As an example of professional community building on the network, we will trace briefly the progress of a group of scholars who have found a new way of productively brainstorming and collaborating in a virtual, text-based real-time environment. The authors and a number of colleagues from MBU-L (MegaByte University, a distributed electronic mail list devoted to teaching writing more effectively using computers) discovered the sometimes wild world of Internet Relay Chat (IRC), a program that allows global real-time communication in writing via networked personal computers. Although the group was already part of an electronically constituted community, accustomed to discussing issues, sharing assignments, and reporting on successes and failures in our various projects, meeting on IRC introduced a new and exciting dynamic to our work together.
Imagine sharing the screen with two, five or even more colleagues in order to brainstorm as if you were talking around a conference table! Some readers may be familiar with the "talk" feature on the Internet, where two people, even though they are in distant locations, can converse with each other in writing. Others may be familiar with an in-class real-time computer networked writing environment known as ENFI, Electronic Networks for Interaction. This environment was originally developed for deaf students at Gallaudet University by Trent Batson, but writing instructors soon discovered that the activity of writing to each other on a computer network helped even hearing enabled students gain confidence in their writing. At schools around the world, students regularly meet with teachers to discuss issues and write collaboratively on the network using programs such as Forum or Daedalus InterChange. Teachers report major successes creating communities of writers using programs like these.