Online Writing Lab (OWL)
@Kent Stark
1. What Is An OWL?
The
primary purpose of an OWL (Online Writing Lab) is to offer students who cannot
normally visit the Writing Center an opportunity to interact with tutors and
receive helpful input on their writing assignments electronically.
Using e-mail, you and a Stark Writing Center tutor can work to
clarify your focus and ideas, develop a sense of purpose and audience for your
writing, and systematically revise your papers.
Tutors can help you at any stage in the writing
process. With their help, you can do
any or all of the following:
·
Discuss specific assignment requirements
·
Brainstorm ideas for writing
·
Discover your purpose, thesis, and audience
·
Consider possible strategies for researching and drafting
your papers
·
Develop ideas for further expanding your drafts
·
Discuss organizational, formatting, and documentation
strategies
·
Generate revision strategies, and discuss subsequent drafts
·
Get help becoming a stronger editor and proofreader of your
own writing
Remember, your tutor can help you with your writing
assignments, but he or she WILL NOT write or edit your papers for you.
2. How does online tutoring work?
An OWL
session will require advance planning, time, and effort. To maximize results, you should be prepared
to do the following:
a)
In your initial e-mail, describe for your tutor the
assignment you're working on and what you believe are the strengths and
weaknesses of the draft you're submitting.
b)
Expect the tutor to respond with "higher order"
questions regarding your draft--topic, purpose, audience, thesis, development,
organization, etc. The tutor will try
to help you expand your thinking so
that you can develop a stronger paper.
DO NOT expect simple "fix-it directions" or corrections.
c)
Allow enough time for subsequent e-mail exchanges to reflect
upon and respond to the tutor's questions and to revise and submit additional
drafts for further feedback. Tutors
will not be able to help you with proofreading and other "lower
order" concerns (grammar, spelling, documentation, etc.) until larger
issues are resolved. Online tutoring
CAN NOT be completed successfully at the last minute. Never send papers less than 24 hours before they are due.
3. Who Can Use the Kent-Stark
OWL?
The Stark OWL, like the Writing Center,
is open and free to any student enrolled at Kent State Stark. We can help with writing assignments in any
class, at any level.
4. When is online tutoring available?
You may
submit your paper at any time. Tutors
will respond during regular Writing Center hours--Monday through Friday, during
Fall, Spring, and Summer Session II semesters.
Tutors in the center will check for incoming papers and respond to those
papers during the hours they are scheduled to work. Because tutors are also busy with live sessions, you should allow
plenty of time for a response--at least a day’s turn around time. Papers received on Friday or late in the day
may not receive responses until the next business day. Please plan accordingly.
5. How do I submit a paper?
E-Mail Submission Information
In the body of the e-mail that you send to the Stark OWL
along with your paper, please include the following information. This will help us guide you in your writing
more effectively, and help us track and improve our service to you and to the
Kent-Stark community in general. We
will be able to respond only to submissions that include this information:
1. Your Name:
2. Date:
3. Kent State ID #
(SS#):
4. Your Major:
5. Your Current Year in School: (select one) Still in High School
Freshman at Kent-Stark
Sophomore at Kent-Stark
Junior at Kent-Stark
Senior at Kent-Stark
6. Is English your
first (native) language?
7. Do you want your
instructor notified of this contact?
8. Assignment
Information:
a) Describe your assignment as fully as possible:
b) Tell us what class and what
instructor you are writing for, and when the paper is due:
c) Describe your efforts so far,
including what you see as the strengths and weaknesses of your current draft:
______________________________________________________________________________
The following information is also being gathered to further
research into writing center theory and practice. You are NOT required to disclose this information,
though your responses would be greatly appreciated. In some cases, your answers may help your tutor address your
specific writing issues. All
information will be kept strictly confidential.
1. Sex: (select
one) M F
2. Ethnicity:
(choose one)
A. Caucasian American (White)
B. African American (Black)
C. Hispanic or Latino
D. American Indian or Alaskan
Native
E. Asian American or Pacific
Islander American
F. Non-U.S. Citizen
3. Do you have a diagnosed
learning disability you are willing to disclose? (i.e. ADD, ADHD, etc.)
4. Age?
By submitting this information, you grant permission for its confidential scholarly and tutorial use by the staff and director of the Kent-Stark Writing Center. (Your identity will NOT be disclosed in any utilization of this data.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Attach a copy of your current
draft to this e-mail and send it to Writing@stark.kent.edu with the
subject heading "Paper for OWL from <Your Name>". (Other questions about the Writing Center
should be sent in a separate email with a different subject heading.)
FILE FORMAT FOR PAPER SUBMISSIONS: The Stark
OWL can accept files in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect formats.
When returned to the student, the
tutor's questions and comments will be included in the text IN FULL CAPS. Questions and comments may serve as the
basis for further discussion with the tutor; students may ask questions of
their own, add responses to questions, or make revisions to the text and
resubmit it.
6.
Who will see my paper?
Only Stark
Writing Center staff will have access to your e-mail and submitted drafts. Copies (electronic and/or printed) are kept
in secure files.
7. How can I help improve the service?
At your convenience, please send
an e-mail to Dr. Jay Sloan, Writing Center Director (jsloan@stark.kent.edu)
in which you answer the following questions:
1. Did you get
prompt responses (within 24 hours, except on weekends) to your emails to the
OWL?
2. Were the
questions and comments you received helpful to you as you wrote and revised
your paper? In what ways (or why not)?
3. Can you suggest
ways we could better serve you in the future?
Thanks for your help!
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Updated: November 12, 2002