Research about online students reveals that different types of students perform differently in online classes; essentially, some students need more support than others to be successful. Interventions may increase retention of course material and graduation rates at institutions as well as increase student and teacher satisfaction within the course. Stella and Corry state that equal access to education opportunities and successes is one of Sloan's five pillars of online success, and it is a major concern for educators nationwide. Students who struggle with online learning must have access to support and opportunities to develop the skills necessary to be successful in online classes. Researchers attribute student success in online courses to a wide variety of characteristics and circumstances such as academic subject, student personality traits, and student/instructor experience.  However, even students with variables in their favor occasionally struggle in online writing instruction courses, and the instructor is challenged to intervene and facilitate success. Learning to write efficiently and effectively is a crucial skill in the 21st century workplace, and the dramatic increase in online learning options means online writing courses have grown in popularity.  Overall, Stella and Corry’s research concludes that intervention is a powerful and crucial element of program structure and can be used to lessen transactional distance so that struggling students might find success in online writing courses.

Keywords: intervention, retention, student success, faculty satisfaction, online resources,

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 10, 11

Stine, Linda. “The Best of Both Worlds: Teaching Basic Writers in Class and Online.” Journal of Basic Writing, vol. 23, no. 2, 2004, pp. 49-69.

Stine identifies several problematic issues related to computers and word processing in basic writing pedagogy, noting that agreement on whether or not online instruction is appropriate for basic writers is even more difficult than the discussion about basic technologies in writing instruction. The author reviews her hybrid course by first raising some of the problems associated with teaching basic writers online, including accessibility issues, technology issues, and issues related to the homogenizing culture of online classes. Stein then turns to pedagogical concerns with online basic writing questions, in particular whether online courses provide enough contextual cues (and a discussion of whether those cues are inherently positive or negative) and challenges related to poor reading skills and self-motivation for online basic writers.  Stein identifies several benefits of online education for basic writers. Stine claims that shy or unheard students might find their voice in online discussions, the “real” nature of online writing that lend an automatic “ethos” to the online instructor, and the fact that many basic writing students might only be able to access online courses due to limitations of time and distance. Faculty can also use the affordances of digital technology to provide adult learners with additional resources. She states that, “Online courses, at least those that are well designed, force students to play an active role in the learning experience—posing questions, voicing opinions, engaging in discussions, spending as much time as necessary on weak areas, and self-testing their knowledge when and as appropriate” (57-58). After pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of online classes for basic writers, Stine concludes that  flexible approach based on student and instructor strengths and available institutional resources is the best method for reaching these writers.

Keywords: hybrid, developmental writing, reading, time management, identity, accessibility, adult learners, assessment

OWI Principles:  1, 3, 4, 11, 13

Stine, Linda. "Teaching Basic Writing in a Web-Enhanced Environment." Journal of Basic Writing, vol. 29, no. 1, 2010, pp. 33-55.

Through a review of literature in basic and online writing instruction and her own experience as a veteran hybrid teacher, Stine urges those who teach developing writers to play a more active role in shaping the online education debate. Stine asks three main questions: 1) How does online learning change the teaching role? 2) What kinds of assignments are appropriate to this medium? and 3) What tools/methods can be used to encourage student self-reflection? As she evaluates the benefits of online writing instruction, Stine adopts a cautionary tone, arguing that the common challenges online writing teachers face are often amplified in the basic writing class since many developing writers lack confidence not only in their writing but also in their technological skills. These challenges, however, are countered by the rewards that innovative uses of technology can bring, such as expanding one’s “teaching arsenal” and developing closer relationships with students through more frequent and extended feedback. Stine closes by reiterating her conviction “that a hybrid course provides a better learning experience for the adult basic writers I teach than either a pure distance or face-to-face option would” (50). Her careful analysis of the different strategies needed when teaching basic writing online is valuable for instructors in all OWI formats.

Keywords: basic writing, developmental writing, hybrid, blended, literature review, assignment: English, technical support, instructor interaction

OWI Principle: 1, 2, 3, 4

Stewart-McCoy, Michelle. ‘“Beautifying the Beast’: Customising Online Instruction in a Writing Course for Jamaican Tertiary-level Students.” SiSAL Journal, vol. 4, no. 3, 2013, pp. 157-74.

This article details the first two phases of a 4-phase research project that seeks to develop guidelines for the design of a customized online academic writing course in Jamaican tertiary schools. The project’s intention is to generate interest in online courses, maintain student engagement, and encourage self-directed learning. Stewart-McCoy describes the present challenges for the model, including students’ poor writing skills and discomfort with online courses. She then describes how she used “Design Based Research” (DBR) to develop address two research questions: “1) What are the learning characteristics and needs of students pursuing academic writing courses? and 2) What components are deemed relevant to spark students’ interest, ensure active participation and encourage self-direction in an online academic writing module?” (161-162). The researcher gathered information from “two content writing experts, one multimedia specialist, six academic writing lecturers and fifty-four academic writing students” through surveys and interviews (162). Based on an analysis of the students’ learning preferences, Stewart-McCoy designed an online class and provided a mockup of the course layout.  The final two phases, including a pilot course and two additional cycles of the course, were briefly detailed.

Keywords: student engagement, research, qualitative research, surveys, interviews, course and program design: English

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 10, 11, 15

Stillman-Webb, Natalie. “‘Keeping it Real’: Contextualizing Intellectual Property and Privacy in the Online Technical Communication Course.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 289-302.

In this chapter, Stillman-Webb notes the benefits of client-based or service-learning projects as opportunities for students in the technical communication course to compose for real-world audiences. However, when taught online, intellectual property issues can come into play, as digital communication can increase potential distribution of information. Stillman-Webb points out the need for instructors to understand the differences between conceptions of copyright in an educational setting and in the workplace, as well as attend to privacy concerns—particularly within healthcare organizations—that come with electronic transmission. The author argues for an approach to intellectual property that foregrounds ethics in helping students think critically about writing choices and textual sharing practices. Although this chapter focuses on the online technical communication course, the recommendations for instructors are applicable to any online writing course that involves community-engaged learning or project-based pedagogy.

Keywords: service learning, technical and professional writing, intellectual property, copyright

OWI principles: 3, 4, 10

Sullivan, Patrick. “Using the Internet to Teach Composition.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 28, no. 1, 2000, pp. 21-31.

Sullivan argues that using online discussion forums in computer-networked classrooms benefits the classroom in a number of ways, including “increasing student input, encouraging class discussion, and creating a collaborative learning environment” (21). The article outlines Sullivan’s process of designing his course and provides some sample questions and student replies to demonstrate the depth of discussion in those classes. The article argues that using discussion boards works because more students are encouraged to participate in discussion, students who are not naturally shy are not at a disadvantage, and the social dynamic of the class shifts as students are “free to eliminate or ignore many of the social/hierarchical cues that mark traditional exchanges” (25). Additional benefits include the writing-intensive nature of these discussions, the way the discussions prepare students for real-world online exchanges in the workplace, and how discussions encourage students to use their best writing. Sullivan ends by cautioning that the online discussions do not make teaching easier because they require skillful moderation and instructor presence. However, this additional work on the part of the instructor is worth the effort as student discussions are much richer.

Keywords: computer-mediated classrooms, networked classrooms, discussion: English, student engagement, discussion boards, composition, instructor interaction, time management

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 11, 13, 14, 15

T

Taffs, Kathryn H., and Julienne I. Holt. “Investigating Student Use and Value of e-Learning Resources to Develop Academic Writing within the Discipline of Environmental Science.” Journal of Geography in Higher Education, vol. 37, no. 4, 2013, pp. 500-14.

This article studies the value, quality, and effectiveness of e-learning resources to improve learning skills, specifically focusing on the discipline-specific skills required to complete an academic writing assignment in environmental sciences. Taffs details the background and methodology of the study, including the specific online resources that were developed to effectively address previously identified barriers to learning. Through the analysis of usage statistics and student questionnaires, Taffs argues that e-learning resources can be both useful and highly effective in the learning process as long as the resources are assignment-specific and are embedded directly into the curriculum.  The final conclusions of the study serve as a guide to future resource development to support flexible and engaged learning.

Keywords: WID, research, online resources, surveys, quantitative research

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 10, 11, 13, 15

Tai, Hung-Cheng, Mei-Yu Pan, and Bih-O Lee. “Applying Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) Model to Develop an Online English Writing Course for Nursing Students.” Nurse Education Today, vol. 35, no. 6, 2015, pp. 782-88.

This article focuses on a study that implemented the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) model in an online English writing course for nursing students. The study sought “1) to assess the effectiveness of the TPACK model based writing training program contributing to learners' learning outcomes; 2) to investigate the learners' perceptions and satisfactions about the TPACK model based writing training program; and 3) to explore the teacher's reflections about the TPACK model based writing training program” (783). The study was a single-group experimental study, utilizing the National College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) writing grading criteria and a self-designed course satisfaction questionnaire. . . . collected at the end of the course” (783). The results demonstrated that the TPACK model was successful in raising students’ test scores, although they did not like the increased pressure of peer tutoring and other activities that occurred outside of the traditional classroom. In particular, they wanted to receive feedback directly from the instructor rather than from peers or a learning program.  Though several challenges became apparent during the course semester, Tai advises that the TPACK model should be seriously considered when developing a class for language learners.

Keywords:  WID, course design, learning outcomes, reflection, peer review, feedback, instructor interaction, qualitative research, surveys, empirical research

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 14, 15

Takayoshi, Pamela, and Brian Huot, editors. Teaching Writing with Computers: An Introduction. Houghton Mifflin, 2003.

