ABSTRACT
Virtual learning environments shape how academics interact with students. They can lead to new forms of collaboration with university administrative staff, as well as with computing staff and librarians. Nevertheless, they are often adopted with little or no appreciation of how they will impact the writing work of academics. Academics are often left to work out and navigate the landscape of new technologies themselves, and therefore end up holding a number of stances on its use in different aspects of their professional life. Academics’ everyday professional writing practices are very extensively mediated through email. Academics were keen to answer the question, often at length, and were very passionate about their likes and hates. Smartphones and portable devices like iPads which may have been bought for use in everyday life then get used in academic life.
