Beyond MS Word : alternatives and developments

Microsoft Word, the word processing software developed by Microsoft in 1983, established itself as the market leader in the 1990s and 2000s and remained the gold standard for many years. Despite its obvious benefits, it always faced criticism from various quarters. We address the persistent criticism that MS Word is overloaded with features and distracts from writing rather than facilitating it. Alternatives, mainly distraction-free editors and text editors for use with a markup language, are briefly reviewed and compared to MS Word. A serious challenger emerged in 2006 with Google Docs, a cloud-based writing software that has moved text production into the platform era, enabling files to be shared and creating collaborative writing spaces. Even though Google Docs failed to break the dominance of MS Word, it became the trend-setter in online writing. Microsoft and Apple soon followed by designing complex web environments for institutions and companies rather than individual writers. We give an overview of technologies that have evolved to challenge the supremacy of MS Word or compete for market share. By this, we hope to provide clues as to the future development of word processing

Thesis writer (TW) : tapping scale effects in academic writing instruction

Writing a thesis is no less challenging a task for students, than for organizations who instruct and tutor thesis writing at higher education institutions. Annually within just our departments, 1000 undergraduates face the task of writing a thesis. Increasing student numbers and stagnating resources pose management problems, as well as constant threats to the quality of instruction. In reaction to this, we started exploring how instruction and supervision of thesis writers and related administrative tasks could be electronically supported, allowing for scale effects. A learning environment named Thesis Writer (TW) was developed, and piloted during the fall of 2015. TW supports individual writing and collaboration between writers, peers, tutors, and supervisors. This web-based software runs in common web browsers, independently of the operating system. In this paper we highlight the core functions of TW and address such uses in which scale effects can be realized. Conference attendees can use and test the system including real-time collaboration, in either English or German, and discuss experiences made and data collected during the pilot by 300 BA students

Digital writing technologies in higher education : theory, research, and practice

This open access book serves as a comprehensive guide to digital writing technology, featuring contributions from over 20 renowned researchers from various disciplines around the world. The book is designed to provide a state-of-the-art synthesis of the developments in digital writing in higher education, making it an essential resource for anyone interested in this rapidly evolving field. In the first part of the book, the authors offer an overview of the impact that digitalization has had on writing, covering more than 25 key technological innovations and their implications for writing practices and pedagogical uses. Drawing on these chapters, the second part of the book explores the theoretical underpinnings of digital writing technology such as writing and learning, writing quality, formulation support, writing and thinking, and writing processes. The authors provide insightful analysis on the impact of these developments and offer valuable insights into the future of writing. Overall, this book provides a cohesive and consistent theoretical view of the new realities of digital writing, complementing existing literature on the digitalization of writing. It is an essential resource for scholars, educators, and practitioners interested in the intersection of technology and writing