Takayoshi and Huot edit a collection of chapters that center around the practical skills related to teaching with computers, including teaching writing online. Although they value the relevancy of earlier compiled scholarship, they present technological and theoretical discussions of online writing classrooms circa 2003. This work is broken into sections that address 1) writing technologies for composition pedagogies; 2) learning to teach with technology; 3) teaching beyond physical boundaries (or, distance learning); 4) teaching and learning new media; and 5) assigning and assessing student writing. Takayoshi and Huot argue that “a notion of pedagogical practice grounded in the theory, reflection, and inquiry that drive our practices is an important component of this volume” (5). This collection is an early primer on the basic tools needed for instructors for new instructors in OWI settings.

Keywords: teaching with technology: English, pedagogy: English, composition, assessment, reflection

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 6, 10

Tesdell, Lee S. “Innovation in the Distributed Technical Communication Classroom.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie. Baywood, 2013, pp. 257-69.

This chapter argues that distributed learning, such as that occurring across time and space in online classrooms, is an opportunity to develop innovative learning strategies. Tesdell defines distributed learning as “centered in the participants and their learning goals” and demonstrates how he uses technology in online classes to “provide cross-cultural collaborations, drawing on distributed online resources...and decentering pedagogy from instructor to students” (258). In this distributed setting, students must negotiate and share opportunities for their learning, including everything to taking over and leading synchronous meetings, finding times to meet together online, and finding and sharing resources outside of a traditional textbook. While distributed, synchronous learning has challenges, such as technical or other disruptions, Tesdell shows that complexity and complications that require faculty and students to be innovative can spawn creative work as well.

Keywords: synchronous interaction, video: English, distributed learning, collaboration, technical support

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 11, 13

Theofanos, Mary Frances, and Janice Redish. “Helping Low-vision and Other Users with Web Sites That Meet Their Needs: Is One Site for All Feasible?” Technical Communication, vol. 52, no. 1, 2005, pp. 9-20.

As a second part to a research study focused specifically on understanding the needs of low vision users, Theofanos and Redish share the findings of watching ten users interact with different web sites. An important finding from their work is that low vision users do not want a “special site” specific to their needs. Rather, they want the same site that full vision users have to be more accessible. The problems with many sites is that low- vision users are easily lost, are mouse dependent, and have problems staying online for long periods of time. In addition, the scroll bar is often not visible with the text, text can be lost when magnified, and customization options are limited. To mitigate some of these problems, the authors recommend adding color to the navigation column, using relative sizes for text, avoid using graphic images for textual elements, and using sans serif fonts. These same recommendations align with aspects of instructional design and online learning and can be easily implemented in online writing instruction.

Keywords: web design, accessibility, visually impaired users

OWI Principles: 1

Thiel, Teresa. Report on Online Tutoring Services. University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2010,   uminfopoint.umsystem.edu/media/aa/elearning/Report_on_Online_Tutoring_Services.pdf.

Theil analyzes and evaluates two online, commercial tutoring services, NetTutor and Smarthinking, for undergraduate-level courses and recommends that the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) adopt NetTutor to provide online tutoring services for online courses. In evaluating the two services, Theil measured the quality and efficacy of tutoring, the ease of access and integration with the university’s LMS (Blackboard), the breadth of subjects offered, satisfaction of current users, and value. Ultimately, NetTutor was deemed the best because its quality of tutoring was slightly higher than Smarthinking, possibly because its tutors work from a central location with resources and supervision. Of particular interest to OWI instructors are the reasons that Theil recommends commercial alternatives to in-house writing centers: cost effectiveness and quality. Based on a recent comparison of tutoring quality between the USML Writing Lab and Smarthinking, the English department is “reconsidering whether” offering in-house online tutoring “is a good idea” (19). Theil notes that providing quality in-house online tutoring services “would require a dedicated staff to find, train, and monitor the tutors,” thereby increasing costs (19). She believes that the USML Writing Lab should continue offering onsite services and be supplemented with NetTutor to meet the needs of different student populations.

Keywords: online tutoring, tutor training, accessibility, online writing centers, administration

OWI Principles: 1, 6, 13, 14

Thomas, Sharon, et al. “Toward a Critical Theory of Technology and Writing.” Writing Center Journal, vol. 19, no. 1, 1998, pp. 73-86.

Sharon Thomas, Danielle DeVoss, and Mark Hara argue for bringing a critical theory of technology, one that acknowledges the cultural impact of the technology, into writing center practices. They note the tension in conflicting claims about the nature of online consulting. Some claim that online tutoring is radically different from traditional tutoring. Others claim that online tutoring is not much different if used well. The authors see the first claim as an instrumental theoretical approach and the second claim as a substantive approach. They describe their work based from the writing center to help teachers and students use technology to continue classroom-based discussions, to conduct Internet-based research, and to publish writing on the Web. This early text on online tutoring demonstrates the early, polarizing issues related with online writing instruction and online tutoring.

Keywords: online tutoring, theory, online writing center

OWI Principles:  3, 11, 14

Thompson, Gene. “Moving Online: Changing the Focus of a Writing Center.” SiSAL Journal, vol. 5, no. 2, 2014, pp. 127-42.

To address the limitations of a small departmental writing center in Japan, Thompson uses survey data to identify and accommodate student needs. Thompson explains that the dialogic, process-oriented tutor sessions common to North American writing centers frequently did not match the expectations of students who often came to the writing center with straightforward questions about assignment guidelines, grammar, or citations. Moreover, due to budgetary and space constraints, the writing center was only open on a walk-in basis for about six hours a week. The few students who came to the center usually did so all at once, forcing the center to turn many students away. To remedy this situation, two changes were made: the introduction of an online reservation system and the creation of an online resource lab for handouts and references. After one semester, students were surveyed to determine the efficacy of the changes. The results indicated that of the students who used the writing center, most accessed the online resources instead of coming in for a face-to-face session. Based on these findings, tutor sessions were suspended, and more materials were added to the online resource lab. A subsequent survey indicated that over 90% of the students surveyed found the online resources useful. Thompson proposes that tutor sessions be reincorporated in the third stage of this study, but only online, through the institution’s new LMS. Ultimately, Thompson argues that user-focused data is needed when determining how best to meet students’ needs. While this is a small, context-specific study, it provides a simple yet effective model for OWI instructors and administrators interested in evaluating and improving their own classes and programs.

Keywords: writing center, online writing lab, surveys, grammar & style, surveys, research, online resources, course management system, qualitative research, evaluation

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 13, 14, 15

Thompson, Riki, and Meredith J. Lee. “Talking with Students through Screencasting: Experimentations with Video Feedback to Improve Student Learning.” The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, no. 1,  2012, jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/talking-with-students-through-screencasting-experimentations-with-video-feedback-to-improve-student-learning/.

In this article, Thompson and Lee explore the benefits of using screencasting software to deliver audio-visual feedback to students on written assignments. After briefly discussing how screencasting is used in the classroom for supplemental teaching, she explains the small study she and Lee conducted to survey students (n=32) regarding screencasting as a response medium. While the students were mostly positive about the screencast feedback, Thompson cautions that additional studies are necessary before drawing generalized conclusions on the effectiveness of screencasting with regard to improved learning and greater student engagement. However, the methods that Thompson and Lee outline for providing feedback are helpful for those considering providing screencast feedback or studying the efficacy of that feedback in their own classes.

Keywords: audio, feedback, video: English, assessment, research, qualitative research

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 11, 12, 14, 15

Thrush, Emily A., and Necie Elizabeth Young. “Hither, Thither, and Yon: Process in Putting Courses on the Web.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 1, 1999, pp. 49-59.

Thrush and Young outline their experience with developing “Web-based” undergraduate and graduate courses, including some of the legal issues they faced in developing those classes. They not only put their classes online but also supported other faculty members with developing their course for Web-based delivery. The activities they found best suited to be offered on the Web were ones that “a) incorporated materials available on the Web, b) focused on the Web itself as a medium of communication, or c) made out-of-class assignments more interactive” (51). They provide examples of the types of activities that lent themselves to Web-based courses. The article also addresses technology selection and assessment of the Web-based courses. In creating these courses, Thrush and Young identify how the Family Educational Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) complicated their Web-based classes and identify successes and pitfalls of their explorations into online classes. This article identifies some challenges with early online writing instruction and serves as an important document for researchers investigating the history of online writing instruction.

Keywords: course and program design: English, graduate courses, privacy, interaction

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4

Thrush, Emily A., and Susan L. Popham. “Teaching Technical Communication to a Global Online Student Audience.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie. Baywood, 2013, pp. 113-31.

As online programs increase, so will the numbers of students from around the world who choose to take technical and professional writing programs online. Beginning with a premise that international student participation benefits both international and US students, Thrush and Popham identify challenges involved with working with international students in online writing classes. One challenge includes a wide variety in the forms of English and formal writing international students bring from diverse cultures. In addition, writing genres common to technical communication classes may not translate to or have meaning in various cultures. Online classes can adjust to these challenges by shifting away from genre-based teaching practices and toward more context-specific practices, such as analyzing the audiences and cultural expectations for a document. Online faculty can also adjust to the various assumptions about the instructor-student relationship international students hold and understand how conversational patterns for international students may differ. The authors conclude by recommending Coyle’s Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) model as a means for understanding content, context, cognition, and culture in online writing classes. They also encourage that online faculty become more aware of how language is acquired. This chapter begins a discussion on how to fully integrate and address international students in online classrooms, providing one potential framework on which online writing faculty can research and build.

