Conclusion
Our rationales for technology in physical writing spaces and the creation of virtual writing spaces should begin with the desire to educate students and provide writing support as effectively as possible. Creating an inclusive online writing space is neither easier nor more difficult than designing an inclusive physical space; the challenges are different, but the questions we must ask ourselves are similar.
Scholars have found that students sometimes assume an online course will be easier than a traditional course (Eaton 2005; Maeroff 2003; Rubens and Southard 2005). Knowing this perception exists, we must ensure our writing spaces are not less rigorous or less pedagogically sound than their physical counterparts. In fact, it could be argued that we must create superior online composition classrooms.
Virtual spaces often provide convenient access to students with challenges navigating physical spaces. If online writing spaces come to be seen as primary methods of accommodation, we risk virtual spaces becoming “separate but equal” classrooms and labs for students perceived as different. We must avoid the segregation of students, however unintentional. Inclusive instructional and support spaces must improve upon traditional writing spaces.
Not only are our institutions serving a broader population of “college-aged” students, but we are also serving more nontraditional students who find virtual classrooms and supports more convenient (Eaton 2005). To provide the ideal inclusive experience, we must attract “traditional” students to virtual writing spaces where they will gain new insights alongside nontraditional students and those from historically marginalized communities.