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Title:
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LEARNING ICT IN A FACULTY OF HUMANITIES: ROLE OF WEB-BASED COLLABORATIVE TOOLS FOR WRITING |
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Author(s):
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Paolo Davoli , Matteo Monari |
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ISBN:
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972-8924-16-X |
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Editors:
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Pedro Isaías, Maggie McPherson and Frank Bannister |
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Year:
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2006 |
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Edition:
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1 |
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Keywords:
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Computer supported collaborative learning, Web-learning, groupware evaluation, usability, asynchronous interaction.. |
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Type:
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Full Paper |
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First Page:
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43 |
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Last Page:
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50 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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When teaching Information and Communication Technologies in a faculty of humanities, educators have to adopt
specific strategies, both because of the student background and of the different goals courses may have. Collaborative
Web-learning activities can significantly help educators in the adoption of ad hoc methodologies. The paper reports a
study on students perceptions about the usability and functionality of collaborative tools and about the educational impact
of the writing, peer commenting and peer rating activities conducted through the tool. The Web-based e-learning platform
hosting the tool was used in courses toward Master of Arts degrees. Despite the poor technical background and the
indirect computer-mediated communication, students achieved relevant meta-cognitive skills, perceived increased
autonomy and motivation, and improved the appropriateness of their technical writing. Educators were perceived more as
a reference than as the unique source of knowledge. Finally, we observed that usability problems may emerge not only
from platform design but also from controversial choices of educators and IT managers. |
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