I:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\Conference

paperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc3/6/20122:40:40PM1Citedas:Tavares,N.
,Chu,S.
K.
W.
&Weng,M.
(2011).
ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSites.
PaperpresentedatCITEResearchSymposium2011,TheUniversityofHongKong,HongKong.
ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesNicoleTavares,Chu,SamuelKaiWahandMurielWengAbstract:AconsiderableamountofresearchhasshowntheadvantagesofintegratingWeb2.
0technologieswithlanguageteachingtostudents.
Specifically,thispaperwillshedlightonthepositiveeffectsofGoogleSitesinteachingandlearningEnglishafterthepilotschemeofonlinecollaborativewritingonGoogleSitesimplementedbyfourlocalprimaryschools,revealedbythequalitativedatasuchassamplesofstudentsandteachersrevisionsandcomments,aswellastheresultofthefocusgroupinterviews.
BothstudentsandteachersrevisionsandcommentsrevealthatmostoftheadvantagesofusingGoogleSitesaccordwiththosesuggestedbypreviousresearchstudies.
SomeconcernswillalsoberaisedtoofferinsightsintoaseriousattempttointegrateWeb2.
0andteachinglanguageunderthecontextofHongKonginthefuture.
Keywords:Collaborativelearning,Englishwriting,primaryschools,GoogleSites,Wikis,HongKong1.
IntroductionWritinginEnglishhasalwaysbeenachallengetomanylocalstudentsinprimaryschools.
Acknowledgingthefruitfulresultsofusingweb-basedcollaborativetoolsinconductingprojectsacrossdifferentsubjects(Woo,Chu,Ho&Li,2011),thestudyofExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesaimstoexaminetheextenttowhichcollaborativelearninginaWeb2.
0environmentcanenhancestudentswritingperformance.
Web2.
0technologieshavebeenchosentobethetoolsusedinthisstudybecausetheyprovideafreeonlinecollaborativeplatformforstudentstoco-constructtheirgroupprojectswiththeteachersfacilitation,enablingtimelyfeedback,monitoringoftheirworkandappropriateinterventions.
2.
LiteratureReviewNewtechnologieshavehadatremendousimpactontheteachingandlearningofEnglishwritinginthelastfewdecades(Goldberg,Russell,&Cook,2003).
ManystudieshavestartedtoappearontheapplicationofWeb2.
0ineducationinvolvingcollaborativetoolscalledwikis(Woo,Chu,Ho&Li,2011,p.
43).
GoogleSitesisakindofwikiwhichisa"collaborativewebspacewhereanyonecanaddcontentandanyonecaneditcontentthathasalreadybeenpublished"(Richardson,2006,p.
8).
Hossain&Aydin(2011)suggestedthatsocialnetworkingapplicationssuchasblogs,forums,podcasts,andwikisarethesuccessfulimplementationsofthenewgenerationWeb2.
0technologies(p.
116)whichenableuserstodevelopacollaborativevirtualsocietytoshareinformationinteractivelyandinteroperably(p.
118).
AconsiderablyamountofstudiesinthepastdecadehaspointedoutthebenefitsofGoogleSitesandothersimilarwikis.
Firstofall,itcanpromotesocialandachievementmotivation.
Alexander(2006)suggestedthattheinteractiveandread-writenaturesofWeb2.
0technologiescouldfacilitateusersparticipationinandbuildmanyrichanduser-centeredvirtualcommunitiesthatcouldattractmorepeopletoparticipateandinteractinI:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc1/26/20102buildingmanycollaborativesocietiessimultaneously.
Also,providingagenuineaudienceenhanceslearnermotivation,whichhelpsL2studentsbecomemoreengagedwriters(Lo&Hyland,2007).
Likewise,ascitedinTrentin(2009),wikisallowlearnerstobeactivelyinvolvedintheirownknowledgeconstruction(Boulosetal.
2006)andintheco-writingprocesses(Parker&Chao,2007).
