Collaborative writing and commentary in digital environments: an e-learning perspective

07 décembre 2017
09:00 - 19:00

The emergence of collaborative writing technologies including wikis, blogs, etherpad and google docs ultimately allows writing to be situated both as a social practice in its elaboration, production, and publication, and as a multimodal communication practice whereby “different modes offer different potentials for meaning making” (Kress, 2010:79). Teachers in higher education as well as L1 and L2 language teaching practitioners are increasingly turning towards these digital environments to develop and use innovative e-learning and blended learning scenarios in teacher training and in the language classroom that combine collaborative writing and concepts of social and collaborative learning with the added values of digital ‘web 2.0’ platforms. The functionalities of these platforms are used for the creation of didactic writing environments which allow for

• the creation of authentic learning and writing situations (writing for target audiences, writing with peer participation);
• Innovative forms of digital commentary and  feedback that go beyond the walls of the classroom and can be offered in a variety of forms (written, spoken, multimodal; using hyperlinking for connecting text and commentary) by teachers, peers, or an audience;
• Documenting, analysing and reflecting on writing processes;
• training the language skills (planning, formulating, monitoring, revising; orthography and style) which are essential for text writing

This round table aims to bring together applied linguists and teacher trainers who are (i) developing and testing innovative e-learning scenarios for digital writing and for dealing with digital publications in collaborative environments, and (ii) conducting research on corpora compiled from digital writing practices from an e-learning perspective. Its aim will be to present different learning and tutoring scenarios that incorporate digital writing and digital commentary and exchange expertise developed from studying their instantiation. The round table will be open to members of the Universität Duisburg-Essen’s e-learning network and for students enrolled in teacher-training programmes for L1 and L2 teaching and in a certificate for media skills in the classroom.

Programm & ReferentInnen