The Use of Wikis to Enhance Writing Skills Ruby Vurdien White Rose Language School Valladolid, Spain FECEI Madrid 2015

Writing Do students enjoy writing? How can students be inspired to write?

Bringing technology into the classroom

Web 2.0 tools(synchronous & asynchronous)

Wiki What is a wiki? A website or database developed collaboratively by a community of users, allowing any user to add and edit content (Web definition)

Benefits of wikis Asynchronous nature – students work at their own pace and in their own time Careful planning and composing tasks prior to posting them Using dictionary, spell checker or grammar reference books to avoid making noticeable mistakes Motivating students to engage in creative writing (devoting time to reading widely around the subject prior to expressing their own views)

Benefits of wikis Working collaboratively (in groups) encourages students to discuss content and present information in a clear and organised way Fostering autonomous learning due to students’ managing their learning task

Example of exam-oriented task

Example of wiki

Collaborative writing

Tips about writing tasks Start by getting students to write a short paragraph about their hobbies, likes/dislikes or interests, followed by peers reading their posts and leaving a comment Choose subjects that will rouse students’ interests ( For example, discussing an issue in class, followed by students writing their views on it) Get students to watch a video (news items, TED TALKS, etc) in class or in their free time, followed by students posting their views on the topic Get students to write a story in groups (the opening sentence can be provided by the teacher) – developing their creativity Upload short articles for students to read before setting a writing task

Enhancing writing skills In what ways can students enhance their writing skills? Teacher feedback (error correction) Student feedback (error correction)

Enhancing writing skills Teacher feedback – highlighting errors Class activity – students (in pairs/small groups) editing mistakes (lexical/grammatical inaccuracies) Students edit mistakes online (in pairs) Students become more reflective on their errors and avoid repeating them

Creating a wiki