Constructionism holds potential for educational research. The qualitative research study presented here investigated learning experiences in a collaborative authorship project designed according to the principles of constructionism. We found a set of three characteristics at the core of constructionist learning: learner agency, focused tinkering,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the effects of group-to-whole student-led oral discussion and small-group collaborative drafting as pre-writing tasks on Iranian intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' writing performance. Additionally, the difference between the writing components was examined.…

A "wiki" is an easy-to-use online tool for teachers and students, as it is a collaborative website that provides the opportunity to develop and modify its content to every member in an interactive and fast way. This paper comparatively describes experiences in the implementation of "wikis" as voluntary activities in first-year…

This paper is a reflection of my own individualistic participation in the EDUC 5001G: Principles of Learning (PoL) class wiki assignment. Specifically, I investigate the need for increased scaffolding strategies to facilitate direct collaboration among its participants. In order to do this, I first conducted a preliminary examination of the…

Online learning as a choice in higher education has grown exponentially. Research has indicated the importance for instructors to provide opportunity for student collaboration through use of online tools such as wikis, discussion boards, and group projects. A survey methodology was employed to gather higher education students' opinions on both…

This study seeks to understand how first-year teacher education students in a Hong Kong university employed wikis, together with other Web 2.0 tools, in support of group work. Taking a holistic approach, the investigation included the technological tools designed by the instructor, and those tools employed by students themselves outside the…

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) systems have been found to enhance the accuracy, readability, and cohesion of writing responses (Stevenson & Phakiti, 2019). Previous research indicates that individual learners may have difficulty utilizing content-based AWE feedback and collaborative processing of feedback might help to cope with this…

This article explores the effects of collaborative reverse subtitling as an activity for the promotion of writing skills in English as a second language. An initial analysis is undertaken of the pros and cons of the role of translation in second language learning historically and the role of information and communication technology in this…

Although scholars have investigated the ways youths individually enact composing practices and the impact of audience on these practices, this study examines the impact of an audience physically present while composing in a shared, public space--an ambient audience. Blurring the line between traditional notions of audience and collaborator through…

To investigate how college students understand and use cloud technology for collaborative writing, the authors studied two asynchronous online courses, on science communication and on technical communication. Students worked on a group assignment (3-4 per group) using Google Docs and individually reflected on their experience writing…

This paper reports the use of Google Docs in a master's degree program as an online tool for collaborative co-construction of knowledge and self-assessment. Participants included eighty graduate teachers in a master's degree. The study employed a mixed method approach. Among the tools applied were a questionnaire, focus group discussions,…

The influence of students' non-cognitive characteristics on their learning performance constitutes a significant but rather unexplored topic. The goal of the research presented in this article, is to examine the relation between the students' personality characteristics (as measured using the Big Five Personality Test) and their learning outcome…

Curriculum transformation is a central concern for higher education in response to rapidly expanding technologies, globalisation and the widening diversity of the student and staff body. This is particularly true for South Africa, which is still grappling with inequalities and pressure for social redress in its universities. Early responses to…

In this paper I will report on a personal experimentation with Facebook and wikis as collaborative learning tools. The aims of implementing these strategies were to develop students' writing skills and to change their attitudes towards learning in the digital age. I delved into this research because I do believe that learning in the new millennium…

In January 2014, 62 students graduated from the first for-credit course dedicated to Wikipedia. Learning focused on improved consumption of information, and collaborative construction of knowledge using the Wikipedia platform. This paper investigates the design and implementation of this course model, while highlighting the benefits and challenges…