Sunday, November 22, 2009
Etherpad-perfect for collaborative writing
Etherpad is awesome! I have been using Google Docs and Wiki for collaboration writing for my classes and my own studies, however, there are some limitations, including problematic same time multiple editing as well as tracking of individual works. With Etherpad, these two problems no longer exist. One more advantage is that each collaborator is color coded, which makes it easy to identify the collaboration among peers in the group. The activity we have done in class was a great example. In addition to demonstrating individual's writing, it gives students to learn from peers. Having the group to complete the story together allows not only construction and creativity of writing but also peer editing to occur in the production process. Etherpad definitely is one great tools for teachers of all levels to incorporate into their classrooms in literacy developing process. The only concern is that it's not a secured or private environment. Anyone can join or intrude the collaboration as long as he has the url. Teachers have to be extra cautious while working with young learners. Other than that, I'm confident that it will work well into all literacy classroom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The privacy limitations are a concern, but seem to be somewhat limited by the fact that one must have the url. I know that this concern would have to be considered, but at least it is not quite as public as a blog or some social networking sites. Are you planning to use it in a specific way? I would love to hear how it works in an actual classroom setting.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree the Etherpad exercise we were shown in class a few weeks ago was cool and would allow students to creatively and collaboratively work on a literature or be a valuable tool with literature discussion groups. I don't know if I am at the stage to integrate it into the classroom, but it will a tool that I can utilize in the future.
ReplyDeleteYes, Beth. I actually have used it with my tutee for writing activities in one tutoring lesson. The first exercise is sentence correction. I wrote a sentence with errors and his job is to make correction. The second exercise is scramble. My tutee has problem with identifying parts of speech and the sequence of them in a sentence. What did was that I provided parts of speech in random orders and he was to make a sentence with the parts provided. The third is a spontaneous free writing, where I was able to provide real time feedback. It worked well for my tutee. The only problem is that he felt pressured typing!
ReplyDeleteGreat that you are using this tool already. I do think it has great potential or tools similar to this. One nice thing is that it is free! Your concern about privacy is a good one - I do think you can 'buy' a license and get a little more security. Not sure, but I think maybe so.
ReplyDeleteYou use Etherpad with your tutee in some really great ways! It's awesome that you're using it already (or perhaps before we learned about it in class?). Regardless, I like the way that you used scaffolding to create various levels of activities with your tutee. I'm sure that the more you do those kinds of activities the less pressure he will feel!
ReplyDelete