1. Wikis: collaborative e-tools to write in EFL
43rd Annual Conference and Exhibition, Cardiff -2009.
Prof. Teadira Pérez
teadira@ula.ve Escuela de Idiomas Modernos
Introduction MÉRIDA
The purpose of this poster session is to demonstrate how wikis can be 2. Join in your Readwatchwrite Wiki at:
integrated, as collaborative writing e-tools, to reading and writing http://readwatchwrite.wetpaint.com/
instruction at the university level. Learners were enrolled in a Reading
and Writing in English – Level II course Step 2: Guidelines for participating in your Wiki:
• Students have to participate in the Wiki discussion and collaborate with each other in order to
Methodology select their topics and shape their argumentative essays.
The use of this class wiki: read, watch and write in reading and writing instruction • Students are expected to exchange their opinions and comments with their peers through
provided the basis for engaging learners in meaningful and purposeful collaborative writing the wiki.
tasks. This wiki aimed to provide students with the opportunity of interacting with their peers in
order to refine their chosen topics and also to explain the process they were following in order to • Students have to publish their argumentative essays in the page devoted to their topics.
write their essays.
Step 3: Weekly tasks
Background Students will need to complete weekly tasks, in order to read about argumentative essays and
What: their topics, to initiate the process of topic selection with their peer’s support. During this stage,
Reading and Writing Instruction / English as a Foreign Language / Argumentative essays / they also read and watch information related to their topics, in order to gather information and
Collaboration build up enough previous knowledge, to decide what evidence they are going to include in their
essays.
Who:
University level students majoring in Modern Languages (mostly English/French/Italian) enrolled Week 1: Selecting the topic
in the subject Reading and Writing of English II. Native language: Spanish. The process of selecting a topic for his/her argumentative essay involves four main stages:
selecting a preliminary topic from the list of topics provided in the Wiki, reading about this topic,
Where: watching a wiki related to this topic and refining the topic for his/her own argumentative essay.
School of Modern Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela Students are asked to:
Why: 1. To select their topics:
The purpose of the read, watch and write project is to provide learners with a collaborative e-space 2. to read an article related to this
to help them select an argumentative topic and shape their argumentative essay. topic,
3. to watch a video related to this
The main objectives of the read, watch and write project are: topic,
4. to write a message indicating what
1. to help learners choose their topic he/she has selected,
argumentative essay topics, 5. to help other classmates by replying
WIKIS:collaborative e-tools to write in EFL
WIKIS:collaborative e-tools to write in EFL
2. to discuss with their e-peers their to their posts.
topic selection,
3. to watch videos related to TOPIC SELECTION INTERACT
REFINING TOPICS Week 2: Creating their Wiki pages
their topics in order to listen to COLLABORATE
During week 2, students start creating their own Wiki pages, in order to share their ideas and
other people’s ideas and collect
publish their drafts and final versions of their essays, giving them a sense of authorship with an
evidences to support their
authentic audience in mind.
arguments.
Students are asked to:
4. to discuss the ideas related to
1. To start writing in their wiki pages,
their topics after watching these READ WATCH WRITE
2. To add a title to this page,
videos,
3. To write their reasons for selecting this topic.
5. to write about their topic selection
and how they are shaping their GATHER INFORMATION LISTEN TO OTHER
SHARE AND
DIFFERENT SOURCES PEOPLE´S
PUBLISH
Week 3: Reading about argumentative essays
essays, IDEAS
Students are asked to:
6. to publish their argumentative
1. To read information about argumentative essays,
essays.
2. To post a summary about what they have learned about argumentative essays in their Wiki
pages.
How:
Learners were asked to, after selecting their topics to write an argumentative essay, to listen to
Week 5: Publishing their essays
videos and read articles related to their topics. Learners were given instructions about topics,
guidelines to write an argumentative essay and to use the Wiki as a collaborative writing tool. Students are asked to:
1. to publish their argumentative essays,
Piloting process i.e.
