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Collaborative writing is an interactive process. It saves time and energy, and it integrates the knowledge of multiple writers. Wiki is a platform for collaborative writing in the Web 2.0 era. This paper's aim is to focus on the many benefits of wikis.

To understand the effect of using wikis on collaborative writing, the authors conducted a laboratory experiment. They measured writing output under three user modalities (face to face, synchronous distribution, and asynchronous distribution) and with two writing tools (a wiki web site and MS Word).

Compared to the use of MS Word, face‐to‐face collaborative writing with wikis led to significantly higher levels of participation, and externally evaluated quality of the writing product, and satisfaction with the product and process. However there was no significant effect on document length. Satisfaction is significantly higher with wikis than with MS Word in both distributed collaborative writing conditions, but this was not the case for document length and externally evaluated quality.

The paper shows that the findings have important implications for business. First wikis do not require professional instructors to facilitate their use in meetings. Second the confirmation of wikis' effectiveness motivates the use of wikis toward a more open business environment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process and interaction among group members using wikis to produce collaborative writing (CW) projects, and to compare their collaborative behavior among students at different levels of education.

The study investigated the participation and collaboration of Hong Kong primary school, secondary school, and university students in the process of developing their wiki-based CW projects. Both qualitative and quantitative data were obtained from analyzing the revision histories and the content of wiki pages.

Results indicated that the level of education significantly affected student CW actions, and their interaction and coordination behavior to co-construct the work. Also, the frequency of collaborative activities varied noticeably among the primary, secondary, and university students.

The study enriches our understanding of the complex and dynamic process of CW using wikis. It has practical implications on why and how the pedagogy and technology should be implemented differentially for the students at three different levels of education to facilitate collaborative knowledge construction.

Research to date is still lacking an in-depth knowledge about the processes and activities involved when students write collaboratively on wikis. Also, no study has yet compared the collaborative behavior among students at different levels of education. The results of this study contribute to the development of new and appropriate modes of group-based collaborative learning at all levels of the education system for the twenty-first century.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss learning experiences, mutual benefits and possible drawbacks from collaborative writing and presentation of scientific papers at Bobcatsss international library conferences.

A web‐based questionnaire was sent to participants who co‐authored and presented papers at the Bobcatsss 2012 conference. The results are measured against the viewpoints and experiences of five Norwegian students, who have collaborated with the author of this paper, at four Bobcatsss conferences, in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

Responses from the survey and the student interviews indicate that collaborative writing is a superior strategy for learning LIS subjects. None of the interviewees and few of the respondents had attended a writing course to improve their writing skills. Many had not read literature of the type: “How to write a scientific paper”.

The study may be useful for future LIS students who arrange Bobcatsss conferences and for those who plan to write and present a scientific paper. Contributors could benefit from a study that highlights the theoretical, didactic and practical problems in the field of collaborative writing.

While the data are exclusively from Bobcatsss, the findings may be more widely relevant. There are few studies on Bobcatsss, except for the annual reports. This paper explores the educational rewards, the complexity and difficulties of collaborative writing.

This paper aims to report on a study concerning a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), designed to support Greek-language teachers in secondary-education schools in implementing collaborative writing activities with Google Docs (GDs) in their classrooms. Data recorded from a post-survey were used to investigate teachers’ views and perceptions about MOOC design features, their personal achievements and the overall outcomes for their professional work and development.

The design framework of the particular teacher professional development MOOC was determined by the connectivist principles and addressed three main dimensions of teachers’ active participation: a) individual engagement; b) peer interaction and mutual support; and c) collaborative creation of educational scenarios and artefacts. The analysis used a mixed method that combines data from teachers’ active engagement through the MOOC platform records and quantitative and qualitative data from their responses to a post-survey questionnaire.

The analysis of the research data provided supportive evidence that the design framework was effective towards promoting teachers’ active engagement, peer interaction and support and development of learning design abilities to integrate collaborative writing with GDs in their classrooms. The findings showed that the majority of participants conceptualized this MOOC as an efficient environment to enhance their pedagogical knowledge and classroom practices and to support continuous professional development.

The findings of this study may be limited by the specific sample and the context of implementation. Future research is expected to critically analyse existing results in combination with qualitative data from detailed interviews of participants in this teacher professional development MOOC.

The results provided supportive evidence that successful MOOCs for teacher professional development are determined by four key design features: a) connecting course content and teacher learning practices to the educational reality of the classroom; b) defining concrete learning objectives of the course; c) promoting teachers’ collaborative learning; and d) creating a learning community among peers.

This paper presents a systematic analysis of teachers’ engagement in a teacher professional development MOOC, designed to support collaborative and self-directed learning. The results are expected to be significant and valuable for wider educational contexts, as MOOCs for teacher professional development is a new, ambitious topic for both research and educational policies.

The purpose of this paper is to profile various types of Web-based tools to facilitate research collaboration within and across institutions.

Various Web-based tools were tested by the author. Additionally, tutorial videos and guides were reviewed.

There are various free and low-cost tools available to assist in the collaborative research process, and librarians are well-positioned to facilitate their usage.

Librarians and researchers will learn about various types of tools available at free or at low cost to fulfill needs of the collaborative research process.

As the tools highlighted are either free or of low cost, they are also valuable to start-ups and can be recommended for entrepreneurs.

