ΔΕΙΤΕ ΟΛΟ ΤΟ ΚΕΙΜΕΝΟ

Dr. Wayne M. Butler

The Daedalus Group, Inc.

Writing and Collaborative Learning on The Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment

This presentation will offer a theoretical overview, a description and illustration of The Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment, and a discussion of research on how U.S. high school students learn to write on computer networks.

Theoretical Background

The current state of knowledge about teaching writing can be summarized by the following statements:

--Writing is a process not a product.

--Writing is a social act.

--Writers work within discourse communities, and collaborative learning pedagogy models discourse communities for developing writers.

The Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment (DIWE)

DIWE includes Invent for pre-writing, Write for composing, and Respond for guided peer review. In addition, two computer-mediated communication modules, InterChange for real-time conferencing and Mail for electronic bulletin board interaction, as well as several file sharing utilities, facilitate social interaction during the various stages of the writing process.

Research on DIWE

The large body of research focusing on DIWE has indicated that:

--There exists more student to student interaction through DIWE than in traditional classroom settings

--InterChange helps basic writing students bridge the gap between orality and literacy

--Students write more often, write more varied types of texts, and produce more text than they might in a traditional setting, are more active learners in Daedalus classrooms, spend more time on task, have better attitudes toward learning and writing, have a better understanding of the role of audience in the writing process, and make measurable achievement gains as writers.