The most obvious constraint in incorporating Web writing into composition courses is the still uneven distribution of technology resources among our students, their families, and their high schools and grade schools. This uneven distribution, which often (though not always) leads to uneven development of computer skills, functions as well in higher education, with faculty at some colleges and universities hampered significantly by poor access to computers and to the Internet in their classrooms and offices. Considering the fact that freshman composition is most often taught by adjunct and non-tenure-track faculty and graduate students, the inequities of access are likely to be exacerbated for this course in particular.
A related and equally serious constraint has to do with time and training. In the classroom, the introduction of Web writing assignments takes time away from other important assignments and activities. It requires a heavy time commitment from individual teachers as well, for it involves many skills which we may not yet have acquired. Again, teachers of freshman composition are precisely the group least likely to have the time, financial wherewithal, and institutional support to acquire the necessary skills. This group, particularly adjunct faculty, is also in the most precarious position with respect to the academic freedom needed to incorporate innovative and unusual curricular changes, such as Web writing assignments, into their courses.
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