Generating New Theory for Online Writing Instruction (OWI)
Whiteboard Tutorial With Chat
Note: This tutorial movie is lengthy and detailed. It moves fairly slowly, but allows for readers to review it by clicking on the written instruction at the end of the tutorial.
Tutorial Three presents an example of a synchronous tutorial that has been conducted both on a whiteboard, which has real-time text and graphical capabilities, and on a near-real time chatline. On the whiteboard, participants see everything as it is typed, whereas near-real time chat means that what is typed is not viewed until “posted,” usually by hitting the “enter” key. The whiteboard features visual tools such as highlighting, lines, arrows, circles, squares, and mathematical symbols, as well as ways to vary the effects such as colors and size. In this example, the black font represents the student’s talk and the magenta represents the tutor’s talk. The tutor has used the graphics tools, to demonstrate particular principles or to highlight information to remember.
Often, students do not feel initially comfortable using the visual tools although they tend to use them more during repeat visits and additional tutorials. In this platform, students have the opportunity to practice whiteboard skills prior to a tutorial. Given that many students may not take advantage of such opportunities, teacher/tutors may have to do some quick individual instruction in order to facilitate a successful interaction. Those who are shy or uncomfortable with electronic environments either may become more comfortable or may choose f2f writing instruction.
This tutorial, which occurred in the SMARTHINKING OWL Brainstorming Center, is focused on the student’s need to generate ideas for a process analysis paper. The student is able to explain the assignment to the tutor, giving the tutor a sense of how the tutorial needs to develop. Having gained some contextual information, the tutor (Barbara) demonstrates subjects for which process analysis might occur. She invites the student (Jennifer) to make her own list by labeling a space for this list on the whiteboard. Barbara’s response to Jennifer’s ideas is to ask questions on the board, and to use graphics to show how Jennifer’s ideas connect to Barbara’s questions. Much of the tutorial is developed directly on the whiteboard, with the student participating by stating her own ideas and by making decisions about the tutorial’s general direction. For example, Barbara asks whether Jennifer is arranging her process analysis around the events of a normal day and Jennifer’s affirmative answer leads Barbara to suggest another list to which Jennifer responds. However, this tutorial moves fluidly between the whiteboard and the chat line. In the chat, tutor and student engage in dialogue about the context of Jennifer’s ideas (her daily distractions) and metacognitively about the process of writing the actual essay; issues arise for Jennifer about essay length and Barbara focuses on developing detail and the potential organizational schemes. The tutorial ends with a recap of a possible organization for drafting the essay.
This tutorial has its roots in Social Constructivism with collaboration as a focus of activity. Although the tutor uses probing “Socratic” questions typical of Expressivist theory, she apparently has no difficulty in participating in Jennifer’s writing process by writing on the board (not coincidentally, a primary function of a whiteboard interaction as defined by this OWL Team). She models an invention tool (listing), asks leading questions, and provides an organizational scheme for Jennifer to follow if she wants. Arguably, the tutor may be more involved in the tutorial than Jennifer, although Jennifer’s participation is evident in the chat, where she may be more comfortable talking than on the whiteboard (as evidenced by her statement that she is new to this environment). On the other hand, the tutor’s goal not only is to help Jennifer in her immediate problem, but also to provide an archival record of the interaction for the student’s use, a goal that might call for more purposeful and directive uses of the whiteboard.
Implications for Future Research
Given the previous analysis of this tutorial interaction, the following are some questions that practice-based research could explore within this context.