What is Synchronous Online Delivery

The evolution of composition pedagogy from teachercentered instruction to writing workshop and successful practices in online courses has been dramatic (Gerard, 2006; Hawisher & Selfe,1998; Mahiri, 2004; Prensky, 2001). However, the teaching of writing often gets left out of discussions about online education even though English/writing teachers are rapidly increasing their use of Internet and computers to improve the communication and composing skills of their students at all levels (Vinall-Cox, 2005; Gerard, 2006; Doherty, 1994). Traditional composition pedagogy has been embedded with rigorous and parochial attention to classical forms. In their formal education, novice writers have been subjected to the archaic practices of rote memorization, strict grammatical exercises, and stringently subjective assessments of what is right and what is wrong with their composing skills.