Designing a Wiki-Based Course for Enhancing the Practice of Writing Skills in the 21st Century: Moving from Theoretical Grounding into Practical Knowledge

Theoretical Framework

The course drew on theories concerning wiki-mediated collaborative writing, and the process approach (i.e. the PWMCW), in order to apply them to classroom and online learning. Such theories support the development of the practices adopted and the incorporation of peer collaboration into the learning process. In other words, the design of this course has been consolidated with theoretical knowledge and these principles:

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  Firstly, drawing on social constructivism, the PWMCW (Process-oriented Wiki-Mediated Collaborative Writing) was seen as a joint enterprise between the teacher, learners and their peers in creating new meaning (e.g. Swain, Brooks & Tocalli-Beller, 2002).

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  Secondly, the concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) by Vygotsky, which is the area between the actual development of learners and their level of potential development, was at the heart of this course design as the learners were encouraged to get engaged and expand their thinking, understanding and performance with the help of “experts” (e.g. Lund, 2008).

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  Thirdly, in terms of collaborative learning (CL), learners were encouraged to participate in explicit collaborative tasks, mutual communication and knowledge sharing (e.g. Davoli, Monari & Eklundh, 2009).

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  Fourthly, the practice of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) was initiated so that the learners could share knowledge asynchronously (e.g. Lehtinen, 2003; Bradley, et al., 2010).

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  Finally, motivation in language learning was seen as key so that the opportunity for language learning success was increased (Dörnyei, 1998).