Writing Studio Vision

The Writing Studio is our attempt to create a writing environment – a place where students and teachers can write and learn about writing on the Web – that is similar to the best types of writing classrooms. We think writing is best learned when it is an activity during class, rather than simply an object of study. In short, we think writing classrooms are most effective when they resemble something like an art studio class.

In the same way that an art teacher can suggest that a student hold a brush in a different way – and then see an immediate improvement in the student's painting - writing teachers can suggest strategies and techniques that can have an immediate impact on student writing. Our studies have helped us see that students learn best when they can ask teachers and classmates for immediate feedback on their writing, when they can work on computers and access Web-based resources, and when they can have immediate access to information about how to write (whether that information comes in the form of quick tips from a teacher, detailed discussions with a teacher, a handy textbook, an online guide, a demonstration of how to do something, or some other form of instruction).

The Writing Studio is our attempt to capture some of the elements of a classroom that uses a studio approach. We hope that, as it develops, we'll be able to provide writers with writing tools, advice, information, and feedback that will help them become better writers.