Somem of the trainers are self-taught, but of course go on refresher or updating courses. English faculty are trained both within the Division and through courses offered on campus. The individual determines the procedure. Techniques are of course shared among faculty. WordStar is adequate for on-screen composition, but it is not a complete writing tool.
Students work in a classroom setting, then have access to machines outside the classroom setting.
Some of the issues you raise are valuable ones. In the college setting of course, we do not have access to T.A.s, and the faculty member is faced with the problem of being both the trainer and the teacher. But if the teacher is in control, then the issues of writing have the better chance of being in the forefront. Not all teachers are entirely easy with the technical complexities of writing by computer, even though about half of our faculty own their own computers. Some answers to questionaire Not sure I understand enough about your questions in Vol 2.