The ESL Writing Online Workshop (ESL-WOW) Project at Excelsior College in Albany, New York, has been granted $581,609 by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) of the U.S. Department of Education. In this 3-year project, an online remedial ESL writing program will be created for community college and adult learners.

In partnership with Mesa College in San Diego, California, a pilot study with ESL students from both Mesa and Excelsior will be conducted. Christie Allred will direct the Mesa College component of the project. The ESL students at Mesa College will use ESL-WOW in a blended learning environment; this means that the students will have both face-to-face and online instruction. The students at Excelsior will participate exclusively online. Four modules will be developed: “Getting Ready to Write,” “Developing Your Ideas,” “Revising Your Work,” and “Editing and Polishing.” An additional special module on plagiarism will take into account the intercultural aspects of intellectual property issues. During the pilot study, live tutors with experience in teaching ESL composition will be available to assist the students. A Faculty Writing Exchange will act as resource center and virtual meeting place for the tutors.

The plan is to incorporate materials, which students may use independently in self-directed mode, as well as social networking tools, which may be used collaboratively with peers. At the end of the 3-year pilot project, ESL-WOW will be fully operational and available to the public free of charge. As the project develops, information will be posted at www.eslwow.org. For more information, please contact Claire Bradin Siskin, ESL workshop director, at info@eslwow.org.

Claire Bradin Siskin, csiskin@excelsior.edu, directs the ESL Workshop Project at Excelsior College in Albany, New York. A long-time member of TESOL, she is a past chair of TESOL’s Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Interest Section. She is also a past chair of TESOL’s Professional Development Committee.