Writing Together: Online Synchronous Collaboration in Middle School

Abstract

Abstract The authors showcase the use of DocuViz, an information visualization tool, as a means to support middle school students’ online synchronous collaborative writing. The purpose of this study was to explore writing outcomes when students write in groups and independently. Providing students with a tool to help them understand their individual contributions to a collaboratively written Google Doc may be one reason why group‐written essays were significantly longer and received significantly higher rubric scores when compared with the independently written essays. Results also indicated that group writing had a positive impact on later independent essay writing. Student survey results reflect positive reactions to online collaborative writing. The authors conclude with a discussion of the theoretical contributions that this study makes to New Literacies Studies and provide guidelines for teachers interested in supporting students’ writing development through technology‐enhanced strategies that position students as partners in the writing process.

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