Pedagogical Innovation
Pedagogical Innovation with Technology
To encourage collaborative learning and group work, I created a wiki for my technical writing students.
Thanks to the wiki, students are able to communicate outside the classroom to work on group projects. In addition, the wiki provides a space for various students to revise group documents online without having to print their drafts.
The wiki is helpful for the following reasons:
It encourages students to work independently. Writing happens on their own time, outside the classroom.
It facilitates group work outside the classroom. Students can meet through the wiki without having to travel to campus. These students learn to work via internet when it is inconvenient to do so in person.
It teaches students to work using a different (and potentially challenging) form of communication and collaboration.
It provides a setting in which draft workshops can take place. The wiki records who makes changes to each document, so the writer always knows who has contributed to his or her piece.
The wiki also provides a space for a chat room. Students may use this tool to exchange ideas instantaneously, or to communicate with the instructor.
2020 UPDATE: Collaborative work with Google Docs is a breeze. Students can work on the same document simultaneously. This exercise provides good practice for peer support and peer reviews. For collaborative research projects, Google Sites offers an easy-to-use platform where students can upload and organize their findings. If you're looking for a place where students can upload quick responses with images or files, try https://padlet.com/. It's like a interactive bulletin board where students can share their responses and ideas.
Post-pandemic: Zoom has revolutionized teaching. Remote instructor grants access to students who cannot attend the classroom. Students can still interact using the embedded whiteboard, polling tools, annoating as a group (hypothes.is), and more.
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