Editor's Note: Mapping the Landscape of Online Literacy Education in 2019

by Michael Greer

Editor's Introduction to this Issue (vol. 2, no. 1)

Perspectives on Teaching Writing Online in Global Contexts: Ideas, Insights, and Projections

by Yvonne Cleary, Rich Rice, Pavel Zemliansky, and Kirk St.Amant, with Jessie C. Borgman 

​Global online access has increased rapidly in the last decade, and online education has become increasingly international as a result. The challenge for writing instructors becomes addressing this new educational environment to offer effective education to globally distributed student in online classes. The four plenary speakers at the 2018 inaugural GSOLE conference discussed this context and presented ideas and opinions on this topic. This editorial is a summary of that conversation.

Keywords: global, international, challenges, potentials, strategies, projection

A Report on a U.S.-Based National Survey of Students in Online Writing Courses

by Diane Martinez, Mahli Xuan Mechenbier, Beth L. Hewett, Lisa Melonçon, and Heidi Skurat Harris, with Kirk St.Amant, Adam Phillips, and Marcy Irene Bodnar 

Best practices in online writing instruction (OWI) have been a concern for more than a decade, yet students’ voices have not played a major role in OWI research projects to date. This article reports on the data from a U.S.-based national online student survey conducted in 2017. When viewed comprehensively, survey data revealed students valued instructor expertise and feedback; however, they did not know how the work in online writing courses helped them improve their writing.

Keywords: Online writing instruction (OWI), student voices, survey research, online writing courses (OWCs), hybrid, fully online

A Call for Purposeful Pedagogy-driven Course Design in OWI

by Heidi Skurat Harris, Lisa Melonçon, Beth L. Hewett, Mahli Xuan Mechenbier, and Diane Martinez 

Best practices in online writing instruction (OWI) have been developed and refined for more than a decade. A recent report on student perception of online writing courses (OWCs) revealed an overlooked yet crucial component of OWI—the need to move from what content should be included in an OWC and toward why it should be included to how to improve pedagogical practices in OWCs. We propose purposeful pedagogy-driven course design as a framework that emphasizes the role of the teacher in making connections across pedagogical activities to center course design on student learning.

Keywords: online writing instruction (OWI), student voices, pedagogy, online writing courses (OWCs), purposeful pedagogy-driven course design

Affordable Technology Solutions for Literacy Learning through ePortfolios: A Comparison of Google Sites, Weebly, and WordPress

by Brenda Refaei and Ruth Benander 

Recently, the AAC&U added eportfolio pedagogy as a high impact practice (Batson et al., 2017). There is a large body of work examining eportfolios’ ability to support metacognition and identity negotiation (e.g. Eynon, Gambino, and Kuh, 2017; Jenson 2011; Peet et al. 2011). However, not all institutions have the funding to purchase an application to try this pedagogy. Using free versions of applications to create online websites is a good way to become familiar with this practice in a low stakes way.

Keywords: ePortfolios, high-impact practices; identity negotiation; metacognition

Enriching Online Discussions with VoiceThread

by Lauren Salisbury 

"In this review, I suggest the online presentation software VoiceThread offers a potential solution for instructors who want to see and hear their students while also avoiding recreating all their course content. Although VoiceThread cannot meet the needs of every online course, it does offer a unique platform for instructors who want to increase interactivity between students and simplify or consolidate the platforms and technologies they already use in their courses. For online instructors teaching literacy education, VoiceThread is a strong way to encourage more meaningful discussion and enhance existing course projects."

Keywords: voice; interactivity

Bridging the Gap: Online Writing Centers and Online Writing Tutoring

Editors' Introduction

by Beth L. Hewett, Megan Boeshart, Sarah Prince, and Beth Nastachowski

Guest Editors' Introduction to this Special Issue (vol. 2, no. 2)

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Asynchronous Online Tutoring

by Tom Earles

This article discusses the process that the University of Maryland Writing Center went through as it developed and later implemented asynchronous online tutoring, specifically the questions we struggled with while we considered adopting an asynchronous platform and method of advice delivery, as well as how we would train and schedule tutors for this new modality. The article reflects on the options and possibilities we didn’t choose but might work in other contexts, and the effectiveness of the approach we currently take, ultimately offering a heuristic: questions that administrators of other writing centers of varying sizes and types can consider to help them implement or update their own asynchronous online tutoring service.

