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.

Online synchronous collaborative writing in the classroom benefits learning, but how can teachers provide support before, during, and after students write together?

Funding information UCI Education Research Initiative Mini GrantFor second language (L2) learners, developing proficiency in academic writing is a cognitively demanding process that requires domain knowledge, in-depth understanding of rhetoric and genre conventions, and mastery of linguistic principles. Teaching writing to students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in a way that fosters competence and confidence is equally challenging. However, carefully devised integration of digital tools into L2 writing curriculum can support developing writers. Considering the complexity of writing from students' and instructors' standpoints, this article proposes an integration of infographics into the L2 writing curriculum as a means of (1) supporting the writing development of multilingual students and (2) scaffolding the cognitive demands L2 writers face while composing. It also calls attention to communicative and rhetorical functions of writing. The curricular integration of infographics in second language writing courses is grounded in the process-based writing approach that involves careful and iterative planning, writing, and revision. Arguing that infographics is an effective digital tool that holds tremendous potential to support both L2 students and instructors in writing intensive classes, the authors explore how infographics can be integrated in process-based writing curriculum to support the writing development of multilingual students.

No abstract

No abstract