Collaborative writing involves multiple individuals working together to create written works rather than individually. This allows for real-time or asynchronous editing and reviewing of documents by collaborative groups who can draw on the strengths of all members. Effective collaborative writing requires good communication, defined roles for group members, and clear expectations and assessment criteria from instructors. Theorists recommend starting small collaborative assignments and giving student groups flexibility in their methods while connecting projects to real-world contexts.

1. Collaborative writing

2. The term collaborative writing refers to projects where written works are created by multiple people together (collaboratively) rather than individually. This allows for the editing and reviewing of a text document by multiple individuals either in real-time or asynchronously. Collaborative groups draw upon the strengths of all their members Students practice workplace readiness skills by working collaboratively. Facilitates built-in peer review

3. An Adjustment for Students They are not used to collaborative writing They are used to writing it and turning it in for a grade Only the student & instructor see it It’s individual work They don’t revise it or even think about it again

4. Collaborative Writing More team members Increased need for effective communication Multiple perspectives

5. Effective Teamwork Know your teammates What areas of expertise to team members have? What does each team member hope to achieve? Define roles Team leader Lead writer Proofreader

6. An Adjustment for Teachers Creating an appropriate group task Providing clear expectations Providing group skills training Monitoring group process Conveying assessment criteria clearly Fairly assessing student work

7. Theorists’ Suggestions Don’t begin collaborative writing assignments right away—but do start learning collaboratively from the first day Collaborative assignment should be something better accomplished by a group than by an individual Allow student-initiated collaboration Let the class decide how groups will be constituted

8. Theorists’ Suggestions Give groups flexibility to decide their methods and timetables, but require that they commit them to writing Explain in advance how the project will be graded—ideally, ask for students’ input Give student groups “real purposes” and ”real freedom” Make it fun—”play” can be an additional source of motivation

9. Students’ Suggestions The larger they are, the harder they fall—often, the groups that do best are twos and threes Projects should connect to how a given discourse works in the “real” world Project should require a lot of thought and discussion

10. Students’ Suggestions Assignments often work best when group members can divide work into distinct chunks—but not too many specific components. Don’t make it too large or complex–“Too much work for too many students will totally bring down the quality of the project.” Assignments with low stakes work best—a smaller portion of the grade + more fun/play Assignments that allow creativity are “a plus”

11. Pitfalls & Stumbling Blocks How to grade (“It’s not my fault!”) Too many cooks (“It doesn’t fit together.”) Introverts can get left behind (No one listened.) Too few cooks (“I did all the work.”)

12. Pitfalls & Stumbling Blocks Remembering group decisions (“People forget and go off in their own directions.”) Scheduling (“Scheduling!”) Groups with dissimilar interests (“We couldn’t even agree on a topic.”) Other group problems (“I was working with a complete moron!”)

13. Collaborative Writing Benefits of team-based writing: Multiple perspectives Increased social interaction Skills for conflict resolution Hey! What about me? What forms of technology aid in the collaborative writing process?

14. Applications that Facilitate Collaborative Writing Blogs - http://dowell.typepad.com/harriet_tubman/ Wikis – Cornwall Hill VoiceThreads – Sample Photostory

15. Applications that Facilitate Collaborative Writing PowerPoint – Choose your own Adventure Google Docs Writeboard – collaborative writing software application Zoho Writer – online word processing application