System and automated tools accessed from a variety of graphical user interfaces that students can personalize to enable them to author student compositions as structured documents using Standardized General Markup Language (SGML) and/or eXtensible Markup Language (XML) that may include tables, graphics, and equations, read educational material related to the compositions, link to approved internet sites related to the compositions, validate the contents of a structured document against applicable rules for the type of composition, automatically format and reformat structured documents and system-generated material, as appropriate for the type and style of composition into predefined, user-modifiable presentation styles appropriate for the type of student composition as selected by the user, and enjoy a better homework experience with computer-game-like sound effects and animation accompanying system dialogs and messages.