While in an ideal world, parents and teachers are always there to help a child with his or her writing,  in many cases this is not reality.  Each hour, I have between twenty-five to thirty-five students.  I try to get to each of them during our class period to answer questions or help them find areas in which they could revise their writing,  but often I am frustrated by the fact that I do not have the time to give them each my undivided attention for very long.  In my writing club, of course, there are fewer students, but we only meet once per week, so they are bound to need assistance when I am not available for them.  In fact, much of the writing my students do is started in the classroom, but finished at home.  Therefore, turning to online help is an effective alternative to one-on-one assistance from a teacher.
     Many libraries offer internet access, and some students have home computers with internet access, so it is practical to be sure our students know that they can find help with their writing on the internet.   There are quite a few sources online that are useful to students from all grade levels.  For example,  if a student is having a basic writing problem, he or she could turn to Jerome's Paragraphing Page.   At this site, there are examples of different types of paragraphs, suggestions for writing paragraphs, and explanations of the various paragraph parts.  Another source students may find useful is Inkspot which is a reference for writers of all ages.  At this Inkspot site, young writers can find helpful writing tips, advice from authors, sources for publishing and links to more helpful sites for creative writing.
    Now, with all of the helpful resources online, students can find help.  Utilizing online resources for writing will help students become more independent in their work, for they will realize that they don't have to wait for an adult to help them;  they can now find the help they need on their own.  As Judi Harris noted in her article "Educational Teleresearch:  A Means, Not An End",  using the internet is valuable in helping students "practice information seeking skills" (43).  Perhaps a student will begin utilizing online resources when he or she has a specific problem with a homework assignment, but soon it will become a natural place to turn to for any writing/educational need.

     In a writing class or club, collaborating on a story or poem is a fun activity that helps to build a spirit of teamwork within the group.  Online it is possible to use collaborative writing activities to build a sense of community among students who are miles or even continents apart.
     There are a number of projects displayed online which demonstrate the possibilities of online collaborative writing.  For example, there is  a site called  Poetry Pals at which students from around the country write poems together.  Also, at Connecting You Globally storytelling project is posted in which writers worldwide contributed parts of the stories.  It is amazing how many online projects are available for teachers and their students to become involved with!  At  Global SchoolNet's Internet Project Registry teachers can browse through projects which have been completed to get ideas or browse through new projects to find a project in which to participate.  This site is quite large, and there are projects in all subject areas, although there are plenty to choose from in creative writing.  Teachers can also subscribe to a listserv which lists upcoming projects.
     If a student wants to collaborate on the computer with a partner who is in the same room or on the other side of the planet, it is now possible.  Collaboration is now truly a global writing activity.