This poster session will illustrate how three students using this wiki were piloted, in order to explore 2. To comment on their peers´ essays, i.e.
how Reading and Writing II students responded to this kind of collaboratively writing and editing 3. To ask two questions related to their
tool. I consider the piloting process as an important part of the integration of Wikis into the EFL peers´ essay topics.
class: teachers and students have the opportunity to understand the pros and cons of using Wikis
to make students share their ideas and write collaboratively. Week 6: Reflecting about their Wikis
Students are asked to:
Defining wikis 1. Reflect on the use of wikis to support
“Wiki” refers to a special type of Web site that allows and encourages all users to edit and add pages the writing process of their argumentative
within the site. Wikis offer learners with the opportunity of writing collaboratively – learners, apart essays.
from having editorial control when using wikis, build a sense of responsibility and ownership for Students comments on the Read Watch and Write Wiki
the site. When using wikis, learners, are not only learning to publish content; they are also learning “My experience writing in this wiki made improve many written English that I had before starting
how to develop collaborative skills and negotiating meaning with others (Richardson, 2006). Wikis, writing in this project.” (Student A)
as Web 2.0 tools, add social and collaborative dimensions to the classroom (Adie, 2006). Wikis “ It is very important to any one who is learning a foreign language improve his or her reading
have served a number of purposes in education. One of them is to provide learners with an open and writing to add more vocabulary and learn more grammatical structures.” (Student B)
collaborative space to write collaboratively. Wikis provide a structure that supports a community “This Wiki made me share my writing with others.” (Student C)
of practice a model of learning: learners share knowledge, bringing their previous experiences “I felt uncomfortable at the beginning, but after writing in this wiki, I starting gaining confidence.”
to the group and learning from the group existing practices (Wenger, 1998). Wikis are changing (Student B).
the way learners write, but most importantly, teachers can use different Web 2.0 applications in
Conclusion
order to promote the use of the four language modalities: listen/watch, read, write and implicitly
improve the way learners speak. Wikis, as collaborative tools, need to be integrated to the classroom in order to allow learners to
plan, create, revise, edit and publish their texts, but most significantly, working together with other
classmates in the process of constructing new knowledge. Wikis can function as powerful social
Procedures for integrating the read, watch and write Wiki with a Reading and Writing e-tools if teachers integrate them pedagogically into their classroom activities. In order to attain
course this, Wikis need to:
• promote writing as a process,
Step 1: Registration process
• encourage learners to interact and work collaboratively,
1. Visit your Readwatchwrite Wiki.
• make learners discuss about and reflect upon their essay topics to narrow them down.
Recommendations for tutors:
After piloting this Wiki to understand how it could be used as a collaborative e-tool to write in EFL,
I would like to recommend tutors to:
• Plan Wiki tasks and integrate them into collaborative class projects. (Byron, 2005).
• Provide clear instructions.
• Design tasks in order to stimulate collaborative writing.
• Discourage ´product oriented writing´. (Lamb, 2004).
• Offer online (e-mail) and, if possible, face to face support.
• Understand that not all students have a computer with Internet connection at home. Tasks,
then, need to be planned within realistic schedules.
“By incorporating wikis into the classroom, educators can better
prepare students to make innovative uses of collaborative software tools” [for their university
and professional lives]. (Parker and Chao, 2007)
References Lamb, B. (2004). Wide open spaces: Wikis, ready or not. EDUCAUSE Review, 39(5) (September/October), 36-48. Retrieved November 2006
Adie, C. (2006). Report of the information services working group on collaborative tools. Retrieved November 2006 from: from: http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp?bhcp=1
http://www.is.ed.ac.uk/content/1/c4/10/46/CollaborativeToolsAndWeb2%200.pdf Parker, K. & Chao, J. (2007). Wiki as a Teaching Tool. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects, 3.
Byron, M. (2005). Teaching with Tiki. Teaching Philosophy, 28(2), 108-113. Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Wenger, E (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
![Wikis: collaborative e-tools to write in EFL
43rd Annual Conference and Exhibition, Cardiff -2009.
