Use Technological Tools

• If you are working with other writers to generate and refine ideas, you might use chat programs to meet online. At the end of the chat session, you might want to save a transcript of the session for later review. If your class is supported by Web discussion forums, you can carry out your discussion in that format. Similarly, you can refine and generate ideas by using an e-mail distribution list (or by sending each message to all of the people in your group). You might also post ideas on a blog and then use the blog’s Comments tool to generate responses to each idea.
• If you are collaborating with other writers to collect and work with sources for a shared topic, you can use discussion forums, wikis, cloud-based folders (such as Dropbox, iCloud, and SkyDrive), and e-mail to distribute sources, source citations, source evaluations, and source notes.
• If you are conducting a peer review, you can share your drafts by sending them as e-mail attachments. Reviewers can open the attachments in a word-processing program, comment on them using the program’s Comment and Track Changes tools, save the file with a new name, and return them to you.
• If your class is supported by a course management system, you can ask your instructor to create discussion forums, wikis, and file-sharing folders to support your group work. You can take advantage of e-mail to share ideas, schedule meetings, and exchange files. You might also have access to electronic whiteboard programs that allow you to meet online and work on drafts of your document.

Using Comments and Track Changes