Collaborative writing with wikis: an empirical investigation
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process and interaction among group members using wikis to produce collaborative writing (CW) projects, and to compare their collaborative behavior among students at different levels of education.
Design/methodology/approach
The study investigated the participation and collaboration of Hong Kong primary school, secondary school, and university students in the process of developing their wiki-based CW projects. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from analyzing the revision histories and the content of wiki pages.
Findings
Results indicated that the level of education significantly affected student CW actions, and their interaction and coordination behavior to co-construct the work. Also, the frequency of collaborative activities varied noticeably among the primary, secondary, and university students.
Practical implications
The study enriches our understanding of the complex and dynamic process of CW using wikis. It has practical implications on why and how the pedagogy and technology should be implemented differentially for the students at three different levels of education to facilitate collaborative knowledge construction.
Originality/value
Research to date is still lacking an in-depth knowledge about the processes and activities involved when students write collaboratively on wikis. Also, no study has yet compared the collaborative behavior among students at different levels of education. The results of this study contribute to the development of new and appropriate modes of group-based collaborative learning at all levels of the education system for the twenty-first century.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China fund (No. 71572050) and the Guangdong Graduate Education Innovation Project fund (No. 2016XSLT17).
Citation
Du, H.S., Chu, S.K.W., Chan, R.C.H. and He, W. (2016), "Collaborative writing with wikis: an empirical investigation", Online Information Review, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 380-399. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-06-2015-0173
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited