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' writing by examining three critical elements of the writing situation: writing context, process and product. Using a pretest-posttest control group design, the study compared two intact Year 8 classes, one using pens for composing and the other using computers, within the context of an all-girls school. A major emphasis of the research was the computer's impact on the quality of texts, representing three genres, which the students produced over a school year. The findings suggested that the computer classroom was more student-centred, less teacher-dominated and more work-focused, and the atmosphere was more co-operative and cellaborative. Students' composing behaviours varied according to the genre of the task rather than according to the influence of the writing tool.