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Philippa and all -- I've been following this discussion from my hiding place at a conference on instructional technology at Mount Allison. (Your online discussion is a good competitor!) My concern about commenting on student work electronically is that we are then dealing with the paper, not the student--quite counter to our theories about the nature of literacy and knowledge. As for software, I wish I did know the kind of program Philippa mentions: idea-generating systems? My 1995 report on Software for Writing Instruction (available through the Faculty section of my web page, below) panned all the drill programs but placed some faint hopes in programs like Daedalus. I don't feel much more than a faint hope now, having seen and heard of too many courses where the topics and interactions were shaped around generic general-knowledge general-reader generalities (yes, that's 4 gens) that suits only the first-year composition model. Cute occasionally, but not an activity of exploring or creating knowledge. Are there other types of stories that I haven't heard? Cheers, Margaret. -- (Dr.) Margaret Procter Room 216, 15 King's College Circle Coordinator, Writing Support Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H7 University of Toronto (416) 978-8109; FAX (416) 971-2027 www.library.utoronto.ca/www/writing/ [log in to unmask]