Keywords: global, ESL, ELL, EFL, multilingual writers, technical and professional writing, cultures, genres,

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4

Tillery, Denise, and Ed Nagelhout. “Theoretically Grounded, Practically Enacted, and Well Behind the Cutting Edge: Writing Course Development Within the Constraints of a Campus-Wide Course Management System.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 25-44.

This chapter outlines a strategy for delivering a business writing course at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) centered around a standardized course template in WebCampus (Blackboard) that allows faculty to select from a variety of course assignments within a predetermined assignment sequence. Tillery and Nagelhout describe a delivery-focused approach to the course that allows for consistent learning outcomes, assignments, and assessments among face-to-face, hybrid, and online sections of the course. The assignments and template reflect the nature of writing as a “complex, reflective, social activity” (29). The template includes not only student-directed units that the population of primarily part-time and graduate student instructors can utilize immediately, but it also includes a number of faculty resources that help instructors efficiently provide feedback and follow the guideline of spending no more than ten hours per week on an individual course. Data from random students in each course are gathered via Excel spreadsheets each term to allow administrators to discuss elements of the course that are and are not effective and modify the course accordingly. While the design and implementation of the course are effective, the constraints of the LMS that facilitate the standardized design put the program well behind the curve of “cutting edge” technology use. This chapter demonstrates the balance between standardization and innovation and provides a model of one program that has implemented a standardized course structure and attempted to compensate for the shortcomings of an LMS.

Keywords: course and program design: English, business writing, assessment, Blackboard, course management system, online resources, administration, faculty workload, predesigned courses, time management, graduate teaching assistants, adjuncts, contingent faculty,

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 12

Townsend, Jane S., and Allan Nail. "Response, Relationship, and Revision: Learning to Teach Writing in Asynchronous Contexts." Journal of Literacy and Technology, vol. 12, no. 3, 2011, pp. 51-85.

In this article, Townsend and Nail present the findings of a study of a writing mentorship program between pre-service teachers and high school students as part of the Online Writing Partnership. This article draws on a larger study examining this program, with the current study focusing on interviewing both the graduate student and high school student participants and analyzing artifacts from the experience, including high school students’ papers with feedback and the email correspondence between the partners. Townsend and Nail categorized the type of feedback offered by the graduate students and found that the majority were editing suggestions, despite the graduate students’ belief that they were helping students revise. Townsend and Nail suggest that even the graduate students do not fully understand or embrace the concept of revision. They suggest that these views are likely influenced by these pre-service teachers’ own experiences in the classroom. The other major theme from the study was the nature of online mentoring relationships. Many of the graduate students expressed a frustration with the lack of social presence in their online relationships. All communication was asynchronous, and many graduate participants reported feeling disconnected from their high school student partner. Despite this challenge, Townsend and Nail argue that experiences like the Online Writing Partnership are important for pre-service teachers, perhaps because of the discomfort, which provides an opportunity for growth and an opportunity to reflect on the function and form of effective feedback. From the results of the study, changes have been made to the Online Writing Partnership program to provide more opportunities for collaborative interactions and face-to-face meetings. The authors report that ongoing research is continuing on the program to assess this new blended learning model. The findings of this study on online mentoring demonstrates the importance of a sense of presence, relationship, and community in online learning.

Keywords: revision, mentoring, graduate students, email, feedback, teacher training, instructor interaction, asynchronous interaction, collaboration, blended, community

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 15

Tucker, Virginia M. “Listening for the Squeaky Wheel: Designing Distance Writing Program Assessment.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, vol. 15, no. 4, 2012, wp.westga.edu/ojdla/listening-for-the-squeaky-wheel-designing-distance-writing-program-assessment/.

In this article, Tucker examines the current form of assessment in distance writing programs and offers recommendations to improve these programs based upon these recommendations. Tucker uses Kim, Smith and Maeng’s 2008 distance education program assessment scheme to evaluate the assessment methods of the IDS-Professional Writing program at Old Dominion University. She uses syllabi from six courses ranging the disciplines required of the program: English, IDS, Computer Science, and Communication. Her findings show that the courses suffer from an imbalance of formative and summative assessments as well as team assessment and individual assessment. Tucker argues that these findings demonstrate that without using a variety of assessment tools in a balanced way, online writing programs fail to engage their students in a learning community and fail to evaluate their students’ skills in writing. In order to improve the assessment methods of these programs, Tucker recommends that writing programs implement an e-portfolio as a graduation requirement, seek greater balance in course assessment methods in order to more successfully evaluate students, and to review assessment methods as a means of continually examining the program’s ability to teach students.

Keywords: assessment, writing program administration, online writing programs, learning communities, technical and professional writing, portfolio

OWI Principles 3, 4, 11

Tucker, Virginia. “From Gamers to Grammarians: How Online Gaming is Changing the Nature of Digital Discourse in the Classroom.” Online Education 2.0: Evolving, Adapting, and Reinventing Online Technical Communication, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2013, pp. 159-78.

Tucker applies the four categories of communication in online synchronous classroom environments first identified by Kirkpatrick (2005)—greeting, work, self-conscious, and irrelevant—to three recorded sessions of virtual classroom data from predominately freshmen who were new to the media of the virtual classroom in 2009. Of the fifty-five students participating in the virtual classrooms, 93% self-identified as online gamers. All three classes showed a marked increase in work-related discussion (between 62% and 81% of the interactions compared to Kirkpatrick’s 41%), even though all three sections focused on slightly different facets of the same discussion regarding workplace writing. Tucker then reviews reasons why these students spent more productive time in virtual class discussion than students in the previous study. She concludes that, perhaps, their experience communicating in online games, which are considered “crucial conversations” (166), more closely mirror the rhetorical environments of the virtual classroom. Both the simulation and stimulation of online games might “engage participants in knowledge making [and] prepare them for the challenge of academic discourse” (168). By means of comparison, Tucker points to the control of language conventions in online gaming communities and compares that to the control of language practices she finds familiar in online academic discussions. She concludes that, contrary to popular belief that online discourse harms students academically, “the growing popularity of multiplayer online gaming suggests that future generations of students will be increasingly capable of participating in a community of thinkers that utilizes the virtual spaces for knowledge-making activities” (176). This study demonstrates the importance of paying attention to students’ literacy activities outside of the online writing classroom as students from those communities increasingly transition into online classroom spaces.

Keywords: online gaming, synchronous interaction, social constructionism, first-year writers, technical and professional writing, research, virtual classroom, surveys, qualitative research, digital literacy

OWI Principles: 2, 4, 11

Tuzi, Frank. “The Impact of E-Feedback on the Revisions of L2 Writers in an Academic Writing Course.” Computers and Composition, vol. 21, no. 2, 2004, pp. 217-35.

Tuzi argues that there are clear advantages for using electronic feedback (e-feedback) and oral feedback in first-year composition classroom. He studies the e-feedback of twenty L2 writers “in a natural setting that incorporated an emergent design and subjective data collection from human subjects in the form of interviews and observations…[and] statistical analysis and coding of the written drafts and responses” (222). Tuzi finds that e-feedback was more effective at encouraging changes at the sentence and paragraph levels, but e-feedback proves more beneficial than oral feedback in stimulating global revision. However, Tuzi argues that students enjoy oral feedback more and generally prefer that method. He concludes that e-feedback provides additional avenues for feedback but that L2 learners will benefit as much from feedback training as they will from providing feedback in a particular modality.

Keywords: feedback, orality, L2, ELL, ESL, multilingual writers, interviews, qualitative research, revision

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 11, 15

U

United States, Census Bureau. Disability, 2011, census.gov/people/disability/.

The Census Bureau collects data on disability primarily through the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). The definitions of disability are not always alike, so be careful when making comparisons across surveys. Generally, the SIPP estimates of disability prevalence are broader and encompass a greater number of activities on which disability status is assessed. The ACS has a more narrow definition but is capable of producing estimates for states, counties, and metropolitan areas. Because the ACS has replaced the decennial long-form as the source for small area statistics, there is no disability data in the 2010 Census. In addition to these recent data sources, the Census Bureau has also produced disability estimates from the 2000 Census and the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). Other Federal agencies also collect and report disability statistics. These disability statistics are helpful for those needing information in order to make arguments about the need for accessibility in online writing courses.

Keywords: accessibility, disability studiese

OWI Principles: 1

United States, Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics (NCES 2015-011), table 311.10, 2013, nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_311.10.asp.

Much like the other national or international resources, this reference provides data on the number of students with disabilities in the US. This data is valuable for making local arguments about the need to pay attention to students with disabilities. The numbers for 2011-2012 report that 11.1 percent of students have disabilities, which is a slight increase from the 10.9 percent in the prior national statistics release. In other words, OWI are more likely to have students with disabilities in their online courses than not.

Keywords: accessibility, disability studies

OWI Principles: 1

V

Van Waes, Luuk, Daphne van Weijen, and Mariëlle Leijten. “Learning to Write in an Online Writing Center: The Effect of Learning Styles on the Writing Process.” Computers and Education, vol. 73, 2014, pp. 60-71.

