د.الجمهور
09-02-2004, 06:06 PM
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OWCp
http://www.owcp.net/about.htm?
Online Writing Collaboration Project (OWCp) is the meeting place on cyberspace for English teachers and learners from all over the globe. OWCp is an International project administrated by professors from different universities in USA, Middle East, Canada, Europe and Far East. The professors listed in the OWCp leaders list are the supervisors who work as one team with OWCp moderators and e-tutors to provide FREE Advanced educational services for students. OWCp moderators are English teachers, Ph.D candidates, master students and advanced level students. Moderators work as one team to make this online interactive collaborative learning community to be the number one meeting place on the net for English teachers and students to construct and share knowledge.
Back to top
OWCp History
The need for creating Interactive collaborative learning in the Arab world was the major motive to establish OWCp. I had the idea of creating this interactive project from my work as English Writing Tutor at IUP Writing Center in 1999. Later the idea was developed and enhanced through my work with Dr. Michele M. Williamson, Dr. G. Pagnucci, and Dr. Mauriello, in their eDRAFT® projst. Now OWCp through the work of hard working professors and students from the participants schools achieved international recognition as one of the best 300 projects reviewed by Stockholm Challenge Award in 2002. OWCp is now listed on the Stockholm Challenge web site as one of the pioneer projects in the field of distance education and Online Collaborative Learning.
Back to top
OWCp Mission
Bakhtin emphasizes that all written discourse is unfinished social dialogue. Therefore, OWCp main mission is to engage readers (here, tutors) into dialogue with writers (here, ESOL Students) to construct knowledge.
To improve ESOL learners English writing through Online Tutorial Writing Lessons
To motivate students to write in English and share their writing with real audience. OWCp creates audience awareness, reduces stress associated with writing, and also creates positive attitudes towards learning in general due to the online collaboration nature.
To create cross cultural communication channels through the synchronous (Real Time) Live Collaboration.. This will provide Live Writing Tutoring to students , and more importantly connect them with people from the target language culture.
To Provide ESOL teachers from all over the globe with a virtual meeting place on cyberspace to share teaching ideas, successful teaching experiences, lesson plans, teaching materials, all for the sake of better English teaching and better English learning.
Back to top
OWCp Benefits for students
Helps students construct, discover, and transform knowledge as they interact with each other.
Increases learners\' self-confidence in their written & spoken language.
Develops positive student-teacher attitudes.
Creates positive attitudes towards English writing and English learning in general.
Allows shy students to participate in and write more, due to the nature of online writing.
Promotes gender equity in online discussion
Facilitates authentic communication
Creates Reading/Writing connection environment.
Encourages students to write and share writing in a collaborative setting
Creates audience awareness
Teaches students the art of trading/exchanging feedback.
Reduces stress associated with writing.
Back to top
How OWCp works
OWCp is based on collaboration theories, and thus it is a two-way interaction, in which English learners share and discuss their writing with online peers from English native speaking countries and others. Students get one-on-one feedback from qualified tutors. E-tutors are highly prepared to work with the kinds of writing problems English learners normally encounter.
OWCp is a safe password protected system, and does not require teachers and students to be computer experts. It requires ZERO technical support. Teachers and students can use any web browse with noting extra to install in their computers or their schools\' computers. Internet explorer is suggested, and the best resolution to view the project properly is 1024 x 768.,
Back to top
OWCp major Characteristics
In OWCp, learners collaborate with each other, exchange resources and above all, tutors (English native speakers and teachers) coach EFL learners to construct their own knowledge about English writing in unstressed environment.
OWCp forums\' interactive discussion promotes English learners\' critical thinking due to its nature that enables learners to actively read and write in a circular process.
In OWCp forums, students access multiple perspectives about their writing in one place. This positively enhances their writing and makes them envision their writing and their own culture from the other online peers\' perspectives\' point of view that goes beyond their own initial observation.
OWCp discussion forums make students more confident about what they write. The powerful design of the forums makes English learners\' writing rich and thorough. As a result, their peers\' reflection always empower them with more inputs of other learners, tutors and even professors who \"ALL\" have equal opportunities to express themselves in the online collaborative learning environment.
OWCp aims to be English learners\' life long learning place. It aims to fulfill English learners\' writing needs by providing them unlimited support to solve their writing problems, tutorial lessons, live collaboration with tutors.
In OWCp forums, threaded discussions enhance learners\' higher order thinking as they are engaged in collaborative activities and as they become the doers and the knowledge formers rather than merely being the knowledge takers as always in the traditional learning environment.
Teachers and tutors have full access to the forums control panel so they can customize their class\'s activities the way it best meet their classes requirements and students needs.
In OWCP forums, teachers can invite guests such as a text author, a figure in their field to address issues to their students\' interests.
In OWCp forums, students may use \"emoticons\" to express their feelings while responding to each other to make their collaborative activities more enjoyable and meaningful.
OWCp forums enables students respond at anytime and from anyplace to their peers\' writing in an un-intimidated manner.
OWCp forums is empowered with advanced features in such a way that instructors, moderators and students can for example embed flash cards, audio clips, video clips, diagrams, images, slideshows, Web-based PowerPoint presentations, and many other medias to facilitate learning process and make it more motivational to learners.
