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Collaboration on the web to foster genuine communication

Collaboration is an integral part of writing and communications processes; hence the page on Writing and Composition and Projects for Collaboration Online

On this page: Time zones | Web 2.0 collaboration tools | Client software | Tips | Inter-class Collaboration | Keypals
Moved elsewhere: Publishing student writing on the web | Collaborative writing | More collaboration projects

To collaborate on a world scale, you'll need to know time zones. Try one of these:

• The World Clock, calendars, and various other temporal services retrieved February 19, 2004 from: http://www.timeanddate.com/
• Clox freewareretrieved February 19, 2004 from: http://www.business.u-net.com/~mirage1/cloxcomm.htm

Some recent (2006) interesting Web 2.0 and Open Source collaboration tools:

Croquet: http://www.opencroquet.org/ "The Croquet project is an effort to develop a new open source computer operating system built from the ground up to enable deep collaboration between teams of users. To do this, the project seeks to define and develop a system is focused on the simulation and communication of complex ideas. We call this "communication enhancement" - the direct extension of the abilities of humans to develop, understand, and describe even the most complex simulations. Croquet enables this communication by acting as the equivalent of a broadband conferencing system built on top of a 3D user interface and a peer-to-peer network architecture. Through the public release of this software technology, we are seeking to harness the creative power of thousands of software developers and seed the development of transformative technologies."

Festoon: http://www.festooninc.com/ "You don't need the same email program or phone service to send emails or call others. Festoon Unity is the first to bring that ease, simplicity and reach to Instant Messaging by enabling you to video and voice call any group of users on any IM service. You can also share anything you see on your screen, even your entire desktop! Festoon's immersive EyeCandy video personalizations which include funhouse mirrors, motion colors, and crazy cutouts add fun to your video experience, much like cell phone ringtones. Whether you use Skype or Google Talk for business or to connect with family and friends, now you can show a presentation, work on a spreadsheet, share photos, or just have fun online while seeing everyone in the call!"

Imagination Cubed: http://www.imaginationcubed.com/LaunchPage, a simple collaborative drawing tool. Easy interface.

Zoho Creator: http://www.zohocreator.com/ "a free online service to create and share web applications with just a few mouse clicks ... handy when you want to - Create web applications on your own. - Create applications in minutes, not days. - Share the applications with your friends, colleagues and clients easily. What can I do with Zoho Creator? You can: - Create applications from scratch without coding - Browse public applications, copy and customize to suit your needs - Add one-or-more Forms and Views to a page - Create sophisticated Views with pre-set criteria - View data in Calendar format - Share application with your friends, colleagues and clients"

From the Web 1.0 days, the following cited prior to August 2005:

You'll also probably want to use CMC (computer mediated communications) tools. These can be synchronous (in real time, like instant messagers) or asynchronous (not in real time, such as forums and email). I am maintaining information on such tools elsewhere on my site, all retrieved February 19, 2004 from:

• Webheads CMC tools: http://sites.hsprofessional.com/vstevens/files/efi/software.htm
• http://www.vancestevens.com/findbuds.htm
• The syllabus of the Webheads in Action EVOnline sessions, especially Week 3

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Tips

• There's a great presentation called Synchronous Collaboration Tools for the Academic World by Robin Good at http://www.voxwire.com/kolabora/emerge/ from e/merge2004 Blended Learning and Collaborative Technologies Conference June 15, 2004
• Find The Online Conversation Handbook (1999): Tom Mason's primer on leading conversation groups with possible EFI applicability, retrieved February 19, 2004 from: http://www.afn.org/~afn49566/

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Inter-Class Communication and Collaboration via the Web

Chain stories:

• Wacky Web Tales http://www.eduplace.com/tales/
• Finish a Story http://goodnightstories.com/finish.htm
• Erlyn Baack had an "interactive" story link where, in his words: students could read "chapters" that others had written. At the end of each "chapter," the characters make a choice, and students can follow any path through the story they choose. When they get to the end of the story, they can add their own chapter. That link was once at http://phlurns.com/cgi-bin/story/story.pl but perhaps something like it is at Erlyn's http://eslbee.com
• Also by Erlyn Baack: http://eslbee.com/100_words.htm . "This page contains a 100 word story, and at the bottom, there are links to a 500 word story and a 1000 word story and finally to a page where your students could publish their own stories. "

For information on collaboration projects more specific to writing, surf here <--

