Using

Google Classroom and Writers Workshop to Teach Computer-Based Writing

Using Google Classroom and Writers Workshop to Teach Computer-Based Writing

Annette Youngkin
University of San Diego

Using Google Classroom and Writers Workshop to Teach Computer-Based Writing

INTRODUCTION
1. My Context: New School, New Challenge
This fall, I will teach fourth grade at a Title I school in Vista, California, a different
school than the school I taught at in the 2015 2016 school year. My new school is in the same
school district as my old school, Vista Unified School District (VUSD), but my new school has
decidedly different demographics, which presents a new challenge, one I have sought out. My
new school is over 90% eligible for free or reduced lunch (FRL), unlike my old school, which
was only 29% FRL eligible. Also, over 50% of students in my new school are English Language
Learners (ELL), more than twice VUSDs percentage, unlike my former school which was only
10% ELL. Significantly, only 31% of fourth grade students at my new school were proficient in
English Language Arts (ELA) on last year's California Assessment of Student Performance and
Progress, or CAASPP, and only 4% of ELL students were proficient.
I am changing schools in part because I believe my new school can make good use of my
primary area of expertise: ELA instruction for ELL students. Success in history, science, and
mathematics depends in large part on ELA ability, I believe, and so I emphasize ELA
development in the classes I teach, especially in classes with many ELL students, which is the
sort of class I typically teach. My approach to ELA instruction for classes with many ELL
students involves the provision of many opportunities to write, because ELL student writing skill
does not meaningfully improve without ample practice, Ive found. In the past, I have used
journaling (i.e., via handwriting and paper) to increase ELL student comfort with writing, which
Ive found to be a precondition to increasing ELA skills of ELL students, but writing via
computer is increasingly required in school and beyond, and so it is time to update my approach.

Using Google Classroom and Writers Workshop to Teach Computer-Based Writing

2. The Problem: How Best to Go Digital at My New School

This curriculum review paper provides me with an opportunity to update my approach, to
consider carefully how to design and implement a computer-based writing curriculum for
schools and classrooms with many ELL students, or at least for my new class this fall.
Previously, at other schools, in California and in Washington, I experimented with collaborative
online writing via blogging, resource management strategy via Civilization: Beyond Earth, group
document editing via Google Docs, group-based close reading via Actively Learn, and imagebased textual interpretation via Doodle Buddy. Each experiment worked well as a standalone
computer-based activity. Because of this prior success, and because of the likely needs of my fall
class, discussed below, I am ready to try to teach writing exclusively via digital classroom
services such as Moodle, Edmodo, Schoology, or Google Classroom.
The two main challenges to going digital this fall are that (1) I have never before taught
writing exclusively via computer and (2) I dont have much information yet about my new
school and classroom. I believe I can begin to overcome the first challenge by researching all
about learning platforms, learning management systems, digital classrooms, and what is required
to make these developments in computing, software and networks work well in and for a
classroom, any classroom. Researching this subject is the primary purpose of this paper. Once I
have read the experts explain what the digital classroom is, why it is good, and how it works at a
practical level, I can then begin to solve the second problem, which is to figure out how to turn
research about the digital classroom in general into a particular digital classroom that will likely
work well for my particular students without already knowing my particular students.

3. Needs Assessment: Choosing the Right Digital Classroom Software

Using Google Classroom and Writers Workshop to Teach Computer-Based Writing

To continue to develop ELL students toward mastery of ELA skills, and toward computer
literacy, which I take to be the primary needs of ELL students, my class will need as much
computer-based writing practice this fall as I can possibly provide, and certainly more than Ive
been able to previously provide via limited piloting of a particular application or online activity.
In my experience, ELL students typically have less access to computers in the home than nonELL students, and reduced comfort and familiarity with computers as a result, so writing
instruction for my fall class should be conducted exclusively via digital classroom software. For
this to work, I will need hardware that is easy to use, software that is easy to use, and teacher
training on the software. Hardware is a settled matter: my new school has one Chromebook for
each student. So this paper will focus on reviewing the literature on digital classroom software
for the purpose of selecting the right digital classroom software for a class like mine.
Because Chromebooks rely on and use software stored on the cloud (i.e., software as a
service, or SaaS), rather than relying on software installed on the machine itself, I will need to
choose for my class a cloud-based digital classroom service like Edmodo, Moodle, Schoology, or
Google Classroom. Because schools tend to have limited Internet bandwidth that must be shared
among many classes, I expect the bandwidth available for my class will be limited. So the digital
classroom software I select must not be too bandwidth-intensive. Also, the software selected
must not require of student machines a lot of processing power, storage space, or memory, as
Chromebooks are not particularly powerful. Last, the software must be very easy to use, because
my ELL students in particular will have likely limited experience with technology, as discussed
above. Research into these matters will be required.