- This dimension of variation represents a shift from seeing students as being passive actors in the environment to active creators of the environment.
- In a pre-arranged environments, students are passive actors moving along set guidelines.
- In a scaffolded environment, students passively shape the process and environment through their behavior.
- In an open environment, students actively shape their experience by defining their own learning goals and objectives.

New York University

As participants’ conceptions of OCW environments move up the hierarchy, their conceptions of other key aspects of OCW also change: 
- Purpose of writing environment
- Role of teachers
- Role of students

Dimensions of Variation in Conceptions of OCW Environments

Limbu, L., & Markauskaite, L. (2015). How do learners experience joint writing: University students' conceptions of online collaborative writing tasks and environments. Computers & Education, 82, 393-408.


How do Learners Experience Joint Writing: University Students’ Conceptions of Online Collaborative Writing

- This dimension of variation represents a shift in focus from group functioning to group accomplishment.
- In pre-arranged writing environments, the purpose of the affordances provided is to improve group functioning and enable them to complete the specified task together.
- In scaffolded environments, the purpose of the affordances expand to support individual learning goals alongside effective group functioning.
- In open environments, the purpose further expands to include affordances for freedom and flexibility in helping students attain self-defined learning goals.

Purpose of Affordances in Online Writing Environment

- This dimension of variation represents a shift in focus from seeing teachers as central to the OCW experience to seeing them as merely complementary.
- In pre-arranged environments, teachers are central to the experience, crafting and defining the parameters of the collaborative writing task while coaching students through the task itself.
- In scaffolded environments, teachers are moderators who provide close guidance to their students and guidelines for their students to follow.
- In open environments, teachers only broadly facilitate the writing experience, and are just there as a resource for students to go to if needed.

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