Magic and Monsters: Collaborating with Google in Literacy Practices

Authors

  • Mary Ott, PhD Western University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4010-6558
  • Jenny Kassen, PhD (c) Faculty of Education, Western University
  • Kathy Hibbert, PhD Faculty of Education, Western University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29603

Keywords:

collaboration, Google Docs, elementary school, unintended effects

Abstract

Collaboration is one of the defining features of work and learning in the 21st century. Yet despite the proliferation of Google apps and devices for collaboration across North American school systems, the scope of research on student collaboration using Google technologies in elementary school settings is limited. This paper presents findings from two cases in grade five classrooms where teachers were experimenting with using Google Docs and Chromebooks in their literacy programs. Drawing on a conceptual framework of sociomaterial, complexity, and affect theories, the study offers insights for teachers to understand the complexities of collaboration with these technologies, and pedagogical implications for working with the magic and monsters of unintended effects in collaborative literacy practices.

Author Biographies

Mary Ott, PhD, Western University

Mary Ott (she/her) is an adjunct research professor at Western University and an assistant teaching professor in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University. Her research and teaching in literacy practices and pedagogies is informed by theories of multimodality, more than human agency, and complexity.

Jenny Kassen, PhD (c), Faculty of Education, Western University

Jenny Kassen (they/their) is a multi-media illustrator, a background that afforded visual ways of conceptualizing the findings in this study. As a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at Western University, their research in critical policy, equity, and leadership studies explores the experiences of trans and gender diverse students accessing mental health support in Ontario public schools. 

 

Kathy Hibbert, PhD, Faculty of Education, Western University

Kathy Hibbert (she/her) is Associate Dean, Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education at Western University. An interdisciplinary scholar of curriculum as a social practice, her SSHRC funded research exploring 21st century curriculum making drew on multiliteracies theory.

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Published

2022-08-19

How to Cite

Ott, M., Kassen, J., & Hibbert, K. (2022). Magic and Monsters: Collaborating with Google in Literacy Practices. Language and Literacy, 24(2), 62–84. https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29603

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 2 (2022): Regular Issue

Section

Articles

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