Van Waes, van Weihen, and Leijten investigate the extent to which different learning styles affect students’ writing process and the quality of student writing. The authors designed a study in which twenty undergraduate students completed a writing task—writing a “bad news letter”—which they did by completing an online module comprised of three main sections: theory, practice exercises, and a “case section” for the writing task itself.  The module was designed in such a way that students could interact with the sections in any order they liked. The authors collected and analyzed data that recorded which module pages the students clicked, how long students stayed on a page, and how long students took to draft and revise the writing task. The authors found that reflective learners (divergers and assimilators, in Kolb’s Learning Styles Inventory) viewed more pages of the module, switched tasks more frequently, and took longer to complete the task than the active learners (accommodators and convergers). The authors found no significant differences between active and reflective learners in the quality of the text produced. Perhaps the most useful finding is that all students spent time referencing the theory section as they were completing the writing task, indicating that writing is not a linear process, especially in digital environments. The authors recommend that OWI instructors build “flexible learning paths” into their courses to accommodate students with different learning styles.  

Keywords: learning styles, writing process, modules, adaptive learning, revision, reflection, research, quantitative research,

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 14, 15

Vincelette, Elizabeth. “Video Capture for Grading: Multimodal Feedback and the Millennial Student.” Enhancing Instruction with Visual Media: Utilizing Video and Lecture Capture, edited by Ellen G. Smyth and John X. Volker, IGI Global, 2013, pp. 107-27, doi: 10.4018/978-1-46666-3962-1.ch008.

Vincelette discusses a pilot study that incorporates what she calls “screencast assessment” for providing multimodal feedback on student writing assignments through Jing and Screencast.com (107). Because of the ubiquity of multimodal objects in the lives of “digital natives,” she infers that “screencast assessment fits into students’ daily experiences with technology, uses familiar interfaces, and can provide more effective feedback to students about their writing than can text-based feedback alone” (108). The article addresses the following research questions: “1) To what degree is screencast assessment more beneficial than traditional text-based feedback?, 2) How do students perceive the effectiveness of screencast assessment?, and 3) To what degree does screencast assessment help students improve writing?” (109). While Vincelette acknowledges that the small sample size (9 out of 18 students in the class) does not allow for the conclusions to be generalized, she found that her grounded theory approach to student surveys using corpus analysis revealed that “students feel responsibility for their writing and recognize that grading is part of a process involving both students and instructors” (113). Students seemed to most value the combination of video and the teacher’s voice, understanding that faculty were more involved in their grading and their classes and had taken extra time to do the recordings, which mattered to students in this study. Vincelette concludes with recommendations for how to effectively set up and complete screencast assessment and calls for additional studies with larger student populations and a consideration of how screencasting works for students with a variety of disabilities. This article provides a research methodology for studying the effectiveness of screencasting to provide student feedback and also a set of concrete guidelines for those instructors seeking to begin using screencasting for student assessment in their online and hybrid courses.

Keywords: accessibility, assessment: English, feedback, video: English, disability studies, research, grounded theory, instructor interaction, screencast, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 15

Vincelette, Elizabeth and Timothy Bostic. “Show and Tell: Student and Instructor Perceptions of Screencast Assessment.” Assessing Writing, vol. 18, no. 4, Oct. 2013, pp. 257-77. Science Direct, doi:10.1016/j.asw.2013.08.001.

Vincelette and Bostic study the use of screencast feedback in order to develop a method of feedback that meet the goals of reducing faculty grading load, inserting the instructor as a presence with vocal tone and inflection in commenting, and providing more usable feedback to students who might not be motivated to read written feedback. Their study seeks to answer three questions: “1) From their perspective, do students find multimodal assessment using screen capturing technology more effective than traditional written feedback, and do they feel more engaged with their writing feedback? 2) From the instructors’ perspectives, do they believe that their students’ written works improved due to the use of a multimodal assessment method? and 3) Do instructors using screen-capturing as a method of providing feedback on writing believe that the time it takes to learn the technology is worthwhile?” (261). The study participants included thirty-nine students enrolled in one of two entry level composition courses at a university. Instructors in the courses used Jing to screencast feedback that was shared via email or in portfolios. Students were then surveyed about their experiences with the screencast feedback, and their instructors were interviewed about their experiences providing feedback. The results showed that students felt the feedback was more effective, and they felt that they made more substantive revisions after receiving screencast feedback. Instructors felt that screencasts were beneficial and that “the level of engagement reported by the students is seen by the instructors as an increase in the communication rapport between instructors and students” (265). While faculty reported that student revision was “mixed,” they also indicated that providing screencast feedback required that they be more positive and give more detailed comments on student papers once they established sound workflows with the technology. Vincelette and Bostic conclude that additional studies with more students are warranted and that instructors implementing screencast feedback pay attention to the length of the feedback and their own comfort levels with using screencast technology. This article is an important contribution to the research on alternatives to written feedback in online classes and helps instructors better understand effective feedback and the limitations of multimodal feedback on student writing.

Keywords: assessment: English, feedback, multimodality, research, revision, screencast, faculty workload, student engagement, instructor interaction, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 15

Viti, Lynne Spigelmire. “Cybering Towards an Audience: Do Women Find a New/Different Voice in an Electronic Forum?” Kairos, vol. 6, no. 2, 2001, kairos.technorhetoric.net/6.2/binder2.html?coverweb/gender/viti/index.htm.

The short article discusses the author’s experience having her composition students participate in the Intercollegiate Electronic Democracy Project (IEDP), which is a cross-college electronic forum where students from writing and writing-intensive course from fourteen colleges across the country can engage in conversations about politics and current affairs. The author suggests that the authentic audience of the forum pushed her all female class to better clarify, contextualize, and support their arguments in writing. She discusses the exchanges of two particular discussion threads, one on abortion and one on affirmative action, in detail to demonstrate how students had to navigate sharing their points to a diverse audience and following netiquette guidelines. She gives examples of students navigating heated discussions and taking what she call the “high road” in the face of inflammatory or sarcastic responses. She provides examples of students being motivated by “flaming” or attacking responses to further invest in their arguments and share their views on the forum. The article argues that this method of discussion engages students, particularly female students, in online conversations not only with those in the course, but those outside of it to provide an authentic, challenging audience that push students to improve their skills at crafting arguments.

Keywords: discussion board, gender, argument: English, student engagement

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

W

Walker, Kristin. “Activity Theory and the Online Technical Communication Course: Assessing Quality in Undergraduate Instruction.”  Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2005, pp. 207-18.

Walker assesses her online classes through the lens of activity theory in order to understand online classes as complex activity systems and to address potential complications and adapt to those complications in three specific areas: instruction, peer interaction, and researching. Paying attention to student messages about their difficulties with using various tools in the class can highlight cultural differences in how students interpret online classes as well as the assumptions that faculty make about how students will interact with technologies. In addition to student messages, faculty can consider how physical learning environments might help or hinder student participation and how student preparation for and cultural histories with learning might impact how they interact with and use technologies to complete assignments, particularly complex assignments, such as videotaping research interviews. Students in online discussion spaces may need additional prompting or attention, and students conducting research online might benefit from interactions with other students in similar activity systems. This chapter provides one example of how applying activity theory and thinking of the online class as a complex system can assist faculty in predicting challenges for online students and designing classes that might mitigate those challenges.

Keywords: assessment: English, course and program design: English, collaboration, teaching with technology: English, student-to-student interaction, research writing, student engagement, assignment: English, discussion: English, discussion boards

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 10, 11

Walkington, Helen. “Developing Dialogic Learning Space: The Case of Online Undergraduate Research Journals.” Journal of Geography in Higher Education, vol. 36, no. 4, 2012, pp. 547-62.

Walkington asserts that “Understanding research and participation in the research process are central to the needs of undergraduate students in Higher Education” (547). Thus, this article outlines a strategy for using wikis as an online collaborative learning space where undergraduate students learn to write for professional publications, and graduate students review articles for undergraduate researchers. Walkington evaluates the impact of this collaborative space on student learning by interviewing students who participated in publishing and reviewing articles for two e-journals: GEOverse and Geoversity. Undergraduate students reported “a sense of achievement, heightened  understanding of a research topic, enjoyment of the creative process and a sense of ownership of the research” (552). In particular, students reported using more scholarly sources over web sources because they wanted to make sure the results they were presenting fit in with others’ published work on their topic. Students also highly valued the experience of working toward publication in the two journals; thus, they reported a greater ability to apply the criticism they received from the graduate student reviewers. The online aspect of the review process via the wiki affected students’ views of the criticism as they saw the publication process for what it is—a process—a working document (553–554). In terms of writing development, undergraduate students also reported a greater ability to evaluate their own writing as well as others’ writing because they learned what good writing in their field consists of through the process of publication (554). Challenges included a desire for dialogue. Although students appreciated and were able to work with reviewers on the wiki, some students noted that they would have liked to have an actual conversation with the reviewers and editors to clarify comments (556). Graduate students who acted as reviewers for both journals reported the collaborative online space to be beneficial because students often had to work with a reviewer from another department who helped them see how writing can be viewed from different perspectives; thus, the definition of good writing varied among reviewers. Some students reported liking the asynchronous aspect of reviewing with another person, while other students noted that they would have preferred to meet face-to-face and discuss the review after each one read the paper. However, graduate students reported the overall experience as a positive one because they developed “reviewers eyes,” which helped them be more critical and reflect on the characteristics of good writing (557). This article provides a method of helping to move online writing students across disciplines beyond simple activities that ask them to summarize research in their disciplines to actually understanding the process of publishing in their fields.

Key words: collaboration, research writing, wiki, WAC, graduate students, peer review, asynchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 15

Walters, Shannon. “Toward an Accessible Pedagogy: Dis/ability, Multimodality, and Universal Design in the Technical Communication Classroom.” Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 4, 2010, pp. 427-54.

