Exploring the impact of interactive online tools on developing writing skills in secondary level English language teaching

Abstract

The use of interactive online tools in educational contexts has changed the way students engage with academic writing. This study examines the use of interactive online tools, specifically Google Docs and Padlet, on the writing skill of secondary-level English language learners. A qualitative methodology was approached by using purposive sampling to select four students and five teachers from Secondary level. The data sources for this research study were classroom observation, semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study documented that these tools helped students' sentence structure, vocabulary, grammar correction, and overall clarity in writing. Also, the tools provided real-time suggestion, which aided students’ awareness of their writing mistakes. Nevertheless, challenges were noted, including student dependency on the tool and challenges while students used these tools. The results reaffirm the usefulness of these tools as resources to improve on writing, while also navigating the use of new digital tools for writing instruction. The study adds to the corpus of knowledge about using interactive online tools in secondary education and language learning specifically, and opens up possibilities for other research and development of tools.