Computers and writing is the name of a sub-field of college English studies whose members are dedicated to the academic study of how computers, as well as other, related digital technologies, affect literacy and the writing process. The range of inquiry in this field is quite broad and can include studies as diverse as works of videogame theory to a quantitative study of first-year college students using Microsoft Word. Some frequently addressed topics include hypertext theory, visual rhetoric, multimedia authoring, distance learning, digital rhetoric or eRhetoric, usability studies, the formation and lifecycles of online communities, and how various media change reading and writing practices, textual conventions, and genres.