Towards a teacher-centric approach for multi-touch surfaces in classrooms

  • Authors:
  • Iyad AlAgha;Andrew Hatch;Linxiao Ma;Liz Burd

  • Affiliations:
  • University of Durham, Durham;University of Durham, Durham;University of Durham, Durham;University of Durham, Durham

  • Venue:
  • ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

The potential of tabletops to enable simultaneous interaction and face-to-face collaboration can provide novel learning opportunities. Despite significant research in the area of collaborative learning around tabletops, little attention has been paid to the integration of multi-touch surfaces into classroom layouts and how to employ this technology to facilitate teacher-learner dialogue and teacher-led activities across multi-touch surfaces. While most existing techniques focus on the collaboration between learners, this work aims to gain a better understanding of practical challenges that need to be considered when integrating multi-touch surfaces into classrooms. It presents a multi-touch interaction technique, called TablePortal, which enables teachers to manage and monitor collaborative learning on students' tables. Early observations of using the proposed technique within a novel classroom consisting of networked multi-touch surfaces are discussed. The aim was to explore the extent to which our design choices facilitate teacher-learner dialogue and assist the management of classroom activity.