• Ron's ESOL Classroom, retrieved February 19, 2004 from: Corio's Interclass Projects on the Internet,
• Global SchoolNet Foundation registry of collaboration projects for K-12, retrieved February 19, 2004
• Andrew Hess at New York University coordinated the Cities Project with Christina Meloni and Ron Corio : "In The Cities Project students collaborate within their class and with students in other classes from cities around the world. They explore various aspects of the city in which they live and share that information with their partners overseas. In addition, they react to the information they receive from their overseas parterns, creating an ongoing dialogue." Retrieved Jan 10, 2007 from: http://www.vcu.edu/cspweb/,icp/cities.html
• From a CALICO-L posting, August 18, 2004: Tandem Agency (run from Bochum University in German). They connect teachers with partners in other cultures (any combination of language exchange). Their web address is http://www.slf.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/email/stats-class-eng.html . They also have options for individuals to connect with other individuals.

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Designed specifically for e-mail

Other projects:

• Nick Peachey has "set up a forum on British Council's SearchEnglish http://searchenglish.britishcouncil.org for people wishing to post notices to find partners for email exchange. You will need to register first (it's free) and log in then you could post your details on the appropriate forum."
• IECC, Teaching.com http://www.teaching.com/iecc, retrieved February 19, 2004 from: Intercultural E-Mail Classroom Connections
• Pen Pal Exchange, retrieved February 19, 2004 from: http://www.iwaynet.net/~jwolve/pal.html (but 'closed temporarily' in Feb 2004)
• Dave Sperling's Internet Activity Workbook, 1999, Prentice Hall Regents, includes activities to be done with Key Pals in many of the chapters. The book is accompanied by an ambitious web site that is worth perusing on its own, though many of its links require reference to the book: http://www.prenhall.com/sperling/ (retrieved February 19, 2004)
• Visit here for a listing of still other projects from info rec'd in 1998 (but updated 2004)

Tom Robb's E-Mail Keypals for Language Fluency

Update August 2005

The SL Project (http://www.sl-lists.net) has been in operation now for over 10 years now, mainly has a method for university-level and adult EFL learners to communicate on topics of mutual interest.

The Project also has an area called TeenTalk for Secondary Students that has not been very active recently. Now there are two classes of students from different areas of Norway who will be starting, and it would be wonderful if there were students from other regions that they could share their experiences with.

If you have a class that could participate, I encourage you to join in on the fun. You can inspect the various forums by creating your own user account, following the instructions on the site. The Teachers' Forum area requires an "enrollment key" which is "jointchr". That forum explains the project in detail and lists the enrollments keys that the student need to join any of the topic areas. Please feel free to contact me for further details. I can mass-enroll entire classes if you provide me with an Excel spreadsheet with columns for their first name, last name, and e-mail addresses.

Cheers, Tom Robb

(Update from September 2004):

The Student List Project is still up and running and looking for participants for the new term. Essentially, the SL Project provides a way for your students to discuss topics of mutual interest in a 1-to-many situation rather than the normal penpal 1-on-1. Your students can join any of the forums listed below, read what has already been posted and reply to whatever postings stir their imagination. They receive copies of all postings for the forums that they subscribe to by e-mail, but can also view all previous postings via the web interface.

The project uses Moodle, an innovative student management system. This allows you, as an instructor, to view all of your own students' postings so that you can give timely advice to them as needed.

Currently we have the following topic areas, each with its own ESL professional as a facilitator:

For University and Adult Learners

• General Chat -- Any topic except the ones below
• Business English
• Culture & Society
• Current events around the world
• Learning English
• Movies
• Music
• Sports

For Immigrants & new residents

• Living in a New Country

For Secondary School Learners

• Teen Talk

If you are interested, you can either

1. Login in to http://sl-lists.net with user name 'preview' and pw 'teacher' to view the set-up anonymously OR
2. set up an account (confirmation will be sent via e-mail to the address you give) and then join the "Teachers' Forum". You will find information and advice there on how to use the project effectively with your students, as well as the "enrollment keys" that you need to give them so that they can gain access to the topic areas. The enrollment key for the Teachers' Forum is: jointeacher

Please contact Tom Robb directly if you have any questions or suggestions. Compose your email to trobb and then one of those @ signs followed by cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/index.html

Robb, Tom's 1996 article (since updated) "E-mail Keypals for Language Fluency" discusses the strengths & weaknesses of the SL List approach to the traditional one-on-one keypay approach. http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/keypals.html

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Copyright 2007 by Vance Stevens
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January 10, 2007

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