Obviously,wikisareabletomotivateeverystudenttogetinvolvedinthewritingprocessandcontributetheirbestinknowledgeconstructionduetosocialmotivation.
Apartfromignitingstudentsmotivationtogetinvolvedinthewritingprocess,GoogleSiteisalsoconvenientforstudentstocontributetotheproject.
AccordingtoWoo,Chu,Ho&Li(2011),wikisallowsstudentstoworkattheirownpace.
Hossain&Aydin(2011)alsosuggestedthatwikisallowuserstohavedifferentlevelsofaccesstoeditordeletecontent.
Studentscancontributeaccordingtotheiravailabilityaswellastheirability.
Moreover,GoogleSiteiseasyforstudentstouse.
Creatingoreditingawikirequiresonlybasiccomputingknowledge–noprogrammingknowledgeatall.
SoprimaryschoolstudentsnowadayswhoaredigitalnativesshouldfindwikislikeGoogleSitesnotdifficulttolearn.
AccordingtoNicol,Littlejohn&Grierson(2005),theeasyaccessibility,simplicityandtransparencyofwikipageshelpslearnerstoshareinformationandresourcesamongtheirteammembersandacrossgroups.
Wikishasproventobemanageabletothegenerationofdigitalnatives.
Thetopicsofthecollaborativewritingcanbemorepersonal,suchasinvitingstudentstowriteoneoftheaspectsoftheirsecondaryschoollife(Sze2010),orcontent-basedlikethreeinstructionalsciencesthemes:behaviorism,cognitivism,andconstructivism(Zhu,Valcke&Schellens,2009)sothatallstudentsregardlessofabilitycancontributetotheproject.
Woo,Chu,Ho,&Li(2009)didasimilarstudytoexplorethechallengesandpotentialbenefitsthatawikimaybringtostudentsandteachersinaPrimaryfiveEnglishclass.
Theresultshowedthatthestudentsheldapositiveattitudetowardstheprocessandtheproductofthecollaborativewriting.
AmorerecentstudybyWoo,Chu,Ho,&Li(2011)hasreconfirmedthatstudentsenjoyedusingthewikiandtheoverallperceptionwasthatithelpedfosterteamworkandimprovewriting.
Althoughafewstudieshaveshedapositivelightintheareaofusingtechnologiessuchaswikistocomposeandrevisetextwithprimaryschoolchildren,thenumberofarticleswhichdiscussedspecificallytheeffectsofGoogleSitesorwikisinteachingEnglishwritinginprimaryschoolisstillverylimited.
Sofar,noresearchhasbeenfoundtoinvolveseveralschoolsasawholeintheinvestigationundertheHongKongcontext.
WhetherornotGoogleSitesareapplicabletomostofyounglearnersattheprimaryschoollevelinHongKongneedsfurtherinvestigation.
Thisstudyaimstoaddressthesegaps,bydescribingtheeffectofusingGoogleSitesforcollaborativeEnglishwritingonlineaswellasthe,withtheexampleoffourlocalprimaryschoolsinHongKong.
3.
ResearchMethod3.
1ParticipantsFourlocalprimaryschoolsincludingFK,HS,SPandKSwereinvitedtoparticipateinthisprojectsoastoensureasufficientquantityofwritingscouldbeproducedtoexaminetheeffectofonlinecollaborativewriting.
Studentswereaskedtodoacollaborativewritingonpaperinthefirstterm,thentodowritingonwikiinthesecondtermsoastorefinetheirreadingandwritingskills.
Thefourschoolsweredifferentfromeachotherintermsofthenumberofclassesinvolved,thecompositiontopicandtheimplementationplan.
FKinvolvedtwoclassesandthetopicofwritingisOurWeekendActivities.
Onlygroupentrywithindividualwritingofallgroupmembersisrequired,forinstance,inAppendixA,Gp03referstogroup3swork.
