Using a virtual learning environment to develop academic writing with first year dance students: facing the challenge of writing through digital images

This paper discusses research into the facilitation of academic writing for first year dance students using images, emails and the forum of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). Taking place over several weeks in the early part of the academic year and within a core module entitled Personal and Professional Development in the single honours Dance Practice and Performance degree, students were asked to contribute to a series of formative tasks implemented through the University of Wolverhampton 's VLE entitled 'Wolverhampton Online Learning Framework' (WOLF). Employing an Action Research methodology and working with both Academic Literacies theorising and research into VLEs in literacy learning, early results indicate that writing in a less formal collaborative space provides an important preliminary setting for introducing formal academic writing.