“Will the technology that we purchase help with writing skills, too?”

“Will the technology that we purchase help with writing skills, too?”

“The consistent use of word processing improves both spelling and writing, especially when word processing is incorporated into regular assignments and assessments.”

RESEARCH EVIDENCE Word-processing was effective in helping students learn to revise and improve their writing. Spell checkers combined with specially designed instruction were also effective in helping students with spelling problems. Word-prediction software was useful for helping students compensate for severe spelling problems so that their writing is readable MacArthur, C. A. (1998). Word processing with speech synthesis and word prediction: Effects on the dialogues journal writing of students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 21, 1-16.

The computer is simply another tool that students will use while writing. It is the teacher’s role, however, to provide the necessary skills and incentives to promote proper writing strategies.

View the improvement of students' writing as your responsibility. Let students know that you value good writing. Regularly assign brief writing exercises in your classes. Provide guidance throughout the writing process. http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/writebetter.html

Explain that writing is hard work. Give students opportunities to talk about their writing. Encourage students to revise their work. Explain the importance of grammar and sentence structure, as well as content. http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/writebetter.html

The computers must become an integral part of each lesson, not just something to work with after the lesson. So…How do we accomplish this?

Ask students to write what they know about a topic before you discuss it. Ask students to respond in writing to questions you pose during class. Ask students to write from a pro or con position. During class, pause for a three-minute write. Have students write a brief summary at the end of class. Have one student keep minutes to be read at the next class meeting. Ask students to identify the characteristics of effective writing. http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/writebetter.html

"Students will just copy and paste information from the web. Access to computers may make writing worse. "

Many students are always searching for creative ways to avoid the amount of work necessary to complete any given assignment. Yes. Computers can make this easier. However, it is the teacher’s responsibility to follow the progression of the assignment.

There are many ways to oversee student work.

Don't merely assign a term paper and then collect it when due. Some students do not know how to do the planning, research, and revision required in such papers. Under such circumstances plagiarism may be a strategy of desperation more than of opportunism. http://newark.rutgers.edu/~ehrlich/plagiarism598.html

Make the research process (including the existence of plagiarism) as public as possible. Ask students to share research proposals with the entire class in oral reports. Ask students which proposals they feel are most original and which seem indistinguishable from plagiarized ones. http://newark.rutgers.edu/~ehrlich/plagiarism598.html

Insist on a research trail which becomes part of the submitted paper. Insist on a research plan which makes use of the library in addition to online resources. You may wish to insist on all the original handwritten notes, marked photocopies or printouts, and copies of all computer disk files. http://newark.rutgers.edu/~ehrlich/plagiarism598.html

If you receive a paper you suspect to be plagiarized, move cautiously. Examine the sources cited carefully: do they cluster oddly, or seem unlikely to have been found in the library? Are errors in bibliographical technique actually efforts to misrepresent the research done. Does the style of the opening and closing paragraphs differ from the others? http://newark.rutgers.edu/~ehrlich/plagiarism598.html

Be careful what you write on the paper: writing only "Please see me" makes its point emphatically. Ask the student in a conference to explain the main point or points or terminology of the paper. Discuss with the student possible avenues of additional research from any unused material. http://newark.rutgers.edu/~ehrlich/plagiarism598.html

In summary, When students adhere to specific guidelines for the use of their computers, they will be less likely to attempt any type of plagiarism, and will demonstrate more confidence if their own writing abilities.

“Will the technology that we purchase help with writing skills, too?”