Information technology and collaborative writing: Fundamental pedagogy and theoretical considerations

Abstract

This article considers how teachers working across three countries can create a collaborative writing environment in their classrooms. It reports on the first phase of a research programme conducted by university lecturers in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, investigating ways of developing teachers’ expertise in the linking of information technology (IT) and pedagogy. It examines writing practices in the secondary classroom, in particular focusing on collaborative writing, and explores how this can be extended and developed through the use of IT. The research operates at three levels of collaboration: First, between the researchers involved; secondly, between teachers sharing their pedagogical expertise; and thirdly, between school students engaging in writing across the limits usually imposed by time and space. A fundamental hypothesis is that experienced and capable teachers of writing in different countries can extend their pedagogical skills through working together. Such collaboration between both teachers and school students has only recently become a possibility as a result of wider access to the Internet and the World Wide Web, on which it is eventually intended to publish results of the research, including examples of student work. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.