From Disk to Hard Copy: Teaching Writing with Computers

This is not a "computer" book, but a "writing" book that applies what we know about composition theory to the use of computers in the writing classroom. It demonstrates how teachers can support student writers, offering some strategies that would be impossible or unlikely to happen without the technology. Fifteen years ago, James Strickland began writing computer programs that would mimic the helpful probes and prods of a sympathetic writing teacher. During these years of research, he discovered that finding the perfect piece of software is less important than understanding the role of computers in helping all students do what writers do: get ideas, generate material, manipulate that material after reviewing, confer and collaborate with others in the classroom or over a network, edit their documents and publish a final copy. With that understanding of the computer's role in the writing process, "From Disk to Hard Copy" should: help teachers and students collaborate and network; help teachers support students as they use the computer to generate electronic text, guided by classical and modern rhetorical invention strategies; suggest ways of using the computer environment to revise or re-imagine texts; and make sense of the information computers give concerning surface correctness - spelling, grammar, punctuation and word choice - while ensuring that student writers retain control over their text and its meaning. The book should help middle, secondary and post-secondary teachers - whatever their level of experience with computers - receive the maximum benefit from computer technology as they support student writers. It offers direct and simple advice, suggested strategies and applications, and a prospective from which teachers can generate their own ideas and applications.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - the Ghost in the Machine; Computers, Writing and Teachers; Helping Students Generate Written Text; Helping Students Revise Written Text; Helping Students Collaborate and Conference; Helping Students Evaluate and Edit Written Text; The Final Frontier - Cyberspace on the Internet.

Review :
?This book is a useful resource for all levels of students and teachers working with computers and the writing process to improve written products.?-Issues in Writing "This book is a useful resource for all levels of students and teachers working with computers and the writing process to improve written products."-Issues in Writing