An audience other than the teacher was the primary factor in improved overall writing and lengthier writings in a study that combined word processing with network telecommunications. Their work was longer, they used more topic sentences, and they made fewer errors in tense. Students also made fewer mistakes in mechanics such as spelling, capitalization, and subject-verb agreement. Even the overall content improved. Many of them imply that if nothing else, using word processing is motivating.
Most children are more enthusiastic about writing with a word processor.
Many times their written work is longer. Word processing generates peer collaboration and interaction and gives students a powerful means of publishing for an audience. One consequence of so many children choosing to publish with a word processor is the inevitable problem of access. In an ideal school environment, every student could have access to a computer at any time during the day. Many schools struggle to achieve a ratio of ten students per computer.