Dear Readers:

Heading into the spring and summer, we all long for more time to read and digest stimulating papers other than our student compositions. We've collected several pieces in this issue that will suggest new ways to use (or not to use) computers in your composition classes.

We begin with a lengthy review of research conducted at Colorado State University by Steve Reid and Albert Findlay. In their paper, Reid and Findlay discuss the stylistic advice given by WRITER'S WORKBENCH--and typical of other such programs as GRAMMATIK, WRITERIGHT, and so on--compared with what students actually do. Reid and Findlay hope to find correlations between WRITER'S WORKBENCH data and holistic scores assigned to student papers. The stylistic data most predictive of writing "success" may surprise you.

Next, John Dinan, Becky Gannon, and Jenny Taylor contribute guidelines to help teachers using computers in composition programs keep students' attention on writing rather than on the computer. Their comments on reducing student apprehension remind those of us familiar with computers that not all students have become accustomed to high tech in the classroom.

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Following this article, Thomas Derrick talks about DOSEQUIS, a new computer game he has developed for composition students. DOSEQUIS provides students the impetus for some intriguing interaction with language and each other; it does not require elaborate programming or equipment.

Finally, Tommy Barker analyzes those issues facing composition teachers as we become developers and users of our own instructional software. He sees new roles for teachers of composition as we head into a high-tech future.

And so we continue to explore the practical and theoretical issues that computers have raised. Let's hear from more of you about your concerns and conquests. Kate Kiefer Cindy Selfe