Using Padriseup as a Collaborative Writing Tool in Higher Education EFL Classes

Abstract

Due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a rapid transformation of the learning and teaching environment from face-to-face to fully online classes. Students being at home in isolated home environments challenged the language learning process profoundly which forced teachers to update and adjust their instructional strategies and activities by including collaborative learning elements. Implementing novel technologies with OCL approach might act as a considerably efficient factor if learner characteristics and the educational setting are taken into consideration seriously. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to explore an online collaborative writing tool and students’ opinions towards it. The participants of the study consist of 30 students studying at a preparatory school at a state university in Istanbul. To this aim, both quantitative and qualitative methods have been benefited. According to the quantitative data, the calculated mean scores of the items revealed that the majority of students found the experience of OCW positive. As for the qualitative data, the content analysis showed that the majority of the students reported the benefits of interaction and social learning taking place in collaborative learning, and there were also some disadvantages mentioned by the participants such as disagreements, social loafing, and personality-related problems.