Prof. Teadira Pérez
teadira@ula.ve Escuela de Idiomas Modernos
Introduction MÉRIDA
The purpose of this poster session is to demonstrate how wikis can be 2. Join in your Readwatchwrite Wiki at:
integrated, as collaborative writing e-tools, to reading and writing http://readwatchwrite.wetpaint.com/
instruction at the university level. Learners were enrolled in a Reading
and Writing in English – Level II course Step 2: Guidelines for participating in your Wiki:
• Students have to participate in the Wiki discussion and collaborate with each other in order to
Methodology select their topics and shape their argumentative essays.
The use of this class wiki: read, watch and write in reading and writing instruction • Students are expected to exchange their opinions and comments with their peers through
provided the basis for engaging learners in meaningful and purposeful collaborative writing the wiki.
tasks. This wiki aimed to provide students with the opportunity of interacting with their peers in
order to refine their chosen topics and also to explain the process they were following in order to • Students have to publish their argumentative essays in the page devoted to their topics.
write their essays.
Step 3: Weekly tasks
Background Students will need to complete weekly tasks, in order to read about argumentative essays and
What: their topics, to initiate the process of topic selection with their peer’s support. During this stage,
Reading and Writing Instruction / English as a Foreign Language / Argumentative essays / they also read and watch information related to their topics, in order to gather information and
Collaboration build up enough previous knowledge, to decide what evidence they are going to include in their
essays.
Who:
University level students majoring in Modern Languages (mostly English/French/Italian) enrolled Week 1: Selecting the topic
in the subject Reading and Writing of English II. Native language: Spanish. The process of selecting a topic for his/her argumentative essay involves four main stages:
selecting a preliminary topic from the list of topics provided in the Wiki, reading about this topic,
Where: watching a wiki related to this topic and refining the topic for his/her own argumentative essay.
School of Modern Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela Students are asked to:
Why: 1. To select their topics:
The purpose of the read, watch and write project is to provide learners with a collaborative e-space 2. to read an article related to this
to help them select an argumentative topic and shape their argumentative essay. topic,
3. to watch a video related to this
The main objectives of the read, watch and write project are: topic,
4. to write a message indicating what
1. to help learners choose their topic he/she has selected,
argumentative essay topics, 5. to help other classmates by replying
WIKIS:collaborative e-tools to write in EFL
WIKIS:collaborative e-tools to write in EFL
2. to discuss with their e-peers their to their posts.
topic selection,
3. to watch videos related to TOPIC SELECTION INTERACT
REFINING TOPICS Week 2: Creating their Wiki pages
their topics in order to listen to COLLABORATE
During week 2, students start creating their own Wiki pages, in order to share their ideas and
other people’s ideas and collect
publish their drafts and final versions of their essays, giving them a sense of authorship with an
evidences to support their
authentic audience in mind.
arguments.
Students are asked to:
4. to discuss the ideas related to
1. To start writing in their wiki pages,
their topics after watching these READ WATCH WRITE
2. To add a title to this page,
videos,
3. To write their reasons for selecting this topic.
5. to write about their topic selection
and how they are shaping their GATHER INFORMATION LISTEN TO OTHER
SHARE AND
DIFFERENT SOURCES PEOPLE´S
PUBLISH
Week 3: Reading about argumentative essays
essays, IDEAS
Students are asked to:
6. to publish their argumentative
1. To read information about argumentative essays,
essays.
2. To post a summary about what they have learned about argumentative essays in their Wiki
pages.
How:
Learners were asked to, after selecting their topics to write an argumentative essay, to listen to
Week 5: Publishing their essays
videos and read articles related to their topics. Learners were given instructions about topics,
guidelines to write an argumentative essay and to use the Wiki as a collaborative writing tool. Students are asked to:
1. to publish their argumentative essays,
Piloting process i.e.