As the realm of Web-based collaborative tools continues to evolve, the options must be continually revisited and reviewed for currency.

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study investigating students’ patterns of collaborative content creation in a wiki project that was designed to promote self-directed and collaborative learning in the context of a university course. In addition, it proposes a new organizational and analysis framework of students’ constructive and collaborative activities in wiki-authoring projects.

The key notion, around which the present conceptual and research framework was built, is that a wiki integrates a content space and a social (discussion) space both considered in collaborative manner. The analysis of student contributions to their wiki was organized along two dimensions: interaction and refection posts were analyzed using the framework of Community of Inquiry; content contributions to the wiki pages were classified into five categories: creating a new page, content expansion, content reorganization, content enrichment (with video, images or hyperlinks) and editing and grammatical corrections.

The analysis of the research data revealed important information that could help to depict an overall representation of individual interactions and contributions, students’ collaborative performance within wiki groups as well as the overall evolution of the wiki content. The findings showed that properly designed wiki projects can be effectively introduced in higher education with the aim to support students to improve their authoring and collaborative skills through critical thinking, peer interaction and reflection.

The findings of this study are limited by the specific sample and the context of implementation. Future research will be directed to various educational contexts and to include in the analysis students’ experiences and learning outcomes of wiki-authoring activities.

The results provided supportive evidence that successful wiki-based projects in higher education depend on the way students’ individual and collaborative authoring contributions are interwoven. Effective wiki-based interventions should consider students’ learning as the outcome of both, individual and collaborative work, determined by self and peer reflection in wiki groups.

The originality and the significance of the present study are justified by the conceptual framework proposed which can guide both aspects of students’ learning presence within self-directed wiki-authoring projects, i.e. research and educational practice (design and monitoring).

The purpose of this paper is to define standard guidelines for the development of a wiki collaboration space for e-Learning, in order to provide collaborative activities among students, and between instructors and students.

The general requirements and extended features of wiki collaboration space were determined by conducting a requirement study and discussion with major stakeholders, i.e. students and tutors. Then, the wiki collaboration space was developed based on an open source wiki system. Finally, a wiki collaboration space was evaluated in terms of usability and collaboration effectiveness.

A comparison was performed between the wiki collaboration space and the original wiki in students’ works in an online course. The results showed that the effectiveness of collaboration and usefulness of wiki collaboration space were higher than original wiki in collaborative assignment.

As for practical implications, e-Learning developers/managers can use the outcome of this study as a guideline to integrate wiki and/or other social software to supplement e-Learning systems for better collaboration.

There is a need to define standard guidelines that provide the necessary features for wiki in e-Learning. In this study, extended features of wiki as collaborative learning tool were identified and evaluated to meet the needs of students in e-Learning environment.

The chapter argues that implementing a professional writing program in universities can help students build expertise, confidence, and a strong professional portfolio that can advance their future careers to greater heights. This is achieved through a curriculum directly connected to the industry of the students' disciplines, expert instructors providing extensive feedback, and tips to transform ideas and knowledge into professional writing pieces. Additionally, the chapter highlights the importance of students gaining a comprehensive understanding of communication, being aware of the benefits of professional writing, and having hands-on experience through active engagement in the learning process to improve their craft. The chapter emphasizes that transformative learning implemented through strong writing and communication skills are highly valued by all industries seeking job candidates.

Finally, the chapter provides a strategy for improving students' employability by implementing a professional writing program in universities, which is based on the understanding of the changing career demands and the importance of communication and writing skills in all industries seeking job candidates.

In this opinion article, the authors share their experiences with and perspectives on course design requirements and barriers when applying challenge-based learning (CBL) in an online sustainability education setting. CBL is an established learning approach for (higher) sustainability education. It enables teachers to engage students with open, real-life grand challenges through inter-/transdisciplinary student team collaboration. However, empirical research is scarce and mainly based on face-to-face CBL case studies. Thus far, the opportunities to apply CBL in online educational settings are also underinvestigated.

Using the TPACK framework, the authors address technological, pedagogical and content knowledge related to CBL and online sustainability education. The integration of the different components is discussed, providing teachers and course designers insight into design requirements and barriers.

This paper supports the promising future of online CBL for sustainability education, especially in the context of inter-/national inter-university collaboration, yet emphasizes the need for deliberate use of online collaboration and teaching tools.

The study aims to identify and recommend to the Marist International University College (MIUC) technologies that enhance knowledge management, with a particular focus on collaborative and distributed learning.

Nine senior full-time academic staff members were purposively selected for the study. The study employed a qualitative research design that involved the use of Google forms to conduct an online survey to collect data from the target population, and it achieved a 100% response rate. Using content analysis, data were analysed, interpreted and presented in a mini-dissertation.

This research paper presents the findings relating to the innovative use of technologies to enhance collaborative and distributive learning. The findings confirm the existence of informal knowledge management practices at the MIUC and recommend technologies established through a review of the literature to expedite these practices.

The proposed technologies are thought to be useful in enhancing collaborative and distributed learning in academic institutions as technologies act as enablers in knowledge management within academia.

As technologies continue to emerge, there is a chance for universities to hit a stalemate in terms of identifying appropriate technologies to enable knowledge management. This paper contributes by identifying not only KM practices at the university under study but also specific multimedia, social media, media sharing and brainstorming technologies from the literature that would be ideal in enhancing collaborative and distributed learning.