Abstract:

There has been considerable research and publication on collaborative writing online in the context of distance or blended learning scenarios, but this article focuses on the relatively uncharted area of synchronous group writing in the classroom. The focus is a teaching and learning strategy to model the writing of essays which synthesise a range of source materials. It combines the use of two cloud-based tools for collaboratively annotating texts, and for collaborative writing. The central activity of “collaborative synthesis writing” involves modelling a reading / research and writing process in real time with a whole class participating in small groups. Intensive and focussed, the group work enables students to see in action the process of moving from research / reading to writing. Feedback on the activity suggests that it is both motivating for students and helpful to their understanding of academic writing.

Background:
In Higher Education, discussion of collaborative learning using Web 2.0 technologies, and indeed of active learning in general, has tended to focus on VLEs and asynchronous learning activities. Even where synchronous communication is included, it is usually still in the context of distance or blended learning scenarios. Whilst Wankel and Blessinger (2013) proclaim the benefits of Web 2.0 teaching in HE both “inside and out of the classroom” (7), their collected case studies almost all focus on the affordances of web 2.0 technologies beyond the classroom, with online courses or blended learning. Research on computer-assisted collaborative writing goes back to the 1980s, but although the emergence of wikis rejuvenated interest, online writing is still usually conceived of as happening remotely, over an extended period and asynchronously. This research was concerned with the effectiveness of both the technologies and the pedagogic strategies associated with synchronous online group work. The research was prompted by the writer’s move from a university in the UK to a new teaching environment in the UAE. The driving enquiry was whether practices which had proved successful with Master’s students in the UK could be replicated with undergraduate students for whom English was their second language.

References:
[1] Wankel, Charles and Patrick Blessinger (eds) Increasing Student Engagement and Retention in E-Learning Environments: Web 2.0 and Blended Learning Technologies. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

Keywords:

Collaborative writing, online learning, Web 2.0, synchronous, cloud-based tools, student engagement, study skills, EAP.