Reading and Writing Online: WebQuests, wikis and blogsReading and Writing Online: WebQuests, wikis and blogs

Tilly Harrison

University of Warwick

AimsAims

• Hands-on experience of editing a wiki

• Experience of a (mini) WebQuest

• Collaboration

• Chance to reflect, discuss, evaluate

• Fun

OverviewOverview

• Context• New Literacies • WebQuests• Wikis• Own Project - years 1 and 2• How blogs interact• W.W.W. (Wiki WebQuest Workshop)• Types of wiki

New LiteraciesNew Literacies

Discuss in pairs or more

• In your context, what are the key skills needed for reading?

• How are they changing?

• What are the key skills needed for writing?

• How are they changing?

Bloom’s Taxonomy - Cognitive Domain

Bloom’s Taxonomy - Cognitive Domain

• KNOWLEDGE• drawing out factual answers, testing

recall and recognition

• COMPREHENSION • translating, interpreting and

extrapolating

• APPLICATION • to situations that are new, unfamiliar

or have a new slant for students

Cognitive Domain - higher levels of thinking skills

Cognitive Domain - higher levels of thinking skills

• ANALYSIS • breaking down into parts, forms

• SYNTHESIS • combining elements into a

pattern not clearly there before• EVALUATION

• according to some set of criteria, and state why

ConstructivismConstructivism

• Schema Theory • existing background knowledge

• determines interpretation of new experiences• enables us to make predictions

• Knowledge is organised• We recognise patterns

• The learner constructs knowledge making use of what s/he already knows

• The learner is not an ‘empty vessel’• Collaboration, negotiation of meaning and

reflection are key for learning

History of WebQuests History of WebQuests

• Started 1995 (now twelve years old!)

• San Diego State University

• Bernie Dodge and Tom March

• Part of teacher training course

• Now a large and growing site with many examples for all areas of education

Definition of WebQuests Definition of WebQuests

“A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the

information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking

for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and

evaluation.” Dodge

WebQuests and constructivismWebQuests and constructivism

“Built into the WebQuest process are the strategies of cognitive psychology and constructivism. First, the question posed to students can not be answered simply by collecting and spitting back information. A WebQuest forces students to transform information into something else: a cluster that maps out the main issues, a comparison, a hypothesis, a solution, etc.” March 1998

ScaffoldingScaffolding

• “In order to engage students in higher level cognition, WebQuests use scaffolding or prompting which has been shown to facilitate more advanced thinking…

• By breaking the task into meaningful "chunks" and asking students to undertake specific sub-tasks, a WebQuest can step them through the kind of thinking process that more expert learners would typically use..” March 1998

WebQuest essentialsWebQuest essentials

1. Introduction

2. Task

3. Sources

4. Description of Process Steps

5. Guidance

6. Conclusion

WebQuest TaskonomyWebQuest Taskonomy

• Retelling

• Compilation

• Mystery

• Journalistic

• Design

• Creative Product

• Consensus Building

• Persuasion

• Self-Knowledge

• Analytical

• Judgement

• Scientific

WebQuest scaffoldingWebQuest scaffolding

• Reception Scaffolding

– to help the students get started

• Transformation Scaffolding

– to help the students transform the information

• Production Scaffolding

– to help the students show what they have gained

WikisWikis

• Name from Hawaiian meaning ‘quick’• “A type of website that allows users to add and

edit content easily and is especially suited to collaborative writing” Wikipedia

• Changes are recorded so that previous states can be recovered if necessary.

• Accumulative rather than sequential (forums)• Collective rather than individual (blogs)

Examples (all free)Examples (all free)

• Editthis http://www.editthis.info/

• iewiki.net http://iewiki.net/usr/Default.aspx

• PeanutButterwiki http://mitochondriac.pbwiki.com/

• Seedwiki http://www.seedwiki.com/

• Tiddlywiki http://www.tiddlywiki.com/

• Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com/

• Wikiwikiweb http://c2.com/cgi/wiki http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiFarms

BlogsBlogs

• Name from the combination of ‘web’ (Internet) and ‘log’ (diary) which became ‘weblog’ and then ‘we blog’ to give the verb and noun ‘blog’.

• “A user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in reverse chronological order.” Wikipedia

• “A personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.” Blogger.com

• Readers of a blog can leave comments but cannot change entries.

ExamplesExamples

• Blogger http://www.blogger.com/ (free)

• WordPress http://wordpress.org (free)

• Typepad Basic http://www.sixapart.com/typepad (subscription)

• Blogware http://home.blogware.com (via local retailers)

• Movable Type http://www.movabletype.org (for businesses)

• Warwick Blogs http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk (institution-specific)

ComparisonComparison

Blogs Wikis

Personal Communal

Fixed entries Editable entries

Better for opinions, reviews

Better for facts, summaries

Good for autonomy Good for collaboration

Sequential No fixed sequence

CONTEXT OF PROJECTCONTEXT OF PROJECT

• Chinese students at the University of Warwick.

