We should consider how we talk about computers

Franklin Becker suggests in Workspace: Creating Environments in Organizations,  (Praeger, 1981), that an environment operates at several levels simulatenously. Inspired by this distinction, I would suggest that computers operate at at least three levels:

• Computers operate as tools located within the larger "walk-in" writing center itself. The computer can be a tool located on desks, a tool that helps us design, compose and format texts for print or on-line distribution. It can be a tool that helps us store and organize data.

• Computers can operate as environments. If we shift our focus from the computer as a tool to the computer as an environment all its own, an environment created by the configuration of hardware and interface, then we can talk about a computer as a virtual space, an space into which we project ourselves. Just as the traditional writing center creates a space in which tutors and students work, so can a computer interface create a virtual environment in which students can work & interact. We can think, therefore, about Building Learning Spaces on the Internet.

• Finally, computers can operate as a medium that presents tools in a particular environment. A given computer can offer a space filled with tools and symbols, thereby creating a medium through which one reads and writes (both simultaneously and over time), a medium that delivers and presents information in a way unique from other media. Consequently, each application of computer technology creates a medium that, through the arrangement of tools and space, enables certain practices while suppressing others.