Online Synchronous Collaborative Writing: A Comparative Analysis of Third-Grade Students' Writing Processes

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: A Close Look at Writing Processes, Language Choices, and Its Instruction for Children Through Young Teens

Abstract

Although online learning and collaboration are deemed necessary skills for the 21st-century student, very little is known about how elementary students participate in online Synchronous Collaborative Writing (SCW). Integrating sociocultural and New Literacies frameworks, this comparative case study examined how five groups of third-graders collaboratively composed a tall tale in an online environment. Data sources included Google Doc revisions, DocuViz analyses of revisions, Zoom video data from writing group conferences, and student interviews about students’ perceptions of online SCW. Preliminary findings revealed that the groups’ collaborative patterns shifted throughout the writing process, students used multiple online spaces like Zoom and the Google Doc to collaborate, and overall students perceived online SCW as a positive and helpful writing process.

Author

• Amanda Shimizu, Vanderbilt University