Walters argues for the need for research in usability to counter what she sees as a limiting focus on disability-specific needs. Walter writes that, “Extending these recent broader inquiries is crucial because impairment-specific efforts may limit students and teachers to consider specific disabilities and specific solutions instead of encouraging more comprehensive understandings of disability and ability as contingent bodily states affected by time, space, and a range of fluid contexts” (429). She argues that the technical writing classroom setting is ideal to analyze the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches to disability and accessibility. Walters uses a teacher-researcher methodology and disability studies methodology to analyze both her subjective observations and those of the students as well. The study of disability included both the practical, assignment driven work of a typical classroom as well as discussions of broader concepts from disability studies. Walter both details the sequence of activities and discussions in the course and reflects on students’ work and reactions to disability studies in the class. Walter concludes that “through integrating multimodal and [universal design] approaches to dis/ability in the classroom, technical communication teachers can contribute to the ongoing conversation in disability studies about impairment and the social experience of disability” 450). Walter’s work can help to train instructors in online writing classrooms who need to create accessible materials for teaching through the practical exercises that she used successfully with her own students.

Keywords: usability testing, disability studies, accessibility, pedagogy: English, multimodal, universal design

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 15

Wang, Jen-Hang, et al. “Effects of a Mixed-Mode Peer Response on Student Response Behavior and Writing Performance.” Journal of Educational Computing Research, vol. 51, no. 2, 2014, pp. 233-56.

Harry Wang, Shih-Hsun Hsu, Sherry Chen, and Tak-Wai Chan research the effects of computer-mediated peer review to answer four questions: “1) How did students in the experimental group perform differently from students in the control group in terms of writing quality and written expression? 2) How did high-ability students in the experimental group and those in the control group perform differently in terms of writing quality and written expression? 3) How did low-ability students in the experimental group and those in the control group perform differently in terms of writing quality and written expression? and 4) How did high- and low-ability students in the experimental group perform differently in peer response behavior?” (238). The study investigated the peer-review and writing practices of 54 third-graders in Taiwan who took a pre- and post-test to assess their writing abilities before and after the experiment. The researchers found no significant difference in prior writing ability between the two groups of students. Students who were initially high-performing in both groups did better on the post-tests than low-performing students. Overall, students who were in the e-Peer Response (EPR) group performed better than those students in the teacher-centered writing. They attribute these findings to the fact that the EPR group had a “more convenient online writing environment,” that the EPR group had a “complete writing practice with opportunities for revision,” and that the EPR “provided a sharable mechanism so that students could exchange drafts and share meanings with each other” (248-249). The findings in this study, though from an elementary classroom, might shed light on issues related to the advantages of implementing online peer review in the college classroom.

Keywords: peer review, ESL, ELL, elementary students, EFL, L2, multilingual writers, empirical research, quantitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 10, 11, 13, 15

Warnock, Scott. “And Then There Were Two: The Growing Pains of an Online Writing Course Faculty Training Initiative.” Proceedings of the Distance Learning Administration (DLA) 2007 Conference, St. Simons Island GA, 26 June 2007.

Warnock provides an account of the attrition associated with a new online faculty training initiative at Drexel University in 2004. He outlines the challenges that Drexel faced when the university decided to put 20% of its first year writing courses online in Fall 2004. That decision meant that at least 20 instructors would need online training to teach those courses; however, as the summer program progressed, the program lost instructors quickly. By the end of the fall term, only one instructor was still enrolled in the online training program. Challenges of establishing the online training program included lack of institutional backing, offering too many courses online at one time with a technologically unprepared faculty, emphasizing technology over pedagogy in previous training, and providing no course-specific instruction. Differences in opinion over the emphasis of the training course resulted in additional challenges. Some instructors wanted a course template created for them while others wanted to learn all of the tools and capabilities of the learning management system. In addition, the university failed to advertise the online courses, and enrollment for Fall 2004 was low. A 44% drop rate in online courses occurred due to students’ misunderstanding about the work and self-motivation needed for success in online classes. Despite the hurdles, the training program was restored in subsequent semesters as more teachers experimented with and found success in hybrid classes.

Keywords: first-year writing, hybrid, faculty development, teaching with technology: English,  online writing programs, writing program administration

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12

Warnock, Scott. “Online Writing Instruction and the Disappearing Educational Interface.” Rhetorics and Technologies: 20th Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, Penn State University, Collegeville, PA, July 2007.

In this conference talk, Warnock explores how digital technology might help in re-thinking students’ experience with what he calls “the interface of writing education.” Offering education as a type of interface, he points out that users/students regularly use technology to navigate the educational interface, and this may be a good thing for writing instruction because introducing layers of technological infrastructure may not complicate students’ learning but instead place it within more comfortable and familiar contexts. He then draws on several student writing samples to demonstrate that students may write “better” on message boards. In the samples, he compares message board posts to formal papers written by the same student about similar topics; using a rudimentary coding methodology, he concludes that the online environment, which involves students working in increasingly “natural” ways through the reading and writing they engage in with digital devices, may provide a “striking opportunity” for writing instruction.

Keywords: interface, discussion boards, reading, digital literacy

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 5, 15

Warnock, Scott. “Responding to Student Writing with Audio-Visual Feedback.” Writing and the iGeneration: Composition in the Computer-Mediated Classroom, edited by Terry Carter and Maria A. Clayton, Fountainhead P, 2008, pp. 201-27.

In this chapter from a book designed to help new and experienced teachers incorporate technology into their teaching of writing, Warnock first provides a review of the history of teachers’ use of audio to respond to student writing and then describes his step-by-step process of providing audiovisual (AV) response to student writers in his own courses using Camtasia software. He concludes this description by saying, “The conversation I need to have with students about their writing is facilitated at least as well by AV feedback as with written comments” (210). In an appendix, he discusses a brief study in his own classes in which he asked students on anonymous course evaluations if they preferred written feedback, face-to-face conferences, or AV comments for their drafts. Students said the face-to-face conferences were best but preferred AV feedback over written commentary. While this study is not exclusive to OWI, the technological method of response fits well with efforts to teach writing using digital technology.

Keywords: feedback, video: English, audio, screencasting

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 15

Warnock, Scott. “The Low-Stakes, Risk-Friendly Message Board Text.” Teaching with Student Texts: Essays Toward an Informed Practice, edited by Joseph Harris et al., Utah State UP, 2010, pp. 96-107.

In this chapter in a book about helping teachers work with student texts, Warnock describes how to use message boards to facilitate students’ creation and dissemination of texts in their courses. Warnock provides a brief rationale behind using message boards, including that they are usually low-stakes, open, multi-audience, semiformal, conversational, and topic-focused while also opening opportunities for students to create text/writing and helping develop an overall peer-review-based course approach. He then describes message board assignments and practices, often including sample prompt language. The chapter closes with Warnock discussing how message boards are an ideal way of matching writing pedagogy with technology. He states that “Many concepts and practices we associate with good writing pedagogy are given new potential with the use of message-board texts” (106). He also recommends that in terms of grading, teachers “not be the bottleneck in the system” (105) and for faculty not to over-evaluate each post.

Keywords: discussion board, asynchronous interaction, community, peer review, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4

Warnock, Scott. Teaching Writing Online: How and Why. National Council of Teachers of English, 2009.

In this book, Warnock describes not just how to teach an online (and hybrid) writing course but why such teaching is good for students and teachers. This practical text, written mainly for teachers moving into teaching writing in online settings, focuses on how OWI might help teachers re-think college writing courses for the fundamental reason that online such courses take place primarily through and with students' written communications. A primary idea driving the book is “migrating” to online writing instruction, with Warnock insisting that instructors “focus on what [they] do well in the classroom, [they] will find the move to online teaching less difficult – and more enjoyable” (xiv). Several of the book’s chapters are designed to help new online teachers with general concerns, such as choosing technologies, managing time wisely, and making core pedagogy decisions. The heart of the book describes specific teaching approaches and strategies, such as organizing course materials, creating reasonable course pacing, managing message board conversations, conducting peer reviews, responding to students, and running collaborative assignments. This pedagogically-centered book ends with Warnock discussing how teaching writing with technology is, at its base, a “personality-driven endeavor.” The book is framed by 41 guidelines for OWI and includes a resource chapter and appendix with sample teaching materials.

Keywords: pedagogy: English, discussion boards, faculty development, course and program design: English, navigation, collaboration, teaching with technology: English

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13

Warnock, Scott. “Streaming Media for Writing Instruction: Drexel’s Streaming Media Server and Novel Approaches to Course Lessons and Assessment.”  Streaming Media in Higher Education, edited by Charles Wankel and J. Sibley Law, IGI Global, 2011, pp. 218-36.

In this chapter, in a book about various ways streaming media is being used in college instruction, Warnock discusses DragonDrop, a streaming media system to help Drexel University faculty use various types of media in their teaching and convert a wide variety of file types. Warnock’s chapter focuses on how DragonDrop simplifies the use of video applications specifically for writing instruction practices, such as assessing  and responding to student writing, modeling the writing process for students, creating activity-oriented workshops, and conducting course lessons and introducing course materials. Warnock says that Drexel’s system solves core issues, including creating and distributing files and ensuring that students can access that material, so teachers can focus on creative teaching uses of technology.

Keywords: video: English, audio, feedback, process, modeling, screencasting, technology, assessment: English, technical support

OWI Principles: 1, 2, 4, 11

Warnock, Scott. “Frequent Low-Stakes Grading: Assessment for Communication, Confidence.” Online Classroom, vol. 12, no. 3, March 2012, pp. 5, 7.