Keywords: access, asynchronous, delivery, logistics. platforms, scheduling, tutor training

Digital Growing Pains: Establishing Services for Online Graduate Programs

by Chet Breaux and Lauren Reynolds

Athens State University recently launched several online graduate degrees that feature substantial amounts of writing. The Writing Center at Athens State University has had to meet the challenges of online program growth through altering its consulting practices and creating new services specifically for online graduate students. Our project reviews literature related to graduate tutoring both onsite and online, and we use this research to alter our approach to working with online graduate students.

Keywords: Online writing instruction, graduate students, writing centers, online degree programs, academic support

Instituting and Assessing Asynchronous Online Writing Groups

by Miriam R. Bourgeois and Genie N. Giaimo

The Ohio State University's Writing Center has implemented three models of asynchronous online support with varying degrees of success: two-step asynchronous consultations, one-step drop-off consultations, and the Online Accountability Writing Group. After conducting assessment, the researchers found that less structure led to higher levels of engagement, as evidenced by increased participation and retention. Our study fills a gap in the research in that it shares findings from one-on-one and group asynchronous online support.

Keywords: asynchronous, online, drop-off, live-chat, remote, in-Person, face-to-face, consultations, tutorials

DIY OWL: How to Make Google Suite Work for Online Writing Tutorials

by Chessie Alberti

This article details the process of designing a method for asynchronous Online Writing Tutoring (OWT) in the institutional context of a community college. By designing an online submission system in Google Suite, we are able to adapt to the changing needs of our students, instructors, and staff. This article examines how Google Suite presents an exciting option for free, bespoke Online Writing Lab administration.

Keywords: OWL, online writing lab, OWT, online writing tutoring, Google Suite, Google Docs, Google Form, online submission, asynchronous, feedback

It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Shape It: Investigating Commenting Styles in Asynchronous Online Writing Center Consultations

by Rebecca Hallman Martini

This article presents findings from a study conducted at a large research institution that analyzed ten asynchronous online writing consultations in two different formats (in-text and end comment) and survey/interview data from tutors as well as students who received both kinds of feedback. Findings indicate that different formats impact the kinds of feedback tutors provide: compared with end comments, in-text comments were more frequent; focused on the sentence-level; and included more rewrites, questions, observations, and rule-based feedback.

Keywords: asynchronous, online writing center, tutoring, feedback, revision

Examining Tutoring Strategies in Asynchronous Screencast Tutorials

by Lisa Bell

If tutors’ work is to engage writers in learning, it is essential to know what tutoring techniques and strategies they use to structure learning. Drawing upon previous work on the tutoring strategies of instruction, scaffolding, and motivation within in-person writing tutorials (Mackiewicz & Thompson, 2014; 2015), this study analyzes ten transcripts from asynchronous screencast tutorials to determine how and to what extent writing tutors use instruction, scaffolding, and motivation in an online setting.

Keywords: online writing tutoring, screencasting, asynchronous, tutoring strategies, scaffolding, motivation, instruction, tutor discourse

What Makes Tutors Tick?: Exploring Motives and Experiences in the JALT Writers' Peer Support Group (PSG)

by Paul Beaufait, Suwako Uehara, Dawn Lucovich, and Brian Gallagher

​This article presents results from a survey of volunteer tutors who provided feedback to clients on in-process papers that clients shared with the PSG. The PSG is a group of Japan-based educators who provide writing support to novice and experienced academic writers through an online writing lab. The survey revealed tutors' views of the PSG, its advantages and challenges. Findings illuminated tutors' motivations, foci of feedback for writers, and challenges of peer-readership through online collaboration.

Keywords: academic writing, asynchronous collaboration, online collaboration, OWCs, OWLs, peer support, reflective practices, tutor motivations, tutor experiences, writing support

Applying the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework to Enhance Tutor Training and Writing Instruction in Online Writing Centers

by Anna Grigoryan

The Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) model can be applied to tutor training in online writing centers to help tutors develop the skills required to meet individual student learning needs. A new approach to online feedback and online tutor training is necessary to leverage the affordances of digital technologies to provide high-quality feedback that meets the needs of online learners.

Keywords: online writing centers, online writing instruction, TPACK, online tutoring, graduate writing, tutor training, asynchronous feedback