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9 - How Does Collaborative Practice Facilitate Learning? Processes Involved in a Wiki-mediated Collaborative Writing Task

from Part III - Productive Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

Christian Jones
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
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Summary

This chapter investigates some of the processes involved in the practice of on-line collaborative learning. Collaborative practice, in this environment, is defined as the ways in which learners interact with one another through a wiki in order to complete a group writing task. The processes involved in this practice are amenable to investigation through a qualitative analysis of the learners’ wiki postings. Features of collaborative practice revealed through the analysis included: (a) a strong ‘social presence’ in each group, which is seen as a contributory factor to successful task completion and student participation; (b) high levels of equality and ‘mutuality’ of student participation; and (c) the use of scaffolding and peer feedback, in the interests of both formal accuracy as well as style of writing, with students adopting the roles of critical friends and ‘teachers-in-waiting’. Effective collaborative practice also needs training directed at helping students develop their proof-reading skills, as well as their confidence, ability and willingness to comment on their own and each other’s work in the wiki environment. .

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