The CCCC Position Statement of Principles and Effective Practices in OWI (2013) identifies 15 principles of online writing instruction (OWI). The principles were designed to be broad, offering writing instructors effective practices to implement in their online writing courses (OWCs), and providing institutions with guidelines for supporting online writing instructors and students. In his preface to Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction, Newbold (2015) explained that the broad nature of the principles “makes them particularly valuable for starting discussions on campuses and within institutions” (p. xv). While the breadth of the principles has value, it can also create challenges for research and implementation. As such, an important next step for OWI scholarship is to critically examine the principles and conduct empirical research to support or revise the effective practices. This webtext offers such an examination of Principle 11, which states, “online writing teachers and their institutions should develop personalized and interpersonal online communities to foster student success” (p. 23).

In the sections that follow, we begin with a discussion of the MBTI Survey and Jungian Personality Types followed by a description of our study and methods. Then, we provide our major findings that indicate why tutors work online and OWL tutors’ and administrators’ perceived areas of comfort and needs, with close attention professional development opportunities. Next, we consider participants’ personality types and trends and how these trends impact online tutoring. Finally, we end with two key guidelines for educating online writing tutors and materials that we believe OWL writing center administrators and tutors can use profitably as they prepare to work with writers online. We conclude by considering the limitations of our study and possibilities for future research in this area.

"The practice of orchestrated asynchronous discussion explained in this article reflects my attempt to address these broader concerns about conventional conformity and topics of inquiry within the highly pragmatic setting of the industrialized, largely-online non-traditional university. In the process of researching the intersection between online discussion and writing pedagogy for non-traditional students, I realized I needed a framework allowing what Paolo Freire (1993/1970), another proponent of dialogic learning, describes as 'generative thematics' (pp. 77-78) . . . ."

"This short video project is a visual representation of John Berger’s notion that men and women pass through the world differently due to the different ways they are observed by others. Berger claims, 'Women constantly meet glances which act like mirrors reminding them of how they look or how they should look. Behind every glance is a judgment.' Thus, I wanted to capture the ways that women are constantly going through an evaluative process that men don’t always think about. . . . "

"The experimental cross-cultural online English composition course described in this article represents one attempt at responding to these challenges at a large R1 Hispanic-serving Southwestern university. The university enrolls substantial numbers of L2 students, international as well as resident, and the university’s Core Writing program promotes the values of linguistic diversity and inclusivity, with two of the FYC outcomes focusing on linguistic diversity specifically. The cross-cultural curriculum was designed to better serve L2 students while at the same time helping L1 writers achieve the course outcomes focused on linguistic diversity. Miller-Cochran (2015) outlined strategies that provide inclusivity and access to all online students. Cross-cultural composition, however, takes a more proactive approach to the linguistic diversity of its students and uses it as a resource to create a welcoming atmosphere for L2 students and promote cross-cultural learning and understanding for L2 and L1 students alike."  

"Launched in 2013 out of Sydney, Canva is a visual design platform meant to provide users with the ability to create polished, professional designs quickly and easily (Perez, 2013, para.14). Within minutes, users can begin designing on Canva’s approachable interface pulling in elements from the open media banks provided. Because it requires very little down time for students and minimal training for teachers, Canva seems to be a strong design platform to integrate into the classroom. While ease-of-use is certainly a desirable feature for Canva’s initial intended audience—non-designers in the business world—as teachers begin utilizing this platform in the classroom, it is important that we ask what is gained and lost when digital design becomes too effortless for our students. "