From Online Writing Centers to Centering Writing Online: How Material Conditions Shape Virtual Practices

Working from home can pose distinct challenges to writing center tutors. For example, Eleanor was a longtime tutor trained in nondirective, in-person practices. Despite this experience, she struggled to adjust to a fully remote setup due to limited technology access during the COVID-19 pandemic; later, she had to relearn her in-person strategies when she returned to the physical writing center. In contrast, Jeremiah had a well-supported home office with new technology sponsored by his department. Nevertheless, he struggled to balance his work-from-home setup with his home life: he, his wife, and child navigated overlapping Zoom calls for work and school in their two-bedroom home. Nyna began her tutoring career working from home, receiving training for synchronous video and asynchronous text-based tutoring sessions. When she began working at the physical writing center for the first time, she faced challenges adapting to a face-to-face tutoring context. Meanwhile, Maggie struggled tutoring remotely, sometimes resorting to talking with her tutees over the phone when she couldn’t make her own work-from-home technology work.