Like many writing teachers, I often find myself reflecting on the type and amount of feedback I give, particularly in my “Writing for Academic Purposes” course at the University of Michigan’s (U-M’s) English Language Institute. I am forever searching for that feedback “sweet spot,” where I give just enough meaningful feedback to help and encourage my students without confusing or overwhelming them. The matriculated UM international graduate students in my class, I find, are overwhelmed enough as it is. Often in the early years of their programs, they are acutely aware of their immediate need to develop and practice their writing skills while learning how to navigate new academic genres, U.S. writing conventions, and discipline-specific norms.

To that end, this course covers topics such as author positioning and the impact of audience and writing purpose on style, flow, and presentation, and we make great use of the well-loved text, Academic Writing for Graduate Students, 3rd edition, by Swales and Feak. Recognizing and respecting the time constraints of my students, assignments include short, one- to two-page papers focusing on important elements found in longer papers, such as extended definitions, process descriptions, and data commentaries. I provide feedback on each draft, previously in the form of track changes, comments, and summary notes in MS Word. Additional feedback is offered in the form of a detailed rubric, previously located on our course LMS, Canvas, where all drafts were submitted and returned electronically. Using technology to collect, provide feedback, and return drafts to students allows me to not only reduce paper waste, but also spend less class time collecting and distributing papers. And, because I type faster than I write, I am able to provide more thorough feedback electronically, and my comments are no longer restricted by marginal real estate.

The Writing Feedback “Problem”

However, despite my students’ eagerness to improve and my thorough feedback, I found that some students still ignored or disregarded my comments on their drafts. At least, that is what I initially (and rather cynically) thought, before remembering to give them the benefit of the doubt; maybe they disagreed with my feedback, did not understand it, or felt uncomfortable challenging me about it.

I also had students who made every single one of my recommended revisions, which initially felt rewarding, as it showed they read my comments carefully and agreed with everything I wrote. Again, another reality check: It was quite possible that they disagreed, but simply wanted to please their teacher.

This inability to read the minds of my students was, in essence, the crux of my problem. How could I create additional opportunities for my students to interact and engage with my feedback in a nonthreatening space, all while continuing to save everyone time? Fortunately, there is a widely known, free, easy-to-use technology available that allowed me to do just that: Google Docs.

Introducing Google Docs

As Google Docs and other Google Drive applications continue to improve, writing teachers across disciplines have discovered creative ways to use them to improve aspects of their courses. An avid Google Drive user myself, I thought this might be the solution I was looking for, so I modified classroom procedures. Note: If you are new to Google Docs, the following links direct you to Google’s helpful “How-to” guides.

First, each student created their own unique Google Doc and shared it with me, giving me editing access. Students then wrote all of their drafts for every writing assignment in that same Google Doc, with the newest draft located above earlier drafts. Students were reminded to not delete comments so they could be referred to later, and to keep each draft intact by revising a copy of the draft, not the original. When their drafts were ready for me to read, students sent me a URL to their Google Doc. I asked students to submit this link via assignments I created on our course LMS, Canvas. This allowed me to open and edit their live Google Doc within Canvas, so I could provide feedback and grade (using Canvas’ SpeedGrader feature) all in one window.

When I opened their Google Doc, I saw their most current draft first, and could easily scroll between drafts. I could insert comments, include hyperlinks to web resources, reply directly to student comments, suggest edits, see the changes students made to the document, and copy rubrics directly into the document to keep everything in the same place. Students would then be automatically notified via email of my activity on their Google Doc. Finally, students and I could confer as needed by opening the document at the same time and using the “chat” feature.

Benefits of Using Google Docs

I found numerous benefits to incorporating Google Docs in this manner in my English for academic purposes writing class, not the least of which was the time saved by this streamlined process. Instead of accumulating more than 10 unique MS Word files per student per semester, there was now only one document per student—stored in the cloud, not my hard drive. In addition, any formatting issues due to students having international versions of MS Word were also avoided.

Students easily adopted this process and engaged with my feedback more than ever before. Many students quickly took to using the comment and chat features on Google Docs, and I was delighted with how these additional lines of communication resulted in increased engagement with not only my feedback, but the writing process itself. Students no longer needed to wait for office hours, spend time drafting an email, risk inconveniencing me by scheduling a meeting, or ask potentially face-threatening questions in class. Now, they could quickly and conveniently communicate with me via online comments, and I would be notified immediately. I would be able to respond right away, engaging them in an ongoing conversation in a mode of communication they understand and are comfortable with.

I found that students asked more questions, responded more to my comments, and even supplied me with valuable information I had not explicitly asked for. This suggested to me that this feedback process gave students an opportunity, as well as permission, to reply directly to my feedback or otherwise engage with the material in a variety of ways, as the following examples from student papers illustrate (Table 1).

Table 1. Examples of student engagement with written teacher feedback on Google Docs (T = teacher comments; S = student comments)

Potential Drawbacks

Of course, nothing is perfect, and this process was no exception. The major drawbacks to using Google Docs for writing feedback are in part due to the technology, and in part due to the inherent nature of writing feedback.

Though submitting all drafts via one Google Doc streamlined the submission and feedback process in many ways, it might be confusing for papers longer than one or two pages, or in courses with more than four or five short papers. And as with any technology use, there might be a learning curve at the beginning of class. That said, all of my students caught on quickly, with only the occasional follow-up needed.

And, alas, despite the increased interaction and engagement in many of my students, it was not present for everyone, and my original questions about these students (“Did they not see, understand, or agree with the feedback?”) remained unanswered.

Conclusion

In sum, Google Docs is a helpful tool that can be used in writing classrooms to give students opportunities they might not otherwise have to interact with teachers and their written feedback in meaningful, powerful ways. In the appropriate writing course context, all involved can enjoy time saved, increased engagement, and the two-way communication afforded by this useful technology.

Katie Weyant is a lecturer at the University of Michigan’s English Language Institute, where she teaches English for academic purposes to matriculated international graduate students. She also works part time as an associate editor at MICHIGAN ELT and a freelance item writer for Michigan Language Assessments.