Relative Advantage Chart for Using Technology for Writing and Composition

Relative Advantage Chart for Using Technology for Writing and Composition

By Mark C. Frank

Higher Education: My experience conducting peer reviews for fellow students

Learning Problems / Technologies / Relative Advantage / Expected Outcomes
Writing and Composition
Writing Concise / Web sites:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/concise.htm
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/wordy_quiz.htm
http://www.usi.edu/acadskil/OWL/concisbh.htm
Book Doctor: http://www.recipes4word.com/BookDoctor.htm
College Writing Department: Email your paper to writing experts or run paper through college paper checker software.
Microsoft Word: Grammar checker – set software functions to flag wordy sentences. / Flags lengthy sentences and teaches students the different problems while writing or upon completion of draft.
Assists students during the writing process or provides feedback after draft. / Students will learn the best sentence structure after consistently making the same errors. Technologies will explain to students the precise problem and how to fix them.
Punctuation / Web sites:
http://www.elitewritingenterprises.com/writing_tips.html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/566/01/
http://www.perfectlywrite.co.uk/punctuation.html
http://www.grammar-monster.com/grammarlessons/punctuation_howlers.htm
Microsoft Word: Grammar checker – automatically flags punctuation errors.
Flash or Software for Punctuation.
WebQuest: http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/webquest/english/writing.html / Provides students references and tools for researching punctuation formatting. Flags punctuation errors during the writing process.
Drills students about most important issues for correct punctuation. / Students will learn correct formatting for punctuation while writing formal papers. Students will memorize punctuation issues.
Using “Best Words” or word choice / Web sites:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/word_choice.html
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/665056
Online writing community:
http://www.writing.com/page/writing_a_book/writing_a_book.html
Amazon writing forum:
http://www.amazon.com/tag/apa%20writing/forum?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=&cdPage=1&cdAnchor=1557987912
Online Dictionary and Thesaurus:
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/ / Provides access to experts or knowledgeable people for ideas on correct word choice.
Provides easy access to dictionary or thesaurus for finding better words. / Expands student’s vocabulary and provides tools for students to learn the wrong words to use when writing formal papers.
Passive Writing / Web sites:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/passive-writing/
Online tutor: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/online.html
Microsoft Word: Grammar checker for formal papers.
College writing center or labs: email paper to writing experts or run through software that checks paper for passive voice problems.
Writing Software : http://www.whitesmoke.com/ / Provides tools or immediate help correcting passive sentences. Easily identifies passive voice in writing. / Students will learn to avoid writing passive sentences, which will provide more effective papers and better grades depending on the class and whether teacher grades down for this writing problem.
Formatting / Web sites: http://apastyle.apa.org/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Formatting Software:
http://www.formatease.com/cgi-bin/cartscript.cgi?page=home.html&cart_id=
WebQuest: http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/webquest/english/writing.html / Students can follow material to format papers correctly. Software will format paper automatically. / Students can focus on content of paper rather than worrying about formatting issues.
Spelling / Spell Checker: MS Word, Works, or most word processors
Online Dictionary:
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/ / Students will hand in assignments free of spelling errors. / Students will see mistakes and learn to spell better—especially on difficult or easy to misspell words.
Subject Choice / Online Encyclopedias:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/
http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb
http://encarta.msn.com/
http://www.britannica.com/bps/home / Provides students easy access to reference materials to find excellent subjects for school projects. / Students will improve on choice of subjects and learn from resources and project based assignments.
Reference Choice / World Wide Web
Online Libraries:
http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/
http://www.ipl.org/ / The WWW provides students unlimited access to resources for papers and projects. Provides students with easy access to periodicals, newspapers, and books. / Minimizes time for research so student can learn about subject. Student learns more about subject because of vast number of resources available through WWW.
Missing Information / Online Encyclopedias:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/
http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Login?ed=wb
http://encarta.msn.com/
http://www.britannica.com/bps/home
World Wide Web
Online Libraries:
http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/
http://www.ipl.org/
Online Dictionary:
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
College writing center or lab for peer review
Email to fellow students for peer review
Email to expert about subject / Student has no excuse for handing in paper or project that is incomplete. With access to unlimited reference material, student can identify what should be included in paper or project. / Student will learn more about subject and get better grades for paper or project. Student will learn to include most important information about subject in paper or project.
Missed Word Count / Microsoft Word
Microsoft Works
Other Word Processors / Student can gauge relative number of words throughout writing project.
No excuse being under word count, which is most common problem. / Student will hand in paper based on correct word count assigned by teacher and not lose points if word count is part of paper’s grade.