Year: 1984
Type: article
Abstract: We discuss here six characteristics of writing instruction designed to alleviate this problem and describe how they have guided the development of QUILL, a microcomputer-based writing curriculum for upper elementary students.QUILL consists of a Planner for encouraging organized note taking; a Library for storing and accessing text; a Mailbag for sending messages; a text editor (Writer's Assistant) for facilitating revision; a Publisher for formatting finished text; and Story Maker, a story construction tool.QUILL was pilot-tested in the spring of 1982 and fieldtested during the 1982-1983 school year.Examples of writing activities and written products from these classrooms are included to illustrate how QUILL can affect a classroom communication environment.For a number of years we have been what you might call "friendly skeptics" or maybe, "skeptical friends," of the idea of computers in education.On the one hand, we have seen the tremendous value that computers can contribute in our own work.The modern electronic office has computer systems that assist in organizing information, in revising texts, and in communicating with text and graphics across great distances almost instantaneously.We often find sending electronic mail more useful than the telephone as a means of communication.We have also been involved in research on artificial intelligence-investigating what could be done if computers were really "intelligent."These experiences suggest that computers can achieve a beneficial role in education.But computers can also make bad situations worse.In the workplace, computers have often dehumanized jobs, compartmentalized work, and separated people from people.In schools, poor uses of computers can fragment education, putting barriers between subject areas, and separating teachers from students and students from students.This paper discusses these contrasts in the context of some language arts software our research group has been developing. Uses and Limitations of Computers in EducationWe will begin by discussing some problems in the current teaching of writing and then consider how computers might be used to deal with those problems.Consider one popular representation
Authors: Andee Rubin, Bertram C. Bruce
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1496684888