This article presents a constructivist writing placement framework, developed from the study of two pilot iterations of a local writing placement mechanism at a large public research university. Through preliminary analysis of data from these pilots, we present a model of constructivist writing placement and demonstrate how it helps move…

Adopting a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, this study explored the impact of electronic writing portfolio on writing performance in English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Two intact classes were first selected and randomly assigned to an electronic writing portfolio group (22 EFL students) and a conventional (i.e. paper-based)…

In group writing, a group works together to compose a well-written text. Web 2.0 has bolstered web-based group writing among linguistic scholars and language teachers. This research examined the impact of web-based group writing on intermediate-level sophomore students majoring in English in colleges in Saudi Arabia. It considered the students'…

This study set to investigate the critical importance of integrating Student Team Achievement Division (STAD) and "WebQuest," STADIBTM for short, on developing the advanced-level argumentative writing skills of L2 English university students. The study employed a pre-posttest comparison of the experimental group (N=54) versus the control…

The present quasi-experimental study aimed at investigating the impact of trained and untrained peer feedback on students' written comment types and writing quality. Significant differences were found in terms of comment types provided: trained students provided a significantly higher number of comments focused on organization and content (global…

This article examines the implementation of a wiki-type platform for lesson planning for teacher candidates in an undergraduate general instructional methods course in the teacher education program of a Midwestern university in the United States. The study draws on the results of two separate sets of analysis involving 159 participants. Teacher…

One of the greatest challenges in literacy education is the ability to provide a practical environment for candidates to apply their knowledge, while still working with their peers and under close faculty supervision. One of the greatest needs of resource-stretched schools is the ability to provide students with additional help in literacy…

Web annotation is a Web 2.0 technology that allows learners to work collaboratively on web pages or electronic documents. This study explored the use of Web annotation as an online discussion tool by comparing it to a traditional threaded discussion forum. Ten graduate students participated in the study. Participants had access to both a Web…

Creativity can be applied to every domain of knowledge and must be seen as an important competence. Supporting social creativity across different domains and disciplines in learning communities is an important part of collaborative process in both university education and in the context of large-scale international projects. In this paper, we…

This paper reports on a pilot study designed to develop writing proficiency in French via collaborative writing activities at intermediate level at the University of Wollongong in Australia. Twenty four students in the final year of French studies program took part in this innovative approach which integrates multimodal functionality of the…

The objective of this study was to develop an online report writing activity that was a constructive and cooperative learning process for a course on traditional general physics experiments. Wiki, a CMC authoring tool, was used to construct the writing platform. Fifty-eight undergraduate students (33 men and 25 women), working in randomly assigned…

Purpose: This paper aims to report on the design and creation of a knowledge management course aimed at facilitating student creation and use of social interactive learning tools for enhanced learning. Design/methodology/approach: The era of social media and web 2.0 has enabled a bottom-up collaborative approach and new ways to publish work on the…

Google Docs and EtherPad are Web 2.0 tools providing opportunity for multiple users to work online on the same document consecutively or simultaneously. Over the last few years a number of research papers on the use of these collaborative tools in a teaching and learning environment have been published. This work builds on that of Brodahl,…

The current study reports on the use of Wiki as an online didactic tool to develop knowledge management (KM) processes in higher education. This study integrates social constructivist principles to learning where learners are pro-active and collaborative through higher order cognitive processes. The study was administered in two countries, namely…

Web 2.0 technologies are becoming popular in teaching and learning environments. Among them several online collaborative writing tools, like wikis and blogs, have been integrated into educational settings. Research has been carried out on a wide range of subjects related to wikis, while other, comparable tools like Google Docs and EtherPad remain…