Portfolio Partners: Collaborative Writing Practices among Online Elementary Education Students

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session One
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT052 (Wednesday)

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates how online elementary education students engage in collaborative writing to support one another as they complete their final capstone portfolio in order to graduate. Many of these teacher candidates are non-traditional students balancing full-time work, caregiving, and other responsibilities, often with varied prior experiences in academic writing. The study documents how participants co-construct writing support and community through online writing groups, exploring the relational, pedagogical, and affective dimensions of collaborative writing. Guided by social constructivist and participatory hospitality frameworks, this work contributes to understanding how online teacher preparation programs can cultivate writing confidence, belonging, and professional identity through structured collaboration.

Author

• Amy Levin Plattner, Kansas State University