Printing a screen results in a blank page of paper, a stark display of this new notion of writing as hypertext. It's difficult to not get excited about a writing environment which is not limited by geographic distance or time constraints . Conventional OWLs provide an amazing array of writing assistance to anyone with an Internet connection. The Writery extends this powerful benefit by creating a rich context in which writers can share their work and dialogue about their texts . All OWLs don't have MOOs, but all OWLs do stretch students to pursue new types of research on the Internet.
OWLs offer the best collection of links available for Internet-based academic research .
They provide discipline-specific links for efficient, productive searching. OWLs also benefit students by giving them experience with writing applications which relate to the current work environment . The practice of interacting with tutors and other writers via text on a computer screen provides important experience in learning the nuances of communicating in the medium of the screen-based computer conference. The rapid growth of the Internet through American culture is widely applauded, but many people find reasons to be troubled. This troubled underbelly is mirrored in the concerns of academics toward OWLs as a new medium of instruction and as a purveyor of a new mode of instruction.