Calls for accountability focus attention on assessment of student learning. Authentic assessment involves evaluating student learning as students perform real world tasks. We present a four-stage conceptual framework for authentic assessment. We argue first that evaluation is a process rather than a static one-time event. Second, authentic…

This paper aims at proposing a technique for students learning English as a foreign language when they collaboratively write an argumentative essay in a wiki environment. A wiki environment and collaborative work play an important role within the academic writing task. Nevertheless, an appropriate and systematic work assignment is required in…

The article describes Web 2.0 as a revolutionary technology for actual learning. Using the example of the Wikipedia article about Fukushima, it discusses emergent processes of knowledge building and explains how they can be used for learning purposes. The examples make it obvious that it is the social system that makes groups work so effectively.…

In classrooms where lecture is the method of instruction, information often is transmitted with little or no dialogue from a person who possesses knowledge (such as an instructor) to a person who lacks knowledge (such as a student). The authors found this instructional model to be limited. As a result, they integrated second-generation Web or…

Expressions of delight and anticipation are a direct result of a schoolwide writing program designed by teachers to develop language skills in special education students. These second graders participated in a writing project that made use of wikis to facilitate collaboration among the students, parents, teachers, and university members of their…

Two critical issues of the typical computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) systems are inappropriate selection of student groups and inaccurate assessment of individual contributions of the group members. Inappropriate selection of student groups often leads to ineffective and inefficient collaboration, while inaccurate assessment of…

English 1311: Expository English Composition is the first semester course in a two-semester first-year composition (FYC) sequence. Both ENG 1311 and its second-semester counterpart, ENG 1312, are required for all students unless they have transfer credit covering this requirement or place out of one or both of the courses via the College-Level…

This is a partial account of the journey undertaken by a group of academic nomads in search of collaborative writing space. Never intending to permanently settle anywhere, we chose to explore writing technologies that supported collaborative forms of engagement with our task and with each other. Along the way we took up with, and discarded, a…

A Web mashup is an application that combines data and functionality from more than one source. By bringing disparate data together in ways that enable users to do new things or accomplish common tasks with newfound efficiency, mashups are rapidly increasing in number and may offer exciting new possibilities for classroom instruction. However, in…

The problem of the relation of theory to practice in teaching and teacher training has been a major issue of debate for a long time. Well over a century ago, Dewey (1904) discussed the tensions between the role of theoretical insight as a preparation for the teaching profession versus the need for more practical, how-to-do-it courses in which one…

This article presents a course design of English 4090: Collaborative Writing at Work. The course is a senior-level elective designed to reinforce students' existing knowledge of professional writing and to teach students how to apply that knowledge effectively in collaborative contexts. Here, the author focuses on the Spring 2006 class and…

"VideoPaper Builder" (VPB) was originally funded in 2001 through the National Science Foundation's "Bridging Research and Practice" program in recognition of the software's promise to articulate the relevance and facilitate the dissemination of educational research to practicing teachers. After four years and two subsequent…

Many business and technical writing students find classroom discussions of professional ethics interesting and enjoyable. However, when trying to incorporate the content of discussions directly into their writing practices, they often experience difficulties linking ethical concepts to writing process. This article discusses how instructors can…

A teacher of an undergraduate literature course, inspired by the increasing use of collaborative writing in the workplace and by reader-response criticism, required a collaborative writing assignment in the course. A computer laboratory equipped as a local area network (LAN) was instrumental, enabling sustained, serious collaboration. Students…

Reports on the pilot year of a 3-year research program on developing discipline-appropriate models for computer-enhanced collaborative learning. Focusing on a computer program for collaborative drafting among law students, discusses the program's impact on students, impact on teachers, and instructional design issues. (EV)