Committee on Best Practices for Online Writing Instruction (March 2010)

Chair: Beth Hewett, Forest Hills, Maryland

April 2008 Update:
We have several initiatives underway that are geared toward making progress on two major projects: (1) an annotated bibliography of the materials currently available that speak to best practices in OWI and (2) the creation and distribution of a survey targeted toward OWI instructors and administrators. The bibliography, which ultimately will be posted to the CCCC website for membership use, will be a valuable product for the field, and it also is helping us learn more about OWI relevant to our charges. The survey is being constructed from data derived from (1) a special interest group (SIG) conducted at the CCCC 2008 (F15: Best Practices for Online Writing Instruction: Issues and Questions), and (2) field visits to institutions that are noted for their OWI programs, as well as some that may consider themselves more “technology poor,” during which we are talking with colleagues and observing their practices; these face-to-face meetings will augment and nuance digital communications. Once constructed, the survey will be tested with volunteers (some of whom have already agreed to participate) and then conducted. From the results, and from the materials gathered over the next two years, we will share the synthesis of our research with the field. Finally, we plan to continue to inform the membership of our research by proposing a panel presentation for the CCCC 2009 conference, as well as another SIG for discussion about our progress.

Committee Charge:
This committee is being created to develop a set of best practices for online writing instruction.

The committee charge is to:

identify and examine best strategies for online writing instruction in hybrid and distance-based composition classrooms;

identify best practices for using various online media and pedagogies (e.g., networked classrooms, e-mail and Internet-based conferences, peer-reviewed papers) for the teaching of writing with both synchronous and asynchronous modalities and taking into consideration currently popular learning management environments;

identify best practices for using online writing instruction for English language learners; and

identify best practices for training and professional development of online writing instructors.

File reports twice a year prior to the CCCC and NCTE conference meetings using the Report format; and compose a post for the CCCC web site that communicates your ongoing work. NCTE staff will see that your text is posted on your committee's behalf.