THE IMPACT OF COMPUTERS ON STUDENTS WRITING - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF PENS AND WORD-PROCESSORS ON WRITING CONTEXT, PROCESS AND PRODUCT

This study investigated the impact of word processors on students' wri ting by examining three critical elements of the writing situation: wr iting context, process and product. Using a pretest-posttest control g roup design, the study compared two intact Year 8 classes, one using p ens for composing and the other using computers, within the context of an all-girls school. A major emphasis of the research was the compute r's impact on the quality of texts, representing three genres, which t he students produced over a school year. The findings suggested that t he computer classroom was more student-centred, less teacher-dominated and more work-focused, and the atmosphere was more co-operative and c ellaborative. Students' composing behaviours varied according to the g enre of the task rather than according to the influence of the writing tool.