Improving Students' Wriitng

[nelliemuller]

Hi,
I am interested in using WE with my EFL high school students starting
this Fall. My main purpose is for students to improve their writing. I
used wikispaces last year because I could correct students' written
work by using color (history) so they can compare their work with my
corrections. They got a notice via email each time I made a correction
and they compare their work with mine. However the color option via
the history feature did not always work. In addition, students were
often deleting their own work by mistake and becoming frustrated. I
would appreciate your help and suggestions on how I may be able to use
WE to help students improve their writing.

Thank you.
Nellie Deutsch

[NELLIE DEUTSCH]

Oh my, excuse the typo in the subject line.

--
Nellie Deutsch
Doctoral Student
Educational Leadership
Curriculum and Instruction
http://www.nelliemuller.com
http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd
http://www.building-relationship.com/education
http://blendedlear.ning.com

[Wayne]

Hi Nellie,

I think this is a great idea!

Regarding tutor/lecturer comments, there are a few alternatives you could think about;

1. It would be possible to design a "Comment template" which could be inserted on the actual page -- something similar to the note template (http://wikieducator.org/Template:Note ). In this way you could easily use a different colour for comments. The downside is that the comments may disrupt the flow of the essay but have the advantage that they can be deleted by the user once they have attended to the comment.
2. You could use the <ref></ref> tag to insert comments with the <references/> tag at the bottom of the page to list all the comments. Student's may become confused with the <ref> tags inserted in the text -- although if explained in advance, this shouldn't be a problem.
3. My personal preference would be to use the talk page -- this way there will be a permanent record of the comments. The downside is that comments will not be inserted in the text of the essay.
4. A combination of the above.

Students deleting text shouldn't be a problem - its easy enough to roll back edits. As lecturer you will have a permanent history of all the students work, including inadvertent deletes <smile>. 

Regarding email notifications -- students would need to add their essay pages to their watch list and check the email notification box in their user preferences.  You could easily compile a step-by-step instruction sheet or tutorial on how to do this for the students. Students could also sign up for one of the online L4C workshops for basic skills training.

Can't wait to see the project in action.

Cheers
Wayne

[Patricia Schlicht]

 

Dear Friends,

 

This is just a friendly reminder that if you would liketo participant in the next basic wiki editing skills online workshop, starting on Monday, September 1, and running through to September 12, kindly sign up here:

 

www.wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

 

 

On the same subject, please spread the word to those that you think, might benefit from the training, or could be interested in joining this training opportunity.

 

We will also offer a chance to advance your wiki skills by joining a Pilot training course under the Learning4Content project, from September 8-12, 2008.  You will be able to register under the same link above.

 

Looking forward to seeing you online.

 

Warm regards,

Patricia

[NELLIE DEUTSCH]

Wayne,
Thank you for your suggestions. I will be working with high school students. I wonder if there are any limitations with the on WE. I am trying to follow a learn by modeling method where students see the correct sentence structure and compare. Any suggestions on that?

[Randy Fisher]

Hi Nellie,

Could you teach them to use the History Tab, to compare changes?

Also, when you receive an email from WE, there's a link to the "Track Changes"....

- Randy

On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 10:53 AM, nelliemuller <Nellie.Mul...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[NELLIE DEUTSCH]

Randy,
Thank you. My students are used to using the history tab etc from wikispaces.
Yes, I am familiar with the track changes. I would like students to be able to compare their words with mine and so on by having the changes highlighted in color. What I need is a color feature.

Nellie

[Randy Fisher]

Hi Nellie,

The changes Are highlighted in red....do you see differently?

- Randy

[NELLIE DEUTSCH]

Hi Randy,

What about those of us that are color blind? LOL
Yes, thank you.

Nellie

[Randy Fisher]

Glad to be of service!

- Randy

[NELLIE DEUTSCH]

Now, how do I handle the privacy issue since the students are under 18 years of age?

[sani]

Dear Nellie,

FIRST OF ALL I WOULD LIKE TO APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORT FOR IMPROVING
WRITING SKILLS OF YOUR STUDENT.
AS YOU KNOW THAT WRITING IS AN ART WHICH CAN NOT BE EASILY TAUGHT.
AS FAR AS MY OPINION IS CONCERNED YOU SHOULD HAVE TO START IMPROVING
WRITING SKILLS WITH LEAD PENCIL THEN MOVE TO INK PEN.
PRACTICE WITH ALPHABETS THEN MOVE TO TWO LETTER WORDS, THEN THREE
LETTERS AND THEN MOVE TO LONG LETTER WORDS AND FINALLY TO COMPLETE
SENTENCES.
AND 1 IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU START WITH 4 LINE PAPERS AND
PRACTICE THEM ON THAT PAPERS THEN MOVE TO NARROW LINE PAPERS.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH SUCCESS IN YOUR EFFORTS.

YOURS TRULY


AHSAN ULLAH

On Aug 29, 10:53 pm, nelliemuller <Nellie.Muller.Deut...@gmail.com>
wrote: