Writing & Technology	Lesson 2: Readings (1)	-

Using Technology to Enhance the Writing Processes of Students with Learning Disabilities

Charles A. MacArthur

First Appeared: (July 1996) Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(4),344-354

Abstracted by Krista Fritz Rogers

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Simply providing technology is not enough to produce improvements in students' writing. The power of the technology must be incorporated in effective instructional methods for students with LD.

In addition to word processors, many software applications support writing processes. This paper reviews specific ways computers can support writing efforts of students with learning disabilities (LD) and enhance writing instruction. It provides an overview of research on word processors; discusses software tools that help students with transcription and sentence generation and planning; and addresses the use of computer networks and their role in the writing process. Noting that many applications, particularly more recent developments, have limited research support, the author points out the extent to which research does support specific techniques.

Word Processing. Word processors give writers power to make frequent revisions without tedious rewriting or retyping. However, students with LD typically have a limited concept of revising tasks and how revisions improve their work. Thus, simply having word processing applications available has little impact on their actual revising behaviors. But when word processing is combined with instruction in revision strategies, these students demonstrate increased quality and amounts of revisions.

Word processing allows students to produce neat, printed work without messy erasures, which may motivate students struggling with handwriting and mechanics. Also, viewing text on-screen can facilitate collaborative writing among students and scaffolded interactions between teacher and student.

Sentence Generation and Transcription. Spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage often present challenges for students with LD. Several computer tools are especially useful during initial drafting and revising.

The paper outlines the variations and inherent hurdles with spelling checkers. Providing synthesized speech to pronounce the words in the list and definitions of those words resolve some issues for students with LD. Word prediction and word banks may help students create first drafts and revise their work.

Cognitive Processes of Planning. Students with LD typically do not devote extensive time to plan their writing, producing short compositions containing limited information.

Software with interactive prompts offers one way to engage the student. The most common poses questions to generate ideas before the user actually starts writing. Some software allows teachers to enter the prompting questions. Some applications provide prompts during the composing process.

Multimedia has potential to spark ideas and provide background knowledge necessary to plan. This may be especially important for students with more limited literacy or prior knowledge due to educational disability or differences in cultural and linguistic background.

Collaborative Writing and Publishing with Networks. From local area networks (LANs) within a school to telecommunications networks, networks expand opportunities to support publishing and collaborative writing. For example, a one-classroom network has been used to teach writing to students with hearing impairments (students view the ongoing "conversation" online and participate by typing their remarks). Students with LD also may benefit from writing on such a network.