A wiki-based process writing approach to academic writing in an ODL institution

Abstract

Writing, an important academic skill for university students to acquire, becomes more important in a distance education institution where assessment is primarily on written work. Successful teaching and learning practices for Open Distance Learning (ODL) incorporate multiple forms of interaction when using technology within a constructivist approach. The study seeks to understand students’ perceptions of wikis within a process writing approach, and the suitability of Web 2.0 technology for tasks designed to teach academic writing. A participatory action research design was selected as it merges social action and research to solve educational problems while increasing human understanding of the phenomena. The findings show that students may be open to using wikis within their actual learning environment. Of significance was the issue of the early integration and engagement of students into online learning communities. The challenges experienced in the study can be addressed adapting Chickering and Ehrmann’s (1996) principles to frame the development of online learning.