</left>
OWCp
http://www.owcp.net/about.htm?
Online Writing Collaboration Project (OWCp) is the meeting place on cyberspace for English teachers and learners from all over the globe. OWCp is an International project administrated by professors from different universities in USA, Middle East, Canada, Europe and Far East. The professors listed in the OWCp leaders list are the supervisors who work as one team with OWCp moderators and e-tutors to provide FREE Advanced educational services for students. OWCp moderators are English teachers, Ph.D candidates, master students and advanced level students. Moderators work as one team to make this online interactive collaborative learning community to be the number one meeting place on the net for English teachers and students to construct and share knowledge.
Back to top
OWCp History
The need for creating Interactive collaborative learning in the Arab world was the major motive to establish OWCp. I had the idea of creating this interactive project from my work as English Writing Tutor at IUP Writing Center in 1999. Later the idea was developed and enhanced through my work with Dr. Michele M. Williamson, Dr. G. Pagnucci, and Dr. Mauriello, in their eDRAFT® projst. Now OWCp through the work of hard working professors and students from the participants schools achieved international recognition as one of the best 300 projects reviewed by Stockholm Challenge Award in 2002. OWCp is now listed on the Stockholm Challenge web site as one of the pioneer projects in the field of distance education and Online Collaborative Learning.
Back to top
OWCp Mission
Bakhtin emphasizes that all written discourse is unfinished social dialogue. Therefore, OWCp main mission is to engage readers (here, tutors) into dialogue with writers (here, ESOL Students) to construct knowledge.
To improve ESOL learners English writing through Online Tutorial Writing Lessons
To motivate students to write in English and share their writing with real audience. OWCp creates audience awareness, reduces stress associated with writing, and also creates positive attitudes towards learning in general due to the online collaboration nature.
To create cross cultural communication channels through the synchronous (Real Time) Live Collaboration.. This will provide Live Writing Tutoring to students , and more importantly connect them with people from the target language culture.
To Provide ESOL teachers from all over the globe with a virtual meeting place on cyberspace to share teaching ideas, successful teaching experiences, lesson plans, teaching materials, all for the sake of better English teaching and better English learning.
Back to top
OWCp Benefits for students
Helps students construct, discover, and transform knowledge as they interact with each other.
Increases learners\' self-confidence in their written & spoken language.
Develops positive student-teacher attitudes.
Creates positive attitudes towards English writing and English learning in general.
Allows shy students to participate in and write more, due to the nature of online writing.
Promotes gender equity in online discussion
Facilitates authentic communication
Creates Reading/Writing connection environment.
Encourages students to write and share writing in a collaborative setting
Creates audience awareness
Teaches students the art of trading/exchanging feedback.
Reduces stress associated with writing.
Back to top
How OWCp works
OWCp is based on collaboration theories, and thus it is a two-way interaction, in which English learners share and discuss their writing with online peers from English native speaking countries and others. Students get one-on-one feedback from qualified tutors. E-tutors are highly prepared to work with the kinds of writing problems English learners normally encounter.
OWCp is a safe password protected system, and does not require teachers and students to be computer experts. It requires ZERO technical support. Teachers and students can use any web browse with noting extra to install in their computers or their schools\' computers. Internet explorer is suggested, and the best resolution to view the project properly is 1024 x 768.,
Back to top
OWCp major Characteristics
In OWCp, learners collaborate with each other, exchange resources and above all, tutors (English native speakers and teachers) coach EFL learners to construct their own knowledge about English writing in unstressed environment.
OWCp forums\' interactive discussion promotes English learners\' critical thinking due to its nature that enables learners to actively read and write in a circular process.
In OWCp forums, students access multiple perspectives about their writing in one place. This positively enhances their writing and makes them envision their writing and their own culture from the other online peers\' perspectives\' point of view that goes beyond their own initial observation.
OWCp discussion forums make students more confident about what they write. The powerful design of the forums makes English learners\' writing rich and thorough. As a result, their peers\' reflection always empower them with more inputs of other learners, tutors and even professors who \"ALL\" have equal opportunities to express themselves in the online collaborative learning environment.
OWCp aims to be English learners\' life long learning place. It aims to fulfill English learners\' writing needs by providing them unlimited support to solve their writing problems, tutorial lessons, live collaboration with tutors.
In OWCp forums, threaded discussions enhance learners\' higher order thinking as they are engaged in collaborative activities and as they become the doers and the knowledge formers rather than merely being the knowledge takers as always in the traditional learning environment.
Teachers and tutors have full access to the forums control panel so they can customize their class\'s activities the way it best meet their classes requirements and students needs.
In OWCP forums, teachers can invite guests such as a text author, a figure in their field to address issues to their students\' interests.
In OWCp forums, students may use \"emoticons\" to express their feelings while responding to each other to make their collaborative activities more enjoyable and meaningful.
OWCp forums enables students respond at anytime and from anyplace to their peers\' writing in an un-intimidated manner.
OWCp forums is empowered with advanced features in such a way that instructors, moderators and students can for example embed flash cards, audio clips, video clips, diagrams, images, slideshows, Web-based PowerPoint presentations, and many other medias to facilitate learning process and make it more motivational to learners.
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