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WriteAway Update 
Fall 2013


WriteAway news, with a new look.


Greetings from the WriteAway Administrative Centre! It has been some time since we shared news on the WriteAway initiative, an online writing support service being piloted in British Columbia. We hope to provide regular updates on the service via this new e-newsletter format. If you wish to be added to or removed from this distribution list, please email waoffice@eln.bc.ca.

 

A PDF version of this newsletter is available at:  http://www.eln.bc.ca/docs/view.php?id=1205

 


Spotlight on Douglas College, participating institution. 
 
Douglas College Learning Centre Tutors
Douglas College
Learning Centre tutors

From the outset Douglas College, a post-secondary institution offering bachelor's degrees and two-year diplomas, has been a champion of WriteAway. Faculty at the college's Learning Centre were involved early on at the service development level, and Douglas is now a participating institution in the six-institutional pilot of the collaborative service. We chatted recently with Nancy Squair, Douglas College WriteAway Institutional Coordinator and English instructor, about the college's involvement in WriteAway.

 

Read Full Story 

Summer pilot by the numbers. 

This past summer five institutions (Camosun College, College of the Rockies, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Simon Fraser University) participated in an eleven-week pilot of WriteAway (May 27th to August 9th). Groups and classes on and off campus were invited to use WriteAway during the hot summer months. Here are a few summer numbers:
  • 166 new eTutoring student accounts created (eTutoring is the platform used to support WriteAway) 
  • 268 writing pieces were submitted for feedback* 
  • 72% of the submissions were made by students who self-identified as English as an    Additional Language learner 
  • 49 hours of tutoring per week were provided collaboratively for coverage 7 days a week
  • 9 tutors from all five institutions provided tutoring assistance 

*includes duplicate submissions 

WriteAway: in full swing this fall.

WriteAway opened its doors again this fall on September 16th, and is currently in full swing with six participating institutions (Camosun College, College of the Rockies, Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Simon Fraser University, and University of British Columbia).

In its first six weeks of service this fall, WriteAway has received 11 eQuestions (short writing-related queries) and a whopping 375 writing submissions. Student feedback on the service has been overwhelmingly positive. A sample comment from a student: "[WriteAway has] pushed me to develop my writing further and more in depth."

The newly-formed WriteAway Advisory Committee will be meeting this fall to discuss policy, planning, and operations. The WriteAway Advisory Committee reports to the BC eTutoring Concept Committee, which exists to guide the development of collaborative online tutoring services within British Columbia's post-secondary sector.
Funding and support for this initiative is provided by BCcampus,
the BC Electronic Library Network, and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC.
If you would like to learn more about WriteAway, please visit writeaway.ca or contact the WriteAway Administrative Centre
778.782.9573