• 2+2

• BA English Language, Translation and Cultural Studies.

• Advanced Language Skills

• Vocabulary

Own Project Year 1Own Project Year 1

• Chinese Undergraduates• Weekly task to add one word to wiki• Gradual build up of relevant vocabulary for

group• Generally positive comments at end of year

but mixed overall - not a clear winner!• Potential for supporting autonomy can be

taken further

ProcessProcess

• Every week each student - one word from their week’s reading.

• Full context sentence and the source reference.

• Definition in a good dictionary.

• Mnemonic using Chinese

• Link to their word on the wiki page for that week.

• Make wiki page for word.

• Editable by teacher and peers

ResultsResults

• Enthusiastic adopters to reluctant or antagonistic

• First year 30 students - huge range of words - not all academic

• Second year 12 students - easier to handle, more sense of community

• Mnemonic a burden for some

TrustTrust

• “Wiki requires not only trust in the technology but also trust in an on-line community.” Jonathan Davies

• “It provides a platform for us to exchange and share words. .. this is also a team work.” ZQ

• “Our pages could be changed by any other people. I think it is very bad.” GY

Positive Comments about wikisPositive Comments about wikis

• A very good way to exchange knowledge• It gives me another chance to see what

books/materials my friends are reading• A good chance to have a weekly practice regularly

- I like the idea of interacting on-line• I can know how the others feel about my work.• It’s easy and fun to edit• It made me get used to pay much attention to the

new words I encountered in my reading

Example of wiki siteExample of wiki site

Example of wiki entryExample of wiki entry

Negative CommentsNegative Comments• How to motivate the students to look at the

website is an essential thing, because last year not many people visit the website regularly

• Personally I prefer paper based homework• I prefer to look up in the dictionary when

learning new words• I think it depends on different people. To me, I

find it did not work very well.• Can be changed easily by accident and the

reliability is in doubt• I just doubt the correctness of those words put

by students.

Lessons for the futureLessons for the future

Students need to build trust in the wiki community

• Autonomy is also a gradual process• Wiki and learners’ autonomy will grow and

strengthen each other• Types of wiki offer rich possibilities for

collaborative projects• Tasks must be directly relevant (integrated

into course)

New directionNew direction

• “You’d better give a long context concluding many useful vocabularies, not only a sentence and a vocabulary, in order to let students learn them and memory (sic) them more easily.”

• Good argument for a text-based wiki - students choose and annotate in groups.

Own Project Year 2Own Project Year 2

• Move to new wiki

• Weekly task to add two words to wiki

• Fortnightly task to ‘blog’ a given topic (personal reflection)

• Wiki is used for a spokesperson to summarise the blog comments

• Wiki can be corrected and changes are available for study

• Other projects such as commenting on academic texts not so successful.

WWW!WWW!

• Get into groups

• Look at the instructions in the handout

• Do the WebQuest for the area you are interested in

• Write up your conclusions on the wiki.

Today’s Three WikisToday’s Three Wikis

• WIKISPACES

http://newtechnologiesinelt.wikispaces.com• SEEDWIKI

http://www.seedwiki.com/new_technologies_in_elt/new_technologies_in_elt

• PBWIKI

http://newtechnologiesinelt.pbwiki.com/

(password=IATEFL)

MicropediaMicropedia

• Vocabulary collections• Customised for class, subject area, interest etc. context

sentences, definitions, mnemonics

• Topic / subject area notebooks• notes on key concepts, examples, questions and

answers

• Knowledge centre on a specific area such as living in **** (town / campus) for benefit of class and future students• what to bring, where to go to shop / eat / have fun,

where to find things out,

FAQFAQ

• Self generated questions and answers• General questions to do with course

content, language issues, learning strategies etc. Answered by peers / teacher / both?

Collaborative writingCollaborative writing

• Group project work on a controversial topic, roles assigned on opposite sides, drafts written read and revised by both parties till a consensus reached for final document (a contract, peace treaty, pay deal etc.)

Creative writingCreative writing

• Students collaborate to create a fantasy story that has choices at strategic points in the plot.

Branching SimulationBranching Simulation

• Given an imaginary situation, students compose choices for action and consequences for each of these.

• Could be used to describe stages and choices in writing an essay.

Multi-actor SimulationMulti-actor Simulation

• Given an imaginary scenario, a number of participants each follow through their choices and actions, intersecting at various points.

• Could be used to describe different learners’ strategies to approaching a task or objective (such as improving speaking skill).

ExegesisExegesis

• Close reading of a text• Set text with added definitions, notes,

questions, comments• Analysis of news story

• Current news item with added definitions, background information, comment

Contact DetailsContact Details

• Email

• Tilly.Harrison@warwick.ac.uk