The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors

by Beth L. Hewett

More writing courses than ever are being taught online, and effective online writing instruction requires teachers to communicate deliberately and clearly in order to have productive relationships with their students. In The Online Writing A Guide for Teachers and Tutors , former chair of the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction Beth L. Hewett articulates the how and why of one-to-one online writing conference pedagogy. Complete with an instructor's study guide and informed by the principles set forth in the CCCC Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for OWI, her updated text provides examples and transcripts of synchronous and asynchronous instructor-student interaction, targeted lessons, and conferencing action plans that help instructors hone their pedagogical practice, from formatting comments to showing regard for students.

Genres: Academic

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2010

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost feel like the title of this book is a misnomer. Yes, Hewett deals with online writing conferences and provides much insight into the various ways that teachers and tutors might consider responding to students both synchronously and asynchronously within the context of writing tutorials. But this book does so much more than that. Indeed, I would venture it provides useful insight into ways of effectively responding to and working with student writers that go far beyond how you might do so online. I'd recommend it to basically anyone who was looking for assistance providing helpful advice to student writers. It provides a wealth of examples, a variety of strategies, and a smart approach to writing that feels spot on for the digital age in which we are currently conducting it.

[Terri London Mabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the book is quite academic, but there’s a lot that is practical and actionable, and lots of real world examples. Ex The chapter on indirect vs direct speech alone is excellent and applies to non-composition subjects as well / verbal and synchronous instruction as well as the asynchronous context given here.

And there’s even some practical information on how to write comments visually-speaking, based on research, which if nothing else reassured me that I’m right to spend so much time fussing over such details.

I would still like to find more about synchronous conference instruction, especially for students who left high school without really even knowing how to write an essay at all. But one writing book can’t be all things to everyone.

I haven’t finished reading the study guide provided at the end, but I expect it will be the most useful part—certainly a good reference guide.

[Destiny Brugman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read, but it mostly focused on asynchronous online tutoring and teaching whereas I was most excited to read about the synchronous tutoring. It was well written and had a lot of useful information that I know I'll be able to pull from both learning-wise and in bigger discussions at work. It gave me a lot to think about.

[Jessica Geist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapter 8 is worth the price of the book. I wish all online instructors of writing read this chapter to help them add some structure to their teaching. Appendix 2 was also a helpful read with it's discussion of direct and indirect speech acts; the insights gained are applicable to both my commenting on student papers and my online tutoring work.

If you're looking for a book with quite a few analyzed samples of both synchronous and asynchronous conferences, this book will also prove to be helpful.

[Jill Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was OK...not exactly what I was looking for...