Kong, S.C., Ogata, H., Arnseth, H.C., Chan, C.K.K., Hirashima, T., Klett, F., Lee, J.H.M., Liu, C.C., Looi, C.K., Milrad, M., Mitrovic, A., Nakabayashi, K., Wong, S.L., Yang, S.J.H. (eds.) (2009). Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computers in Education [CDROM]. Hong Kong: Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education. 301 A computer-assisted environment for a learning community of writing with reciprocal editing Wing-Kwong WONG a , Yu-Fen YANG b , Hui-Chin YEH b , Jia-Jheng CHENG c a Department of Electronic Engineering b Department of Applied Foreign Languages c Institute of Computer Science & Information Engineering National Yunlin University of Science & Technology, Douliou, Yunlin, Taiwan {wongwk, yangy, hyeh, g9517727}@yuntech.edu.tw Abstract: This paper proposes an online writing system with peer review which provides learners various peer feedbacks as scaffolds for building their writing knowledge. The system focuses not only on the grammatical errors but also on the overall organization of written texts. Revision is emphasized in the system and the Diff engine is used to support the design of revision tools and comparison utilities. We also observe the process of new knowledge construction of each learner with action logs and statistics which are produced by the trace and statistics module in the system. Keywords: Learning community, writing system, peer review, teaching/learning strategies, application of Diff 1. Introduction According to traditional wisdom of education, students can develop better writing skills with the assistance of mature peers or experts. A study of Heift and Caws (2000) proposes an interactive learning environment for writing. Their study shows that students who supplied the most social and cognitive acknowledge were the people who contributed the most in online peer review. This study further indicates that meaningful learning is achieved by interaction. Learners can share personal experiences, elicit challenging questions, and provide constructive feedbacks as scaffolds of learning (e.g., Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002). In traditional writing class, students acquire writing skills with instructions and corrections from teachers. The opportunity of interaction among peers is limited. In contrast, learning communities foster the social construction of knowledge, cooperative learning, active learning, an emphasis on the integration and synthesis of diverse student perspectives, as well as student-student, student-staff, and staff-staff collaboration (Smith, 1993). Network technology may be especially well suited to the elusive task of creating a more equitable educational system, one in which all students interact freely and comfortably with their teachers and peers, thereby increasing their opportunities to learn and grow (Spaulding & Lake, 1991). Nowadays, online interactive learning environments, which can even evolve into learning communities, are developed with the diffusion of Internet. There are more interactions since students are not restricted by time and space anymore. Writing is one of important skills in language learning, but it is often neglected. There are many E-learning systems about language learning at present, but only few of