KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT BY »SOCIAL WRITING«
The Launch and Establishment of an Online-Writing Lab Using the Example of Citavi-Online-Tutorials at the Faculty of Cultural and
Social Sciences of the Distance-University in Hagen Germany
Sabine Siemsen
THE IDEA OF „SOCIAL WRITING“
Distance-University:
Learning Communities in Study-Courses
Great Heterogeneity (Age, Learning Background, Full- and Parttime Students)
Most parts of the study courses take part online (Moodle)
Target Group (Educational Science, Cultural Sciences)
A wide range of themes – numerous of those individual
Supervision and support often individual – lacks exchange, peer-support etc.
KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT IN STUDY COURSES
At the Distance University Students are „supplied“ with written printed study-material each semester (not completely digalisized)
The Target Group of the Writing Lab first takes „class-exercises“ but later predominantly term-papers and a final thesis
One Study-Course – Different fields of teaching – Students „re-meet“ theories/content
In addition to the study material they use lots of scientific discourses – printed and in a raising amount also web-resources
Latest in the final thesis they have to „bring strings together“ – to combine, to compare, to rethink
ACADEMIC WRITING AND COMPETENCES
Students are expected to be familiar
with rules of citation,
and copyright,
and aspects such as an »appealing« formatting, clear structure
to find resources,
to do research on the state of art
and to critically reflect on recent discourses
KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT IN STUDY COURSES
The Software Citavi enables to collect literature, quotations
and to annotate it with own ideas on it on different levels
Enables to „manage“ individually gained and created Knowledge
Enables to share projects (team version)
Citavi is free up to 100 titles per project
A similar open software is Zotero
POTENTIAL AND BARRIER OF TECHNOLOGY AND TOOLS
Self-organized learning requires skills that do not arise just because of the availability of new technological opportunities
The aspect of heterogeneity is widened through the affordance of media-competence
Need of information about preconditions of the participants in regard to knowledge, software- and technological equipment
Need of information about the students “feeling” towards the “tools”
“A good teacher can make up for poor technique, but never technique could save poor teaching”
THE OPEN MOODLE COURSE "WRITING LAB" AS AN STUDY-ACCOMPANYING COURSE FOR ACADEMIC WRITING
Started summer term 2011
“Open” learning environment
help students to gain academic writing-skills while working with study material, and additional literature
provide students with a wide spectrum of tools and techniques
Provide students with competencies to efficiently use those in order to improve their academic working skills
THE OPEN MOODLE COURSE "WRITING LAB" AS AN STUDY-ACCOMPANYING COURSE FOR ACADEMIC WRITING
»Citavi- from the Management of Resources and Literature to Writing a Study-Thesis«
Guided Workshop
Self-paced autonomous learning-environment
Future Plans
»Citavi for Working with study materials and preparing for exams«
»Academic Writing using word processing programs”
THE OPEN MOODLE COURSE "WRITING LAB" AS AN STUDY-ACCOMPANYING COURSE FOR ACADEMIC WRITING
pursued a holistic approach: To offer of an open course that
is not limited to terms, specific courses of studies, or course content,
enables to acquire and exercise academic working;
takes place in the secure and familiar learning-environment of the University Moodle
combines the support of tutors and tutorials with a social community, peer support and collaboration and therefor
uses a broad spectrum of digital media.
THE OPEN MOODLE COURSE "WRITING LAB" AS AN STUDY-ACCOMPANYING COURSE FOR ACADEMIC WRITING
Flexible location and time of learning,
elements that can also be used offline,
discussion forums,
a virtual classroom
where learners and teachers can see and hear each other
But also use text-based elements such as presentations and chats complementary, so that participants who do not have headsets and / or camera, (or do not want or dare to use it) can participate
MOODLE AS A COMMUNICATION AND LEARNING PLATFORM IN ELEARNING COURSES
The Distance University uses Moodle already as LMS
Moodle is an open-source-software which
supports interactions in many different ways (Immediacy of Feedback),
offers efficient and diverse channels for communication (Variety of Symbols),
allows simultaneous communications using different channels (Parallelism),
students can correct their posts (Reversibility)
and the messages and statements that resulted from and through this communication may be followed up and re-used in form of a kind of FAQ (Reusability).
