Taking Flight With OWLs: Examining Electronic Writing Center Work

Taking Flight With OWLsexamines computer technology use in writing centers. Its purpose is to move beyond anecdotal evidence for implementing computer technology in writing centers, presenting carefully considered studies that theorize the move to computer technology and examine technology use in practice. Writing centers occupy a dynamic position at the crossroads of computers and composition, distance education, and composition theory, pulling ideas, theories, and pedagogies from each. Their continuing evolution necessarily involves increasing use of computer technology. The move to computer technology so far has occurred so rapidly that writing center staff and administration have not yet had much time or opportunity to study how and when to infuse it into their programs. The need for this collection is evident: Writing center practitioners have long discussed their roles in relation to their supporting institutions; now they are challenged to explore--even reinvent--their roles as computer technologies transform centers and institutions. In exploring varied stages of technology-infusion through field-based accounts, this volume offers readers an important and unique resource.