The last several years witnessed a growth of online courses. As this explosive growth of online instruction in higher education continues, faculty and administrators rush to put course content online.
Early accounts seem to indicate that online instruction is an attractive alternative.
Of the many studies in computer conferencing and of the few focusing on writing apprehension and computer conferencing, most have focused on studying participants communicating electronically via local area networks. Before detailing the methodology and findings of this study, I present a brief description of the salient features of writing apprehension. Although all of us at one time or another may have experienced a certain amount of anxiety over a writing task, the construct of writing apprehension is a much more serious situation. Some aspects of computer networking may encourage greater participation by high-apprehensive writers. Most notably, online instruction allows high-apprehensive writers to participate more fully in discussions of their own writing and provides them a chance to more closely explore their writing processes.