ABSTRACT
Early adopters of computers in the writing classroom radiated an excitement that seemed disproportionate for talking about a writing technology. The adoption of classroom networks and hypertext authoring programs suggested almost revolutionary possibilities for writing instruction. Concurrently with the technology’s emergence came the trend to social constructivism in educational theories and the use of critical pedagogies that privileged student interaction, active language use, and collaboration in the classroom. Lester Faigley (1992) captured the spirit expressed by early adopters in a book chapter exuberantly titled “The Achieved Utopia of the Networked Classroom.” Others, like Faigley, celebrated the juncture of theory, practice, and technology in the emerging virtual classroom, while the possibilities generated by the technology bred new classroom practices, reached new populations, and in turn spawned new theories.