This poster session will illustrate how three students using this wiki were piloted, in order to explore 2. To comment on their peers´ essays, i.e.
how Reading and Writing II students responded to this kind of collaboratively writing and editing 3. To ask two questions related to their
tool. I consider the piloting process as an important part of the integration of Wikis into the EFL peers´ essay topics.
class: teachers and students have the opportunity to understand the pros and cons of using Wikis
to make students share their ideas and write collaboratively. Week 6: Reflecting about their Wikis
Students are asked to:
Defining wikis 1. Reflect on the use of wikis to support
“Wiki” refers to a special type of Web site that allows and encourages all users to edit and add pages the writing process of their argumentative
within the site. Wikis offer learners with the opportunity of writing collaboratively – learners, apart essays.
from having editorial control when using wikis, build a sense of responsibility and ownership for Students comments on the Read Watch and Write Wiki
the site. When using wikis, learners, are not only learning to publish content; they are also learning “My experience writing in this wiki made improve many written English that I had before starting
how to develop collaborative skills and negotiating meaning with others (Richardson, 2006). Wikis, writing in this project.” (Student A)
as Web 2.0 tools, add social and collaborative dimensions to the classroom (Adie, 2006). Wikis “ It is very important to any one who is learning a foreign language improve his or her reading
have served a number of purposes in education. One of them is to provide learners with an open and writing to add more vocabulary and learn more grammatical structures.” (Student B)
collaborative space to write collaboratively. Wikis provide a structure that supports a community “This Wiki made me share my writing with others.” (Student C)
of practice a model of learning: learners share knowledge, bringing their previous experiences “I felt uncomfortable at the beginning, but after writing in this wiki, I starting gaining confidence.”
to the group and learning from the group existing practices (Wenger, 1998). Wikis are changing (Student B).
the way learners write, but most importantly, teachers can use different Web 2.0 applications in
Conclusion
order to promote the use of the four language modalities: listen/watch, read, write and implicitly
improve the way learners speak. Wikis, as collaborative tools, need to be integrated to the classroom in order to allow learners to
plan, create, revise, edit and publish their texts, but most significantly, working together with other
classmates in the process of constructing new knowledge. Wikis can function as powerful social
Procedures for integrating the read, watch and write Wiki with a Reading and Writing e-tools if teachers integrate them pedagogically into their classroom activities. In order to attain
course this, Wikis need to:
• promote writing as a process,
Step 1: Registration process
• encourage learners to interact and work collaboratively,
1. Visit your Readwatchwrite Wiki.
• make learners discuss about and reflect upon their essay topics to narrow them down.
Recommendations for tutors:
After piloting this Wiki to understand how it could be used as a collaborative e-tool to write in EFL,
I would like to recommend tutors to:
• Plan Wiki tasks and integrate them into collaborative class projects. (Byron, 2005).
• Provide clear instructions.
• Design tasks in order to stimulate collaborative writing.
• Discourage ´product oriented writing´. (Lamb, 2004).
• Offer online (e-mail) and, if possible, face to face support.
• Understand that not all students have a computer with Internet connection at home. Tasks,
then, need to be planned within realistic schedules.
“By incorporating wikis into the classroom, educators can better
prepare students to make innovative uses of collaborative software tools” [for their university
and professional lives]. (Parker and Chao, 2007)
References Lamb, B. (2004). Wide open spaces: Wikis, ready or not. EDUCAUSE Review, 39(5) (September/October), 36-48. Retrieved November 2006
Adie, C. (2006). Report of the information services working group on collaborative tools. Retrieved November 2006 from: from: http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp?bhcp=1
http://www.is.ed.ac.uk/content/1/c4/10/46/CollaborativeToolsAndWeb2%200.pdf Parker, K. & Chao, J. (2007). Wiki as a Teaching Tool. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects, 3.
Byron, M. (2005). Teaching with Tiki. Teaching Philosophy, 28(2), 108-113. Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Wenger, E (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/teadiraposter-100323180718-phpapp02/85/Poster-session-IATEFL-Cardiff-2009-1-320.jpg)
