From 1986-1988, work in the Computer Writing and Research Lab concentrated on the development of integrated tools for writing instruction.  This work led to the formation in 1988 of the Daedalus Group, Inc., and to creation of the Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment (DIWE).  Winner of the EDUCOM/NCRIPTAL Award for Best Writing Software (1990), DIWE is a suite of applications that include invention heuristics to help students select and investigate possible topics before beginning to compose a formal essay, and a corresponding tool for prompted peer review; a LAN-based electronic mail/BBS system; utilities for turning in and viewing documents; and a simple word processor.  The heart of the system is the real-time conferencing module, InterChangeú, which has revolutionized writing instruction at the University of Texas and at hundreds of other institutions in the United States and elsewhere. More recently, courseware such as Critical Tools, the Online Learning Record, and the Collaboration Center have been developed in the Lab to expand the tools available to instructors and students.

Graduate students, undergraduates, and faculty use the CWRL's facilities and equipment to explore new ways of using information technology in research and instruction in rhetoric and composition, literary studies, hypertext and hypermedia, multimedia, and other new forms of electronic discourse.  These new techniques are then taken into the classroom, where they assist students both in learning to read traditional and new texts, and in learning to produce traditional essays as well as new textual forms.  Classroom activities, in turn, become the focus of research which is presented by CWRL staff at national and international conferences such as Computers and Writing, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the Modern Language Association, AAHE, CSCL, and the European Society for the Study of English.

As the lab has expanded its facilities and staff, new organizational models have been developed to help preserve the unique and generative qualities of this dynamic ecosystem. Large staff meetings have given way to smaller cohort meetings, a program coordinator and system analyst have been added to support more of the administrative and technological work, and small developer groups focus on special projects critical to the ongoing work of the CWRL. Graduate Assistant Directors spend more time mentoring new instructors and supporting best practices in the classroom, and less time troubleshooting equipment. A regular program of workshops helps develop core competencies and introduce new pedagogical uses for emerging applications. A steering committee of graduate students, staff, and the director helps establish sound lab policies and procedures. In this highly collaborative environment, the CWRL continues to excel at its core mission, and to nurture innovations in the humane integration of computers in teaching and learning situations.