This article describes what Warnock calls FLS, or Frequent Low-Stakes, grading approaches in online instruction. Arguing that our students grow up in a “culture of assessment” (e.g., restaurant ratings, video games metrics) that is often contradicted by the infrequent, high-stakes evaluations they encounter in school, Warnock says FLS grading has several advantages, including that it creates dialogue, builds confidence, and increases motivation in students. and he focuses on two particular methods: informal writing and quizzing. Of using writing in this way online, he says, “The technological environment of online learning is a major asset in using short, informal writing.” The core idea of FLS grading is to provide students with many small, low-stakes grades, and the grades then become a means of communication: “…a stream of FLS grades allows student to know where they stand so they can better reach their goals in our courses.”

Keywords: assessment: English, student engagement, student satisfaction, student success

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 5

Warnock, Scott. “Studies Comparing Outcomes among Onsite, Hybrid, and Fully-Online Writing Courses.” WPA-CompPile Research Bibliographies, no. 21, 2013, comppile.org/wpa/bibliographies/Bib21/Warnock.pdf.

In this bibliography, Warnock both responds to and challenges the drive for research comparing onsite, online, and hybrid writing courses. Warnock begins by pointing out that questions about the efficacy of online writing instruction invariably position hybrid and online writing courses against the “‘gold standard’ of the onsite class experience,” an assumption that “is—to say the least—flawed” (1). Assessment of onsite writing courses is notoriously difficult, due in no small part to methodologically-questionable assessment measures and the absence of “widely-accepted criteria as to what clearly constitutes success in writing courses” across institutions (2). Nevertheless, a robust collection of studies comparing onsite and online courses have been published, which Warnock examines closely. Among the themes that emerge from this analysis are that there is no significant difference between online, onsite, and hybrid courses and that instructor-student and student-student interactivity seems correlated “to student satisfaction and perhaps course success”(3).  This bibliography is an indispensible resource for OWI instructors and administrators alike.

Keywords: assessment: English, learning outcomes, hybrid, online writing programs, literature review, administration, writing program administration, student-to-student interaction, instructor interaction, student success

OWI Principles: 7, 10, 11, 15

Warnock, Scott. “Interrogating Online Writing Instruction.” Learning and Teaching Writing Online: Strategies for Success, Studies in Writing, vol. 29, series editor Gert Rijlaarsdam and volume editors Mary Deane and Teresa Guasch, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2015, pp. 178-87.

In the final chapter of an international edited collection about OWI, Warnock “enquires into the future” of OWI (176), using as a frame the collaborative creation of the CCCC “A Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for OWI.” The chapter explores several key OWI areas: teachers migrating practices online, low-stakes writing as an inherent aspect of teaching writing online, responding to students’ texts, and new assessment opportunities. At the end of the chapter, Warnock introduces the idea of the “fractal” nature of writing instruction, or how “the smallest components of our teaching interactions resemble structurally our broadest interactions,” in challenging “writing developers” to explore what exactly it is we do as and “why online is a great place to learn how to write” (183).

Keywords: feedback, assessment: English, online writing programs, course and program design: English

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 7

Warnock, Scott. “Teaching the OWI Course.” Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, edited by Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew, WAC Clearinghouse, 2015, pp.  151-82.

This extensive chapter covers five of the OWI principles (Principles 2–6) presented in A Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for OWI. Warnock seeks to address the question of how to teach writing online successfully.  He analyzes how the principles and corresponding effective practices tackle obstacles and the challenges teachers encounter, specifically in an online environment. Each principle is thoroughly discussed, including examples of how to implement possible best practices into online teaching. Warnock summarizes the chapter by emphasizing that first and foremost, online writing course are writing courses, and teachers need to remain focused on the course goals and objectives. Although teachers should develop strategies to utilize new technologies, they should also adapt their own best practices from onsite teaching and maintain core teaching principles in online writing courses. The responsibility of institutions and writing programs with regard to flexibility in course content and faculty training is also addressed.

Keywords: learning outcomes, teaching with technology: English, best practices, pedagogy: English, online writing programs

OWI Principles:  2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Warnock, Scott, et al. “Early Participation in Asynchronous Writing Environments and Course Success.” The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, vol. 16, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 35-48.

This study investigates if early participation on course message boards is connected with success in online and hybrid courses. The authors investigated twelve first-year writing classes, eight hybrid and four fully online, and found that first posters on course message boards had better grades than the class final average in every course, and later posters tended to have lower grades than the course average. The research team also correlated course performance with average length of posts, finding earlier posts to be longer. This study was conducted in two phases, with the researchers initially investigating six courses and then engaging in a more robust analysis with an additional six courses. The results help support the connection between student volition and success in classes that rely heavily on asynchronous writing environments.

Keywords: hybrid, first-year writing, discussion boards, research, quantitative research, student engagement, asynchronous interaction

OWI Principles: 4, 10, 15

Web Accessibility Initiative. WC3, 24 Sept 2015, www.w3c.org/wai/.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is one of four domains of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and operates with the mission of making the web more accessible for people with disabilities. To pursue this commitment, the WAI’s website serves as a comprehensive resource on web accessibility, including technical information that covers every angle of creating an accessible website, finding the right information can be cumbersome for someone new to accessibility. Each standard is accompanied with several techniques for implementation, as well as methods to use to determine if a standard is not met within a webpage.  Another useful portion of the site is the “Evaluating Accessibility” section. This resource provides those new to accessibility in online instruction tools to begin making courses more universally accessible.

Keywords: accessibility, web design,

OWI Principles: 1

Whitehurst, Jodi. “Screencast Feedback for Clear and Effective Revisions of High-stakes Process Assignments.” OWI Open Resource, 15 Feb. 2016, www.ncte.org/cccc/owi-open-resource/screencast-feedback.

Screencast feedback allows instructors to provide more specific explanations, facilitate discussion, direct students to online resources, and give more affirmative comments. Whitehurst specifies that she only uses screencast feedback for high-stakes process assignments because the screencasts can be time consuming to create, and these particular assignments tend to be worth more of the overall grade. Thus, focusing on these assignments and allowing for revision directs attention to what would lead to success in a writing class. This web resource includes two embedded videos: a screencast example showing Whitehurst’s assignment and rubric and a tutorial about using Screencast-O-Matic. Whitehurst also includes specific goals or an outline, of sorts, that the screencast feedback can follow: provide a short greeting, discuss 2-3 specific skills that were executed well, discuss 2-3 specific skills that could be improved, show examples in a sample paper, explain the specific skills using the rubric, mention other relevant websites or resources, and give a closing that thanks students for sharing their writing. Overall, Whitehurst finds that using screencast feedback can be more beneficial than text-based explanations.

Keywords: screencast, feedback, revision, writing process

OWI Principles: 3, 4

Wichadee, Saovap. “Improving Students’ Summary Writing Ability Through Collaboration: A Comparison Between Online Wiki Group and Conventional Face-to-face Group.” Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 12, no. 3, July 2013, pp. 107-16.

Wichadee investigates the differences between the summary writing skills of L2 learners who participated in “wiki-based collaboration” and those who collaborated face-to-face. The researcher also compared the students’ writing abilities with their satisfaction with the online or face-to-face methods. In doing so, Wichadee addressed the following questions: 1) To what extent did the students improve their English summary writing ability after learning through collaboration? 2) Is there a difference in students' writing ability between those using wiki-based collaboration and those using conventional face-to-face collaboration after the intervention? 3) Is there a difference in satisfaction of students learning via wiki-based collaboration as compared to those learning via face-to-face collaboration? 4) What are students’ attitudes towards learning through wiki in terms of its advantages and disadvantages? and 5) Is there a difference between wiki-based group and face-to-face group in terms of summary writing accuracy of the final product?” (109). Forty students in two sections of Fundamental English I at Bangkok University completed writing summary tests, and questionnaires gauged their writing performance and their perception of their experience. Both groups improved their summary writing skills, and while the gains from the wiki-based collaborative group were higher, the results were not statistically significant. The improvement in the summary writing was attributed not to the modality but rather to the experience of working collaboratively and sharing writing with classmates. Students in the wiki-based groups identified more advantages than drawbacks, and students recognized in surveys that the teacher would be more likely to evaluate individual effort in the wiki-based groups, which motivated their performance. In addition, the face-to-face group was found to do more direct copying from the passage than the wiki-based group. This article is valuable to researchers and instructors who are investigating the differences in online learning communities versus face-to-face learning communities in term of writing performance.

Keywords: wikis, writing process, collaboration, ELL, ESL, L2, multilingual writers, surveys, research, quantitative research, plagiarism

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 10, 11, 15

Wichadee, Saovapa. “Peer Feedback on Facebook: The Use of Social Networking Websites to Develop Writing Ability of Undergraduate Student.” Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, vol. 14, no. 4,  Oct. 2013, pp. 260-70.

Wichadee explored how using Facebook to provide comments on student papers affected the quality of that feedback. The study had five primary goals: “to explore the nature of feedback that students receive on their writings, to find out the extent the peer feedback in Facebook improve students’ writing ability, to examine the extent to which peers' comments are incorporated into their subsequent revisions, to study students’ attitude towards peer feedback activity to study students’ attitude towards the use of Facebook for peer feedback” (262-263). Thirty first-year students enrolled in a Fundamental English course wrote two pieces of at least 100 words and then posted their work to Facebook for peer review. Students were then interviewed about their attitudes about using Facebook for peer review and the types of feedback were coded. The study showed that students were more likely to comment on content rather than grammar and language use. They also significantly improved their writing. However, students were more likely to have incorporated the grammatical recommendations rather than the content recommendations from the peer review (although content recommendations were close behind the grammatical ones). The students found their peer comments to be useful and did not experience difficulties using Facebook to provide feedback. The study is useful as a means of identifying alternatives to the LMS when completing peer review of short documents in online classes.