The latter makes it possible to use the tutorials and forums not only as a workshop, but also as a sustainable work of reference.
(compare Boos, M. (2011). Wissenskommunikation in virtuellen (Lern-)Gemeinschaften)
THE CITAVI TUTORIALS: DESIGN AND DIDACTIC CONCEPT
a modular structure for the workshop »Citavi- from the Management of Resources and Literature to Writing a Study-Thesis«. The workshop took place over a period of six weeks and had weekly units.
Each unit included 2 vodcasts, an integrated task, and had a forum of the week
»Plauderecke« (a German term describing a place to have a chat) where the students had the possibility to discuss topics connected to the writing lab and the workshop, and a »news forum«
As the course "Writing Workshop" is neither mandatory nor relevant to the exam, motivational aspects played a particularly important role
EVALUATION OF THE TUTORIALS AND THE ADDITIONAL BENEFIT THROUGH THE
INTEGRATION OF THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOMIn regard to Questions like
Consideration of the participant’s being heterogeneous in regard to requirements, experience, skills and expectations
Enabling cooperation, collaboration and communication
Fostering Peer-Support
Helping to gain competences and practice in academic working
Support of improving self-organized learning, motivation and knowledge-management
EVALUATION OF THE TUTORIALS AND THE ADDITIONAL BENEFIT THROUGH THE
INTEGRATION OF THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOMThe project »Writing Lab«,
the use of a product (Research tool, on the example of Citavi),
and the efficiency of (a combination of) peer- and tutor-support.
Results should improve the offer and the conception of further courses within the Writing Lab.
EVALUATION OF THE TUTORIALS AND THE ADDITIONAL BENEFIT THROUGH THE
INTEGRATION OF THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
Preconditions ( knowledge, software- and technological equipment)
Moodle’s voting-Tool (questions by using options)
kept open for new participants to enable recent views on changes
EVALUATION OF THE TUTORIALS AND THE ADDITIONAL BENEFIT THROUGH THE
INTEGRATION OF THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOMStudents experiences with and expectations to the implementation of a Virtual Classroom into a Moodle course:
Which aspects of such a combinations are regarded as most important additional benefits (Efficiency? The »social factor«? Motivation and Satisfaction?)
which are regarded as barriers and inhibition thresholds (Technology? Time-Consume? Fear of embarrassing oneself by interaction synchronously and using Camera and Microphone?).
10 closed questions (offering the possibility to give additions) and one open question.
EVALUATION OF THE TUTORIALS AND THE ADDITIONAL BENEFIT THROUGH THE
INTEGRATION OF THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
Students experiences with and expectations to the implementation of a Virtual Classroom into a Moodle course:
The closed questions were analyzed quantitatively using Excel,
the open question and supplemental free answers qualitatively using MAXqda, a Qualitative Data Analysis Software.
RESULTS
RESULTS
RESULTS
CONCLUSION AND PROSPECTS
The analyses of the discourses (forums)
and
The high demand* for a course which is optional and does not (directly) lead to grades or certificates
There is a need for courses on competencies for academic work and research
The heterogeneity of the students is a resource for peer support
*After opening the Writing Lab, the Moodle course had about 80 participants at the end of the first term (summer term 2011). Recently (end of the winter-term 2014/2015) 2.519 participants have enrolled.
CONCLUSION AND PROSPECTS
fostering media-competence is important but by far not sufficient to compensate a lack in social presence.
Social skills that enable to cooperative and collaborative learning, to give and accept peer account, are equally important.
learners have to be enabled to communicate and interact in a way
that makes them become conscious of the potential
of using different and various tools and approaches to generate and manage learning.
CONCLUSION AND PROSPECTS
social aspects and the question of needs like self-confidenceexperiencing peers as »real persons« are important
high importance of communication in such courses
Approaches like the use of peer-tutoring and a scaffolding of interventions of course-instructors, but also changed roles of learning and teaching
will become more important as questions on how to design a didactically and technologically perfect course.
SABINE SIEMSEN: SOCIAL WRITING - DIE NUTZUNG DES VC IM RAHMEN EINER MOODLE-SCHREIBWERKSTATT LG BILDUNGSTHEORIE UND MEDIENPÄDAGOGIK, FAKULTÄT KSW