Promoting Effective Online Writing Support

Project Summary

In 2005, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Writing Center proposed to coordinate the nation-wide distribution and support of a unique, custom-built asynchronous writing support application (Online Tutor) .

As distance education enrollments continue to climb, many under-funded academic support service departments are scrambling to provide support for this new group of students on par with currently-available face-to-face services. One of the more pressing areas of needed support is academic writing. Most distance education students are non-traditional and may be unaware of the standards and format of academic writing. Additionally, distance education students access their coursework at odd hours, often long after traditional on-campus support offices are closed. The Online Tutor could meet the needs of this underserved population by providing effective academic writing support in the virtual environment.

Progress to date

Summer 2005

Through funding from the UNC Parents' Council and the University of North Carolina Office of the President, the Writing Center and the UNC-CH Office of Arts and Sciences Information Services (OASIS) have built and implemented the new Online Tutor on the campus of UNC-CH.

Fall 2005

The Online Tutor is fully functional and we are receiving an average of five submissions a day. The rest of the fall semester will be spent testing the system and preparing enhancements.

Winter 2005/2006

Between fall and spring semesters, OASIS will finish construction of the scalable version of the Online Tutor in preparation for deployment outside of UNC-CH in the spring. The Writing Center will coordinate with OASIS to make any development changes suggested by the first full semester of use.

Spring 2006

• The Writing Center will coordinate deployment of the Online Tutor at NCSU.
• The partner institutions (UNC-CH, NCSU, ECU), will present findings at both the UNC-TLT conference in Raleigh, NC and the College Conference on Composition and Communication (CCCC) in Chicago.
• The Writing Center will pursue further funding to complete both statewide implementation and nationwide deployment.

Spring 2009

• Due to budget cuts, the Writing Center is no longer able to share the Online Tutor with other universities, whether within or outside the UNC system.
• Technical support for sharing is no longer available.
• Writing Centers interested in offering online tutoring may wish to consider commercial programs like Tutortrac and wconline.
• If circumstances improve in the future, the Writing Center may pursue further funding to complete both statewide implementation and nationwide deployment.