Demonstrating CobWeb – An Innovative Writing Environment for Children Janet C Read Department of Computing University of Central Lancashire Preston UK jcread@uclan.ac.uk Matthew Horton Department of Computing University of Central Lancashire Preston UK mplhorton@uclan.ac.uk Abstract: This is a demonstration of a handwriting recognition based writing environment for children aged between 6 and 9. The design of the writing environment is outlined and reference is made to some of the usability issues that had to be overcome to produce a workable prototype. The software that is demonstrated shows the immediate usability of the interface and presents some of the training applications that were implemented to support the children. Introduction The process approach to writing is the approach currently favoured for composition activities within school curricula; this method emphasizes the planning, drafting, editing and publishing of written work (Graves 1983). This approach is well suited to word processing and text manipulation as the relative ease with which words can be moved, deleted and inserted makes revision and editing very straightforward (White and Arndt 1991). Research on the effects of word processing on children’s writing produces mixed messages; it is suggested that the high visibility of the text results in more discussion (Kurth 1987), but there is little evidence to suggest that children make anything more than surface word edits once they have written their stories (Hult 1986). Watching children writing with pencils and paper, it is evident that the determination of the appropriate grammar, the choice of punctuation and concerns over the spelling of individual words cause different levels of anxiety amongst young writers. Some children become anxious about these things but it is more common to find them ‘trying out’ their ideas and making their own spellings. When children write at the QWERTY keyboard they have been seen to be more anxious about spellings and less work is produced than when writing with pen and paper {paper under review}. Research has indicated that children who use cursive handwriting become better at spelling; one reason for this is that a record of the movement that the child makes when handwriting is stored in a different section of memory than the visual image (Bearne 1998). Handwriting recognition technology relies on the electronic capturing of pen strokes using a graphics tablet, digital paper, or a touch sensitive screen. The resultant pen strokes are then ‘recognised’ and ASCII text is produced. This recognition process relies on the characters being correctly formed by the writer and even then, there may be errors due to the similarity of certain characters.