Using Google Docs for Collaborative Writing Feedback with International Students

Giving effective writing feedback can be a challenge for any English instructor. Teaching students how to provide peer feedback can be problematic as well. Both these challenges may seem even more apparent when teaching online during a pandemic. Using Google Docs for collaborative writing feedback is one effective method for addressing both these concerns in a university-based Intensive English Program (IEP). This critical perspective examines how to scaffold collaborative writing feedback remotely using free and widely available platform Google Docs and looks at future use, post-pandemic. In particular, it will share how the authors used Google Docs to track feedback and corrections from instructors to students, set up interactive writing exercises in synchronous courses, and engage in peer-to-peer editing during a pandemic.