TherearealsotwoclassesparticipatinginonlinecollaborativewritingforHS,buttheimplementationplanismorecomplicatedwithCheungChauBunFestivalbeingthetopic.
Studentsfromthetengroupsneedtodoagroupmind-mapping,presentationsandpeerevaluationbeforeputtingthegroupscript-writingandPowerPointslidesonGooglesites.
AnexamplecanbefoundinAppendixB.
ThetopicofSPisLostwhilethetopicofKSWisGoodPerson,GoodDeeds.
ButSPhasadifferentapproachofimplementationwhichrequiresindividualtowriteonpaperandthenpostitonGoogleSitesforgroupandteacherfeedback.
AllstudentsareensuredtocontributetotheGoogleSites(seeleftrollofclassnumberinAppendixC).
FourclassesareinvolvedinKSW(seeAppendixD)witheighttoninegroupsperclass.
Therearelessgroupmemberswithinthegroup,unliketheotherthreeschools.
3.
2InterventionProgramI:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc3Therewerepre-andwhile-interventionprofessionaldevelopmentworkshopsthattheteacherslearnthowtoconductprocesswriting.
Teacherswouldtheninterveneinstudentswritingsinbothpen-and-paperformatandviaGoogleSites.
Theroleofteacherswascompromisedintheworkshoptomakesureeveryteacherunderstandtheirresponsibilitiesandtheirroleofafacilitator.
3.
3DataCollection3.
3aFocusGroupInterviewswithTeachersandStudentsFocusgroupinterviewswereconductedsoastogatherstudentsopinionstowardstheusageofGooglesitestodotheirwritings.
Ingeneral,mostoftheteachersandstudentsheldapositiveattitudetowardsGoogleSites.
Somequalitativedatawillbequotedinthepart4.
3.
3bDocumentaryAnalysisoftheStudents'progressGoogleSitepagehistoryisabletorevealinformationontypesofrevisionsthatoccurred,allowingatraceofhowdifferentpeerfeedbacksleadtoactualrevisions,resultinginbettergroupwritingasaresult.
Thisadvantageisthecrucialadvantageforprocesswritingasitcanshowtheimprovementofstudentsduringaperiod.
AsWhile&Ardnt(1991)suggested,processwritingis"acomplex,cognitiveprocessthatrequiresintellectualeffortoveraconsiderableperiodoftime".
Qualitativeandquantitativedatawerecollectedandexaminedthroughmultiplesourcesofevidence,includingevaluationofstudentsgroupwriting,studentscommentspostedonwikiplatformandeditinginformationrecordedinthewikishistorypage.
4.
FindingsandDiscussion4.
1PeerPressuretowriteShownbyAppendixE,peersurgethewritertowritesomethingforthemtoread.
Whereisyouwriting","Wereyourwritingeatenbyyourself"aresomeexamplesoftheirrequesttourgethewriterwritesomething.
PeermonitoringispossiblewithGoogleSites,whichismoreeffectiveandabletoshareteachersworkload.
4.
2PeerLearningStudentsarecapableofleavingmeaningfulcommentsregardingspelling,grammar,organizationandrationality.
Inmanycases,themistakethatiseasiestforallstudentstospotoutisspellingmistake(AppendixF).
ShownbyAppendixG,strongerstudentscanevenlistoutanumberofcorrectionsatonetimeinacomment.
Also,averagestudentscancommentontherationalityofthestorylikethefollowinginstanceemthasizingtheimpossibilityofBigBuddhainTaiMoShan.
Mostimportantly,studentsofferhelptoeachotherwhensomeofthemhavequeries.
Anexampleisthatapeerstudentsaid"YourwritingisgoodbutIdonotthemeaningoftruthful",thewriterthenanswers"truthfulmeanshonest".
Thecommonplatformenablesmutualappreciation.
Asquotedbyastudentinthefocusgroupinterview,"IfweuseGoogleSitesasthecollaborativeplatform,wereadthewritingsfromotherclassesandcommentonourclassmatesworkinordertoexchangeviews.
