Months after the conclusion of a course, a writing teacher still receives electronic mail messages from former students, referring to the class or asking for advice. The implications of this post-course e-mail could cause a refiguration of traditional concepts of the boundaries of the classroom and of the academic term itself. What kind of…

While electronic mail (e-mail) has accomplished an "instructional objective" of the fastest growing method of communication, the backlash can be harmful with respect to workforce productivity. The capabilities of online communications have broadened methods in which instructors and students can interact, business operate, and people…

Reflects on changes that information technology has made in higher education, particularly in the relationship between faculty members and students. Highlights include easier communication, via email; the lack of personal communication once interactions are more task-oriented; and possible ways to improve the quality of faculty-student…

Reports on biology students in a large-class, active-learning environment using e-mail and in-class written notes for student-instructor communication. Results showed that most students sent e-mail messages and that about half were content related. Results showed no gender differences and that African-American Students were more likely to send…

We report on the use of email lists as a supplement to teaching. We argue that email lists can provide a valuable students-instructor communication channel and describe the process of setting up and managing such lists. A case study of email messages exchanged in an introductory operations research course is also included. The case illustrates how…

An informal study examined the sources of professors' authority and whether the authority dynamic between professor and student changes in an electronic setting. Five on-line writing instructors (who use Internet Email or the World Wide Web) completed a questionnaire. Results indicated that (1) professors tended, at least initially, to replicate…

Examines the impact of a correspondence project between preservice teachers and 10th-grade remedial English students about personal issues and reading projects. (TB)

Describes a study of doctoral program students that investigated whether more frequent instructor-initiated emails would result in more favorable student perceptions of the student-faculty relationship, higher student ratings of perceives sense of online community, higher degree of satisfaction with the learning experience, and higher levels of…

The paper reports the results of a naturalistic enquiry into written request strategies in emails sent by Chinese learners of English to their teachers. A corpus of 600 emails was collected in the course of an academic year. CCARP (Cross-Cultural Speech-Act Realisation Project) segmentation and coding was used to analyse the requests contained in…

Like most composition courses at large state universities, basic writing classes at the University of Minnesota are primarily taught by graduate teaching students. Graduate students and basic writers share a similar position in the university, sitting on the boundaries of the scholarly communities in which they eventually hope to participate. As…

A composition instructor inquired into the effect of computer conferencing in two composition courses taught entirely through computer-mediated instruction and infused with the pedagogy of feminist collaboration. The instructor encouraged the naming of self and the developing of relationship. The instructor prepared a composition curriculum,…

Describes the effects of an intercultural exchange of electronic mail, a research project carried out by a high school teacher and two student research assistants. Emphasizes the educational value of students' participation on the research team. (ARH)

Notes that professional reflection is a powerful aspect of practice and, in welcoming many "English Journal" colleagues back to another academic year, the author suspects that many are thinking a good deal about grading. Discusses the importance of feedback for student writing. Suggests the need to relocate teacher feedback to the public forums of…

A science teacher at an Alaska correspondence school discusses the educational uses of electronic mail (enhancing the relationship between teacher and distant student, encouraging early computer literacy and reflective communication skills, and promoting interschool collaboration) and describes a telecommunications-based science project involving…

Using ingenuity and an IBM grant, an assistant professor of special education paired 40 teacher education students in her methods courses with middle-school writing partners from the teachers' classes for moderately handicapped students. Using electronic mail, the pairs communicated often on various topics. Friendships developed, along with…