Cristina Felea & Liana Stanca.
As numerous research projects (see my provisional Diigo list of references) have demonstrated, Wiki technology and wiki tools are efficient instruments for implementing collaborative learning in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and particularly English for Specific/Academic Purposes (ESP/EAP).
In the second stage of Web evolution, known as semantic Web (see Tim Berners-Lee), collaboration is the key word of all activities performed on and offline.Constructivist approaches to learning and Web 2.0 tools have developed together into new paradigms for sustainable models of lifelong learning. According to Lev Vygotsky, learners develop socially when they collaborate with their more capable peers. In this context, individuals learn in accordance with their own aspirations to reach the social level they initially planned to attain. Our article will describe the introduction of the wiki tool in the process of teaching ESP/EAP for EFL undergraduate students in social sciences. Although also used for course and syllabus management, our wiki project aims at enhancing students’ and teacher’s involvement in collaborative online content creation with special emphasis on the participatory dimension of both parties.
The wiki learning platform has been designed to support a flexible approach of the EAP course. Materials are presented in a variety of formats (audio, video, multimedia) embedded in a gradual guided approach (accompanied by reference links to EAP tutorials from other universities and internet-based activities tutorials adapted to students’ needs) to learning in a Web 2.0 environment. Our aim is to set up a statistical study of the effects of introducing Web 2.0 tools in the learning process of students who only have computer and internet basic skills. This will be a first step in investigating the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on students’ acquisitions. Our research will move on to a series of experiments designed to create a device to assist teachers in creating a collaborative environment based on learners’ compatibility and affinities drawing on Vygotsky’s social constructivist approach and using methods from the game theory.