Ifwewriteitonpaper,wecanjustreadafewpiecesofwritings.
"4.
3Teachers'SupportTeacherswerenoticedtoactasafacilitatorthroughouttheproject.
Constructivecommentslikethefollowingexampleweregivenbyteacherstogiveguidancetostudentsinhowtowritebetter.
I:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc1/26/20104Also,encouragementswereseentobegivenbyteacherstomotivatestudentstostrivefortheirbest.
Inthisexample,MissKwokandMissCheungpraisedthewriterandencouragehimtokeepwriting.
Alltheparticipatingteacherswerenoticedtobeawareoftheirroleasafacilitatorandtotrytheirbesttodrivethestudentstoimprovetheirwriting.
4.
5BenefitsofGoogleSiteinitselfStudentswereaskedabouttheadvantagesofGoogleSitesregardinghowithadaidedtheirgroupproject.
Outofmanyadvantages,twoofthemstoodouttobethemostimportantintheeyesofstudents---theaccessibilityandtheconvenienceofeditingandsearchinginformation.
4.
5aAccessibilityS5A:"Wecandoourworkbothathomeandatschool.
"S1A:"IfweuseGoogleSites,allgroupmemberscandothegroupprojectatthesametime,unlikeMicrosoftWord.
Itissimplerandeasiertomanage.
"S5C:"Ifyousaveit,youcanloginandaccessitonanycomputer.
Itismoreconvenientthanusingpaper.
"Intheeyesofstudents,GoogleSitescanbeaccessedanytimeanywhere,whichisconvenientforthemtoworkasanindividualorasagroup.
4.
5bConvenienceofeditingandsearchinginformationS2D:"Ifwetypesomethingwrong,wecansimplypressthedeletebuttontoamendtheerrors.
Ifwewritesomethingwrongonpaper,wehavetowastecorrectionpen.
"S7:"wecancheckthosewordswedonotknowusingthedictionary[onGoogleSites],andcantranslatetheChinesewordsintoEnglish…forthosewordswedonotknow.
"S1A:"Workingonlineismoreconvenientandwehavethemotivationtoaccomplishthetask.
"Itisclearthatstudentsfinditmoreconvenientandeasytoedittheirworkthroughclickingafewbuttons.
TheadditionalfunctionofGoogleSitesintranslationalsomotivatesstudentstoaccomplishthetask.
5.
ConclusionandTeachingImplicationThebasicadvantageofpeercorrectionisthatitwillgivestudentsextensivepracticeindevelopingskillsnecessaryforeditingandrevisingtheirpapersbeforetheyreachtheirfinaldestination(Witbeck,1976,p322).
Ingeneral,thestudentsenjoyedusingthewikiasithelpedthemtoexperienceimprovementsinEnglishwritingandpeer-to-peerinteraction.
ItalsofacilitatesthemtoworkbetterasateamthroughtheconvenienceofGoogleSites.
Withtheroleofapeerreviewer,itisnoticedthatstudentsdoreadandwritemoreinEnglish.
Byreadingandleavingcomments,peerlearningandpeerteachingisfosteredamongallstudentsregardlessoftheextent,whichshowsthatcollaborativewritingonGoogleSitesisnotonlybeneficialtohighachieversbutallstudents.
Moreover,studentscommentscanserveasanadditionalavenuefortheteachertodiagnosestudentsunderstanding.
Butseveralquestionsarelefttobeanswered.
ShownbyAppendix(H),L1wasusedbythestudentsinonlinediscussionstoexpresssomedifficultconceptslikeindentationofparagraphs.
DespitethebenefitsofI:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc5maximizingstudentschancestouseEnglishasthemediumofcommunication,itiscommonlyagreedthatpeopleexpresstheirideasbetterintheirmother-tongues.
