From Entertainment to Education: Can Social Software Engage the Reticent Writer?

5th European Association for Academic Writing Conference  

30th June- 2nd July 2009Coventry University, UK

 Dr Amanda Tinker and Gillian Byrne

University of Huddersfield

Reticent Writers“Writing is something that I knew I would find hard from the beginning, and I found the essays a challenge…English has never been my strong point.”

“At first I struggled to find a starting point; I kept writing something and then kept crossing it out. I did this several times…”

“I did begin to start the work for my essay, however soon became bored and unmotivated, choosing to leave that and start a more appealing project. I was only putting off completing the essay, as I dislike them so much.”

“I have been out of education of 3 years which as a result meant getting back into the swing of writing essays was difficult.”

Great expectations of ICT

Ipsos MORI on behalf of JISC (2007) Great expectations of ICT: How Higher Education institutions are measuring

up [online]. Available at: < http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/ studentexpectations.aspx> [Accessed 20th February 2009]

75%Recognised

value for enhanced learning

25%Encouraged by academicsSocial

networking tools

Outline

• Case studies of the technology• Wikis – Collaborative research & writing• Blogs – Reflective Writing

• Pedagogic issues – level of integration • Student feedback

• Concluding thoughts

Social Networking

PostgraduateMBAIBM2Marketing

PilotBridging Course

Harness

enthusiasm

Engagement Web 2.0

technologies

Ning: Student Evaluation

‘It was good and different trying

out the new technology; it broke the day up well.’ ‘It was

attracting my

attention to keep working

and not to be bored.’

Why (and which) Wiki?

PBworks (www.pbwiki.com)“As Easy as a Peanut

Butter Sandwich”!

Collaborative Writing/Resear

ch

Teamwork

StructuredMultimedia

Password

protected

Link fromVLE

Integrated

Learning ‘Need’

Module IntegrationExample Module Sessions Wiki Activity

Introduction to module and ‘Getting to know your team’

Writing individual profiles on wiki front page, team photographs and what they hope to achieve in the module; team visit to art exhibition and writing collaborative exhibition review

Team work and team building Establishing team ground rules, area for team meeting notes and actions

Time Management and Project Planning

Developing team project plan

Academic Research Space to collate collaborative research findings for team project

Harvard Referencing Collaborative creation of reference list

Oral presentations PowerPoint slides can be uploaded onto the wiki for team collaboration and editing

Reflective Writing Area on the wiki with questions to prompt reflection on teamwork project and process

Example

Art and Design

Wiki – Concluding Thoughts

“The wiki was a very useful tool to consolidate our group work “

Collaborative research, writing and referencing

Monitor team performance

Communication - email/text/facebook

Organisational skills

AppealLearning curve

Peer Learning

Integrated Learning Portfolio Module

Fabric Development

& Design

Fibre to Product

Design Contextual Studies for Textiles & Fashion

Visual Research

Academic/Company/Market Research

Essay writing

Referencing

TeamworkTechnical Research

Report writing

Oral Presentations

From ‘Bolt-on’ to Integrated

Computer-aided Design (CAD)

Capturing reflective writing and learning

Working with: Wordle.com

The Student Voice: Reflective Writing as a Transformative Learning Process“…….understand what you have actually learnt…..helped me see that I have been learning and not noticed [it].”

“…… changed how I will record my learning in the future, ….additionally my formal writing technique has improved.”

“Helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses in depth; useful in documenting my learning development which has had an impact on the way I work.”

“Interesting seeing how ideas/opinions change in space of a year. Useful - reminds me of things enjoyed/ didn’t enjoy. Can help to think up new ideas and see strengths/flaws/improvements needed. Essential to keep learning new things”

“Hard but interesting …..helped me to remember what I had done throughout the year and showed the progress and development made.”

“…..helped me realise what to change next time”

“I now understand how I have developed …..and shows my achievements……thoughtful and gives direction.”

“I’ve found that reflecting on your work allows you to see how and what you can improve and where your strengths lie. I also find it a form of self encouragement and it shows how you are gradually growing.”

“I can now see just how important the blogs will be for future reference. I do intend to use this practice in my second year of study. Even if it is not required by the syllabus next year, it has in the end been extremely helpful to look at my work along the way.”

“Originally I did find it quite tedious having to write blogs online. I saw it as a waste of time, when I could have been doing something more practical. I did not make my first entry until 10th December…but from then onwards, I made entries when I wanted to express my feelings or simply wanted to write about what I was doing to clear my head. I soon discovered that doing so did help my thinking process which reflected on my design process, the two interlinking.” “When we were first told about the blog entry requirements, I

was unsure as to why it was relevant. But as soon as I had done my first I realised how much of a help it was and how it was very useful to write a sort of diary to record our steps and thoughts…I found it extremely useful to reflect on everything and my actions as it pointed out my weaknesses and strengths. I have really learnt from this experience and it had definitely helped my development as it has made me aware of my own feelings.”

Overcoming Barriers and Discovering Value

Engaging Students Level of Technology Integration and Required Commitment

Voluntary/Supplementary

Formative Summative

Compulsory/Integrated

Bridging Course Social Network

Postgraduate Wiki

ILP Blogs

Study Skills Team Wikis

Concluding Thoughts

• No automatic transition from writing for social networking to writing for social learning.

• Clear potential but need to develop mechanisms to enable students to discover and realise this.

• Technology as space for shared and collaborative writing • Creating learning communities – making writing public

• Can we ‘bridge the gap’ and engage students?

• Integration/embedding

• Link to teaching and assessment

• Enjoying writing as a transformative discovery process

Based on qualitative research - one-to-one interviews with students conducted over two years - Jisc has built up a picture of how students are using IT to manage their social lives.

Most are confident and competent IT users, but they are too often unaware of how they could apply their skills to enhance their studies. Phipps recalls interviewing a first-year female arts undergraduate who professed absolute ignorance of e-learning or web applications. "She was updating her blog at an internet café and then started integrating photos from her Flickr site on to the blog. At the end of it she said, 'That's not technology. That's what I do.' “

Hoare, S (2007) 'Students tell universities: Get out of MySpace! Guardian 5 November [online] Available at: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/nov/05/link.students> [Accessed 28 January 2009]. <

Concluding Thoughts

• No automatic transition from writing for social networking to writing for social learning.

• Clear potential but need to develop mechanisms to enable students to discover and realise this.

• Technology as space for shared and collaborative writing

• Creating learning communities – making writing public

• Can we ‘bridge the gap’ and engage students?

• Integration/embedding

• Link to teaching and assessment

• Enjoying writing as a transformative discovery process