A+Student’s+Guide+to+Collaborative+Writing+Technologies


 * VALENTINA'S SUMMARY:**


 * "A STUDENT´S GUIDE TO COLLABORATIVE WRITING TECHNOLOGIES" **

In the article "A student´s guide to collaborative writing technologies", Matt Barton and Karl Klint show how students, nowadays, can develop and manage group work in a much easier way using technologies. In fact, technologies allow students to solve the main problem of collaborative work (which is having face-to-face meetings with all the members), giving them the chance to work together from different places and also at different period of time.

Introducing the imaginary scenario of two students,Madison and Dakota, the authors suggest a series of tools that students can find on Web 2.0 and that can facilitate their group work. Firstly, the so called "Prewriting Tools", which are all that tools that can support students in discussing their project with each other, as well as with other people. Some of these tools can be social networks (as Twitter or Facebook), which allow a quick exchange of ideas as well as syncronic discussion on the chats; organizing tools (as Doodle, Mindomo or Google Caledar), with which it is possible to create a cohesive working schedule, in order to know when each member is available; research tools (as Google Reader and Zotero), which help in finding sources and sharing knowledge within the net. Secondly, there are what the authors define as "Drafting and Editing Tools" (as Google Docs, Zotero and Etherpad), which make it possible to host documents online and share them with the other group members, as well as the whole world.

To sum up, according to Barton and Klint, technologies have proved to be a helpful ally to students in collaborative work. Especially because of their "social nature", that allows everyone to share research, ideas, projects and knowledge, so that everyone can benefit from each other's contribution.


 * CAROLINA'S SUMMARY **

In the article “A Student’s Guide to Collaborative Writing Technologies”, by Matt Barton and Karl Klint, a scenario is created through the story of Madison and Dakota, two first-year students who need to write a research paper together. They use all sorts of media tools to plan their paper and the best part is that it is done online, so they can work together without meeting and collaborating asynchronously. Some of tools the girls use are Google, e-mail, Zotero, Facebook, Doodle, Mindomo etc.

In order to write a paper/essay, students should discuss the project and the ideas with other people. All those tools used by Madison and Dakota are only some of the many social media that are available to help students overcome writer’s block and visualize what the final work will be like. Also, when all the work is finished, it is still possible to use media tools to share the final work with others.

Each person may find one tool more useful or easier to use than another. No matter what tools are used, it is important to try different tools, so that we can be part of a bigger network with other writers. That contact can help us enlarge our views of things, find out what we are willing to focus on, and even enhance our writing. According to Barton and Klint, “Learning to write as a group can be a daunting and frustrating process, but social media tools can make a difference.” (p. 331)

Marcela's Summary

** SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE "A STUDENT'S GUIDE TO COLLABORATIVE WRITING TECHNOLOGIES" ** In the article A Student’s Guide to Collaborative Writing Technologies, Matt Barton and Karl Klint present several online tools that make it possible to write in groups through the Internet. These tools relieve partners from having to schedule and attend meetings in order to collaborate on an assignment. All that is necessary is a computer, Internet access and the willingness to learn and work. Blogs, communities, sites and programs can either provide synchronic or asynchronic communication - that is, interaction at the same time or not. Synchronic communication makes use of chats via Facebook, Messengers or Skype, while asynchronic communication includes Google Docs, Twitter and Zotero. These tools are helpful in each step of the writing process. During prewriting, Twitter and Facebook can be used to transmit simple and short messages that communicate ideas. So as not to lose track of a group member’s most recent thoughts, the others can subscribe to his/her page’s updates by listing its RSS feed in Google Reader. Sources and arguments to base the group's ideas may be found by searching Google Scholar, whose useful articles can be shared with partners in Zotero. Finally, it is possible to use Mindomo, “one of many freely available mind-mapping tools (…) to organize your ideas, studying the relationships and discovering connections that you might not have realized” (p.329).If it is necessary to set up a meeting, partners can access each other’s availability through Doodle or Google Calendar. To draft online, group members have Google Docs, Etherpad, Buzzwords and Zoho as options to share the latest modifications and avoid “worrying about bottlenecks or whether they’re working on the latest version” (p.329). These tools also make it easier to edit and correct the final draft. After finishing the writing assignment, students can share their work using Zotero in order “to enrich the online community and make new friends", contributing to those who have helped them (p. 331).

Clara's Summary  In he chapter " A student's Guide to Collaborative Writing Technologies" from Writing Spaces volume 2, edited by Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, many tools to do collaborative work using the internet are presented in a really didatic way. Describing the writing process of two college students, Madison and Dakota, the writer presents many tools that can be used to facilitate collaborative work. Some of the tools presented were built specifically to this collaborative work function, some of them, such as Facebook and Twitter weren’. First, all the stages in the writing process, and all the work that is involved on the presented scenario, are presented to the reader. Even things as how they scheduled a meeting or made their research are explained. Then, after the scenario, the text explains how each tool that Madison and Dakota used can be utilized and what each tool can improve in a collaborative writing. Finally, the writer discusses about how colaborative learning tools can even track for individual contributions, making sure that the students fairly shared the work. The writer encourages the reader to experiment with these social media tools.