Keywords: peer review, social media, first-year writing, interviews, qualitative research, research, grammar & style, feedback, course management system

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 10, 11, 15

Wilferth, Joe, and Charles Hart. “Designing in the Dark: Toward Informed Technical Design for the Visually Impaired.” Computers and Composition Online, Spring 2005, www2.bgsu.edu/departments/english/cconline/wilferthhart/7.htm.

Wilferth and Charles provide a basic overview of web accessibility for the visually impaired using a technical communication web design course as their example. The key for online writing instructors of all kinds is a general awareness of design and accessibility issues that can be applied to OWC even if it is delivered in a content/learning management system (such as Blackboard).  While they do not reference some of the improved web accessibility features (see the Web Accessibility Initiative listing for updated information), they remind readers that good design moves beyond compliance. Wilferth and Charles admit they are not providing “ground breaking scholarship” but instead a general awareness of issues of how to design learning resources for blind users.

Keywords: accessibility, visually impaired users, web design, usability testing, course management system, Blackboard

OWI Principles: 1

Wolfe, Joanna, and Jo Ann Griffin. “Comparing Technologies for Online Writing Conferences: Effects of Medium on Conversation.” The Writing Center Journal, vol. 32, no. 2, 2012, pp. 60-92.

This article details the methodology and results of a small-scale study that measured the effect medium has in writing conferences. Wolfe claims that although many writing and teaching professionals assume in-person consultation is ideal, online conferencing can be pedagogically equivalent to face-to-face sessions. In addition to face-to-face conferences, two forms of online writing instruction were studied that incorporated synchronous audio and screen-sharing technology. The differences between all three mediums are discussed, with emphasis on the computer-based conferencing styles. Wolfe concludes with recommendations for utilizing online conferences and guidance for future research.

Keywords: research, online tutoring, synchronous interaction, audio, screencasting

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 10, 11, 15

Wooten, Courtney Adam. “The Mediation of Literacy Education and Correspondence Composition Courses at UNC–Chapel Hill, 1912–1924.” Composition Studies, vol. 41, no. 2, 2013, pp. 40-57.

In this essay, Wooten situates contemporary debates about online learning into the historical context of distance education to demonstrate how institutional values shape offsite courses and mediate literacy learning. Wooten grounds her analysis in two types of mediation theory: 1) mediation as institutional sponsorship and 2) “mediation as communication in context” (44). Wooten begins with institutional sponsorship, analyzing the roots and growth of composition correspondence courses at UNC-Chapel Hill in the 1910s and 1920s. The motivation for these courses is familiar: UNC wanted to meet increased student demand while boosting its image as an innovative public institution. Its correspondence courses could not, however, be true equivalents to the onsite courses, as distance students had no access to campus resources and immediate instruction. Wooten latches onto this issue of immediacy, arguing that “the correlation between correspondence courses and online courses can...be seen through their lack of interactivity, especially in MOOCs,” claiming that in online courses, “the mediation of literacies is not as direct and personal, even with the use of synchronous technologies” (51-52). Wooten’s historical analysis and criticisms of online writing instruction that is driven by institutional needs, as opposed to pedagogical affordances, could help OWI instructors and WPAs analyze how their own courses are mediated at the institutional instructional level.

Keywords: distance education, MOOCs, interactivity, synchronous interaction, asynchronous interaction, writing program administrators, literacy

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 6, 11

Writing in Digital Environments Research Center Collective. “Why Teach Digital Writing?” Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, Pedagogy, vol. 10, no. 1, 2005, kairos.technorhetoric.net/10.1/binder2.html?coverweb/wide/index.html.

The Writing in Digital Environments (WIDE) Research Center Collective, working under the premise that “networked computers create a new kind of writing space that changes the writing process and the basic rhetorical dynamic between writers and readers,” addresses the need to teach writing digitally in digital spaces. They assert that 1) traditional print-based rhetorical theory is not adequate for digital rhetoric, 2) teaching writing responsibly or effectively in traditional classrooms is not possible, and 3) we must shift our approaches to accommodate writing instruction in digitally mediated spaces. The uniqueness of this webtext resides in its multidimensional approach to responding to the question asked by the title, and in that it argues with the primary intention of assisting educators in responding to this question in their own institutional settings. This webtext provides answers for OWI practitioners and administrators who question why they would or should teach digital writing.

Keywords: digital literacy, computer-mediated communication, hypertext

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 6, 12, 14

Wyatt, Christopher. “Accessible Writing Spaces: Designing Virtual Spaces That Accommodate Difference.” Making Space: Writing Instruction, Infrastructure, and Multiliteracies, edited by James Purdy and Danielle Nicole DeVoss, Michigan Publishing/U of Michigan Library, 2013, www.digitalwriting.org/ms/ch4.html.

Wyatt proposes a framework for inclusive design of virtual composition classrooms. He asserts that online class spaces need to move from simply accommodation (a term he finds problematic) to being inclusive. His framework considers inclusion during each step of course development, incorporates technical with both a pedagogical and inclusive rationale, adapts constructivist pedagogies to create a community of inquiry, embraces the experiences of all students, guides students towards appreciation for each exercise and assignment and complies with local, state, and federal regulations. He provides strategies for  implementing his framework, although the work is vague and includes few practical examples.

Keywords: inclusive, accessibility, course and program design: English, constructivism, legislation

OWI Principles: 1

X

Xu, Di, and Shanna Smith Jaggars. Adaptability to Online Learning:

Differences across Types of Students and Academic Subject Areas, CCRC Working Paper No. 54. Community College Research Center at Columbia University, 2013, ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/adaptability-to-online-learning.pdf.

In this study of over 40,000 students enrolled in over 500,000 first-semester courses at two-year institutions across the state of Washington, Xu and Jaggars analyze grades and persistence rates as a measure of student ability to “adapt to the online environment” (Abstract). When compared with average persistence and grades of students in face-to-face classes, online students were found to have lower adaptability overall, and students who otherwise performed better academically were more likely to enroll in online classes, suggesting that adaptation to online environments may be more difficult than previously acknowledged. When looking at age, ethnicity, gender, and previous academic performance, the authors found younger students, black students, males, and lower performing students had a more difficult time adapting either due to lower persistence rates or grades. When comparing adaptability across disciplines, English and social sciences courses fared the worst, an outcome the authors suggest may be due to peer effects from having a number of other classmates who fit criteria for having lower adaptability in an online environment (21–22).  The authors present recommendations for reducing these adaptability problems, including better managing online course availability and enrollment, integrating more components of online instruction into face-to-face environments, using early alert systems for faster identification of students who are struggling, and “improving the quality of all online courses” through “substantial new investments in course design, faculty professional development, learner and instructor support, and systematic course evaluations” (26).

Keywords: adaptability, gender, research, retention, race, hybrid, faculty development, student success, technical support, evaluations, design

OWI Principles: 1, 3, 4, 15

Y

Yagelski, Robert P., and Sarah Powley. “Virtual Connections and Real Boundaries: Teaching Writing and Preparing Writing Teachers on the Internet. Computers and Composition, vol. 13, 1996, pp. 25–36.

Yagelski and Powley detail the struggles they encountered when they tried to use electronic means to connect their writing classes for secondary-school teachers. They provide a background of their collaboration, which was to be a collaboration that exchanged student texts via email between a college composition class at a high school and an advanced composition class at a university. Both teachers hoped that the collaboration would help secondary students improve their writing and secondary-school teachers in training to be able to practice giving commentary on real student texts. The article describes the technological, instructional, and theoretical boundaries that stifled their collaboration. And while, in the end, they found the collaboration useful, they note that “our inability to use computer technology to facilitate the intended discourse between the high school and university classes gave rise to . . . complex questions about the purposes of writing instruction in high schools and universities” (31). After detailing the questions that arose from the collaboration, they conclude that using computer technologies to link classes open the path for a variety of discussions regarding a disconnect between secondary and post-secondary writing classrooms. While this article is not explicit about OWI, the issues raised in this article inform professional work between colleges and high schools who seek to implement computer-mediated activities through online platforms.

Keywords: teacher training, collaboration email, composition, teaching with technology: English, technical support, discussion: English, computer-mediated communication

OWI Principles: 2, 3, 4, 11

Yang, Yu-Fen. “Cognitive Conflicts and Resolutions in Online Text Revisions: Three Profiles.” Journal of Educational Technology and Society, vol. 13, no. 4, 2010, pp. 202-14.

This study analyzes student writers’ engagement with online peer feedback in an L2 class to investigate how students’ resolution of cognitive conflicts leads to improved writing. The online system used in this study includes dialogue boxes for writers and their reviewers, a differential tool that enables writers to compare their peers’ edited version of the text with their own, and a trace result that tracks how students progress through the revision process. The study analyzed 45 “student writers’ first and final drafts, students’ actions and errors recorded in the trace result, and retrospective interviews” (206). The results indicate that a significant proportion of students (36%) accepted their peers’ edits wholesale, without even reading the majority of peers’ comments in the dialogue boxes. Only 17% of students were categorized as those who are “always aware of the differences between her first draft and peer editors’ suggestions and knows why she accepts or rejects peer editors’ suggestions in a text” (206). The remaining students in this study fell in between the two profiles. Based on the findings, Yang suggests that successful text revision is predicated on an awareness of cognitive conflict and active engagement with peer feedback. Yang also notes that teachers need to scaffold the peer review process so that students learn how to give and receive effective feedback. While this research was conducted solely on face-to-face classes, it provides an example of an online, structured opportunity for dialogue on and about student writing. Instructors might consider incorporating or improving upon their current digital tools for peer-editing, especially in providing opportunity for conversation between readers and writers and facilitating increased engagement with and reflection about the writing process.

Keywords: peer review, revision, writing process, scaffolding, feedback, interviews, mixed methods, qualitative research

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11, 13, 15

Yang, Yu-Fen. “Preparing Language Teachers for Blended Teaching of Summary Writing.” Computer Assisted Language Learning, vol. 27, no. 3, 2014, pp. 185-206.

This study examines how language teachers perceive and address the problems L2 students encounter in summary writing. Using theories of blended learning and social constructivism as a guide, six experienced language teachers scaffolded the summary writing process into three stages in which students were rotated through three roles: outliners, summarizers, and peer editors. The teachers used an online learning system (CLCS), developed by Yang, which promoted student-student and student-teacher interaction throughout the summary writing process. The data analyzed included the interactions recorded in the CLCS, interviews with teachers, and student scores on a standardized English proficiency test taken three times over the course of the semester. The results demonstrate that student learning was greatly improved due primarily to the shift in the roles of both teachers and students. Teachers “shifted from dominators to facilitators” by scaffolding the assignment, “monitor[ing] students’ learning progress through the” CLCS, and continuously “revis[ing] their curriculum design in order to meet their students’ needs” (198, 200). Meanwhile, students “shifted from passive to active learners, as they became self-regulated” and interacted with each other more frequently (198). This study is valuable to OWI practice because it articulates many of the challenges that students face in writing effective academic summaries, and it addresses challenges teachers have when transitioning to blended and online formats. Of particular note is Yang’s concluding claim that “new teaching approaches are crucial in blended language courses,” particularly those that promote greater student-student and student-teacher interaction” (203).

Keywords: peer review, student-student interaction, scaffolding, blended, L2, ELL, ESL, multilingual writers, social constructivism, instructor interaction, course management systems, research, mixed methods, qualitative research, quantitative research,

OWI Principles: 3, 10, 11, 15

Yang, Yu Fen. “Students’ Reflection on Online Self-correction and Peer Review to Improve Writing.” Computers and Education, vol. 55, no. 3, 2010, pp. 1202-10.

Yang studies the influence that reflection has on text improvement using an online platform. Yang posits that reflecting on self-correction and peer review encourages students to evaluate and adjust the writing process, leading to a deeper understanding of learning and problem-solving processes for future tasks.  Students were asked to revise an essay themselves (through self-correction) and have a draft of that same essay revised by peers (through peer review), in addition to writing in reflective journals.  The online system was able to record each step in the writing process to facilitate data analysis. Findings suggest that self-correction allowed students to identify writing weaknesses, while peer review provided specific examples of text improvements. Yang concludes that reflection contributes to text revision and improvement and goes on to note several potential topics for future studies.  

Key words:  peer review, revision, reflection, writing process, research, empirical research, quantitative research

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 15

Yang, Yu-Fen, and Wu, Shan-P. “A Collective Case Study of Online Interaction Patterns in Text Revisions.” Educational Technology and Society, vol. 14, no. 2, 2011, pp. 1-15.

In this article, Yang and Wu consider the effects of peer interaction and collaboration on student writing in an online setting. Background information on previous collaboration studies is provided, as well as relevant contextual information regarding the central study of this article. The online system interface and procedures for data collection are explained before specific examples of two students’ writing processes are analyzed. Students participating in the study could clearly be divided into two groups—those who made global and local revisions and those who made only local revisions. Yang and Wu found that students who actively participated in acquiring and contributing knowledge through peer collaboration made both local and global revisions to their final drafts. Students who passively interacted with the online system only made local revisions to final drafts and were more likely to focus on grammatical corrections when editing peers’ essays. The researchers concluded that increased peer interaction resulted in greater text improvement. They suggest teachers encourage students to fully engage in peer collaboration and emphasize the importance of peer reviewing, especially for low-participating students. The article concludes by noting existing downfalls of the study, such as the small sample size and unknown effect of the computer-based system on the writing process.

Key words:  peer editing, collaboration, revision, student engagement, grammar & style, research, qualitative research

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 11, 15

Yeh, Hui-Chin, and Yu-Fen Yang. “Prospective Teachers’ Insights Towards Scaffolding Students’ Writing Processes Through Teacher-Student Role Reversal in an Online System.” Education Tech Research and Development, vol. 59, no. 3, 2011, pp. 351-68.

In this research article, Yeh and Yang discuss the methodology and findings of a study conducted to investigate the effects of student-teacher role reversal in a computer-supported environment. Yeh and Yang postulate that prospective teachers benefit from taking on the student roles of writer, editor, and commentator; however, few empirical studies have been conducted on the subject. By using an online interface, the study is able to systematically record each step in the role-reversal experience, which allows researchers and teachers to evaluate and reflect on the writing texts and action logs produced. In addition to the semester-long online portion of the study, data was also collected from an open-ended questionnaire and follow-up survey. The researchers conclude that role reversal is an integral part of teacher training which allows future instructors to better understand students’ learning difficulties and appropriately adapt the learning curriculum and teaching methods to meet the students’ needs. The article does note a handful of changes to the online system interface that would better facilitate future role-reversal experiments. Yeh and Yang conclude by stating that the effect of role reversal in different teaching environments (online or face-to-face) would need to be explored in a future study.

Keywords:  assessment, flipped classroom, computer-mediated classroom, surveys, instructor interaction, mixed methods, qualitative research quantitative research

OWI Principles:  4, 7, 11, 14, 15

Yergeau, Melanie, et al. “Multimodality in Motion: Disability and Kairotic Spaces.” Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, vol. 18, no. 1, 2013, kairos.technorhetoric.net/18.1/coverweb/yergeau-et-al/index.html.

This multimodal webtext gives space to each writer to provide a different perspective about why and how disability studies can be used as a lens for re-envisioning composition studies in a more inclusive, accessible way. As the authors note, “Universal design is a process, a means rather than an end,” a sentiment carried through the text and its many voices as they advocate for an “ethics of accessibility” (Sec. “Access statement” and “Over there: Disability studies and composition”). By exposing the pervasive ableism within composition and academia in general, the authors make a case for an accessibility ethics that requires attention and commitment to non-normative experiences and the academic infrastructures (including online writing classes) that need to be overhauled—not merely retrofitted—to be inclusive.

Keywords: accessibility, disability studies, inclusion, multimodality, universal design

OWI Principles: 1

Yohon, Teresa, and Don Zimmerman. “Strategies for Online Critiquing of Student Assignments.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 18, no. 2, 2004, pp. 220-32.

Yohon and Zimmerman discuss the advantages of reading and commenting on student writing using a variety of electronic tools, including the track changes, comment, and autocorrect functions. They offer specific suggestions for this electronic critique, including how to prepare students to take advantage of these tools. They also suggest setting specific policies and boundaries for this type of commenting to avoid some common pitfalls, including the need to ease students into receiving this type of commentary.  This article seems outdated given the widespread use of these features since 2004, but for those instructors across the disciplines just learning how to effectively give embedded writing feedback, this article provides a clear how-to of how to effectively begin providing feedback.

Keywords: feedback, revision

OWI Principles:  3, 4, 10, 11, 13

Z

Zachry, Mark. “Paralogy and Online Pedagogy.” Online Education: Global Questions, Local Answers, edited by Kelli Cargile Cook and Keith Grant-Davie, Baywood, 2005, pp. 177-90.

Zachry’s chapter establishes human interaction through the concept of paralogy as a key component to an online course that helps students both navigate the content of a course and the complex social interactions that are necessary for human communication to take place. “Paralogy” is the idea that meaning is constructed not through logic but through understanding or coming to terms with ideas in specific communicative contexts. Online classes provide opportunities to “experience and reflect upon the paralogic dimensions of human communication” (184). In order for this paralogic communication to take place, online instructors must create spaces for the free and open exchange of ideas in an online classroom and participate in those exchanges actively. Creating engaging student discussions encourages students to move beyond a formulaic understanding of professional communication and into spaces where they must practice and analyze the complex activity that is written human communication. This article supports the importance of online classes as dynamic, interactive spaces where students and faculty can exchange ideas and practice professional communication.

Keywords: navigation, communication, discussion: English, faculty interaction, student-to-student interaction

OWI Principles: 3, 4, 11

Zdenek, Sean. “Accessible Podcasting: College Students on the Margins in the New Media Classroom.” Computers and Composition Online, Fall 2009, seanzdenek.com/article-accessible-podcasting/.

This article investigates strategies and approaches to make academic podcasting more inclusive and accessible, calling for producers of new media content to pay attention to normative or “ableist” assumptions about students. It shares research from Apple iTunes, the Open Courseware movement, Duke University’s experiment with iPods, and intersections of disability and new media. In particular, the author suggests that academia must move beyond the questions of whether students with disability can or should be accommodated. Teachers must question hidden ideologies that much new media technology conveys as they limit and shape teaching philosophies and approaches to creating and sharing content. If not, some students have an inherent educational advantage over others. New media writing pedagogies and learning environments must be accessible for a “universal user” type rather than creating inferior substitutes for primary education.

Keywords: accessibility, disability, podcasting, usability testing

OWI Principles 1, 2, 4