Virtual Booth

The shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital teaching practices, particularly in academic writing instruction. While virtual learning environments offer flexibility and accessibility, teaching academic writing online remains challenging. Four key challenges commonly encountered by writing instructors are: (1) guiding students through the writing process of planning, drafting, and revising; (2) monitoring and providing feedback on students' writing drafts in real time without face-to-face interaction; (3) helping students synthesize information from multiple reading sources to support their arguments; and (4) developing students' citation skills to effectively integrate evidence into their academic writing. To address these challenges, this paper introduces ColourPath, an innovative, step-by-step virtual workspace that scaffolds the academic writing process through structured templates and colour-coding techniques. ColourPath guides learners through four sequential stages: (a) reading and understanding academic texts, (b) extracting and organizing key information through guided notetaking, (c) analyzing and synthesizing ideas into an academic essay framework, and (d) producing a coherent draft using colour-coded prompts that visually connect sources, ideas, and citations. This systematic approach enables teachers to monitor students' progress while providing learners with clear visual support throughout the writing process. The design of ColourPath is underpinned by four established theoretical frameworks: the Cognitive Process Theory of Writing (Flower & Hayes, 1981), the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989), Scaffolding Theory (Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976), and Dual Coding Theory (Paivio, 1991). By integrating these complementary theories, ColourPath offers an effective, learner-centred innovation that enhances online academic writing instruction through structured guidance, visual organisation, and meaningful scaffolding.

Keywords: Academic writing; ColourPath; Virtual workspace; Scaffolding; Colour-coding.