WhetherL1orL2shouldbeusedintheinteractionamongstudentsneedsfurtherresearchinthefuture.
Toconclude,asEngstrom&Jewett(2005)suggested,theeffectivenessofwikiapplicationinlearningandteachingdependson"carefulplanningandtrainingofbothstudentsandinstructorstofamiliarizethemwiththetechnology"(ascitedinWooetal,2011).
Obviously,asystematicapproachwithacomprehensiveplanwhichfamiliarizestudentsandteacherswiththeuseofGoogleSitesisofutmostimportancetothesuccessfulintegrationofweb-basedcollaborativewritingintothecurriculum.
Thepassionofbothstakeholderscanpopularizethetrendfurthermoreinthefuture.
ReferencesAlexander,B.
(2006).
Web2.
0–anewwaveofinnovationinteaching-learning.
Retrievedfromhttp://net.
educause.
edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0621.
pdfLo,J.
,&Hyland,F.
(2007).
Enhancingstudents'engagementandmotivationinwriting:ThecaseofprimarystudentsinHongKong.
JournalofSecondLanguageWriting,16,219-237.
Goldberg,A.
,Russell,M.
,&Cook,A.
(2003).
Theeffectofcomputersonstudentwriting:Ameta-analysisofstudiesfrom1992to2002.
TheJournalofTechnology,Learning,andAssessment,2(1),retrievedDecember10,2010,from,http://escholarship.
bc.
edu/jtla/vol2/1/.
I:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc1/26/20106Hossain,M.
,Aydin,H.
(2011).
AWeb2.
0-basedcollaborativemodelformulticulturaleducation,MulticulturalEducation&TechnologyJournal,5(2),116–128Nicol,D.
,Littlejohn,A.
,&Grierson,H.
(2005).
Theimportanceofstructuringinformationandresourceswithinsharedworkspacesduringcollaborativedesignlearning.
OpenLearning,20(1),31–49.
Richardson,W.
(2006).
Blogs,wikis,podcastsandotherpowerfulWebtoolsforclassrooms.
ThousandOaks,CA:CorwinPress.
Sze,P.
(2010).
OnlineCollaborativeWritingUsingWikis.
Retrievedfromhttp://iteslj.
org/Techniques/Sze-Wikis.
htmlTrentin,G.
(2009).
UsingaWikitoEvaluateIndividualContributiontoCollaborativeLearningProject.
JournalofComputerAssistedLearning,25,43–55.
White,R.
&Arndt,V.
(1991).
Processwriting.
London:Longman.
Witbeck,C.
(1976).
PeerCorrectionProceduresforIntermediateandAdvancedESLCompositionLessons.
TESOLQuaterly,10(3),pp.
321-326.
Retrievedfromhttp://www.
jstor.
org/stable/3585709Woo,M.
,Chu,S.
,Ho,A.
,&Li,X.
(2011).
UsingaWikitoScaffoldPrimary-SchoolStudents'CollaborativeWriting.
EducationalTechnology&Society,14(1),43–54.
Woo,M.
,Chu,S.
,Ho,A.
,&Li,X.
(2009).
CollaborativeWritingwithaWikiinaPrimaryFiveEnglishClassroom.
Proceedingsofthe2009InternationalConferenceonKnowledgeManagement[CD-ROM].
HongKong,Dec3-4,2009.
Zhu,C.
,Valcke,M.
,Schellens,T.
(2009).
ACross-culturalStudyofOnlineCollaborativeLearning.
MulticulturalEducation&TechnologyJournal,3(1),pp.
33–4I:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc7AppendixAAppendixBI:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc1/26/20108AppendixCI:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc9AppendixDAppendixEI:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc1/26/201010AppendixFAppendixGI:\Sam-research\QEF\Publications\ConferencepaperofCITERS2011\ExperimentingwithEnglishcollaborativewriting(Nicole)\ExperimentingwithEnglishCollaborativeWritingonGoogleSitesv2.
doc11AppendixH