Structured instructional design for integrated language skill development: College students’ perspectives on collaborative reading-to-write activities using a cloud-based tool

Many students begin post-secondary studies with inadequate reading comprehension and expository writing skills. Strong skills in these areas are necessary for interpreting source material, integrating multiple ideas, and formulating clear and coherent arguments to complete integrated reading and writing tasks typical of most post-secondary assignments. This article reports on college students’ perspectives on an intervention study exploring how integrated reading and writing instruction can be combined with collaborative writing using a cloud-based tool to develop students’ expository writing skills. A 10-week intervention was designed to introduce 70 students to discrete expository writing skills such as paraphrasing, summarizing, and synthesizing source material. The intervention aimed to enhance students’ awareness of the connection between the individual skills and the final product: expository essays. This study was conducted at a large urban community college in Ontario, Canada, with culturally diverse first-year students across disciplines. Individual interviews were conducted with 14 students. Results of thematic and content analyses showed that participants were largely positive about their online collaborative writing experiences with their peers, and many found that the instructional design supported their learning through knowledge construction, social support, and easily accessible information.