Week 7: CALL and Language Skills

It is said that writers with peer evaluation writes better. We never know how true this could be but it might differ from one person to another.

Wikis such as Wikipedia can be used to create and edit collection of interlinked web pages. This is an example of collaborative writing whereby many writers get involved in writing or editing on a topic. Wikis also supports hyperlinks.

The advantages of using Weblog and Wikis as tool for teaching are;

• real audience.
• easy to use and access.
• encourage collaboration among students.
• develop higher level of learning.
• encourage creativity.
• develop social skills.
• encourage single-author writing.

There are also some disadvantages in using Weblog and Wikis in teaching;

• collaborative learning does not apply to all situation.
• lack reliability and stability.
• open to spam and vandalism.
• require Internet connectivity to collaborate.
• may offer disorganized information.

Weblogs has been used widely to encourage learners to write. Several blogs that are used to teach writing are WriteShop and ESLGold. Students should be encouraged too to start a blog where they could write freely but with supervision by the teachers.