Computers and the collaborative experience of learning
Computers and the collaborative experience of learning
Children as computer users: the case of collaborative learning
Computers & Education
Sociocognitive interactions in a computerised industrial task: are they productive for learning
Learning with computers
Learning as the use of tools: a sociocultural perspective on the human-technology link
Learning with computers
Productivity through interaction: an overview
Learning with computers
The role of educational software as a support for teaching and learning conversations
Computers & Education
Analyzing and supporting collaboration in cooperative computer-mediated communication
CSCL '05 Proceedings of th 2005 conference on Computer support for collaborative learning: learning 2005: the next 10 years!
Designing socio-technical environments in support of meta-design and social creativity
CSCL'07 Proceedings of the 8th iternational conference on Computer supported collaborative learning
Students' reasoning during modeling in an inquiry learning environment
Computers in Human Behavior
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
This study analyses the discourse among the teacher and the students, members of three (3) small groups, who learn in the environment of a stand-alone computer. Two educational environments are examined: the first one, a "virtual laboratory" (Virtual scale-DELYS) and the second one, a computer modeling environment (ModelsCreator). The `Virtual Scale' environment provides users with curriculum focused feedback and in that sense it can be categorized as directive. The ModelsCreator environment provides users merely with a representation of their own conception of curriculum concepts, so it can be categorized as an open-ended environment. The goal of this research is to exemplify the way the two educational software environments support (a) the development of collective thinking in peer-- and teacher-led discussion and (b) students' autonomy. The software tools of the "Virtual scale" along with the resources provided for the problem solving created an educational framework of hypothesis testing. This framework did not limit the students' contributions by directing them to give short answers. Moreover, it supported the students' initiatives by providing tools, representations and procedures that offered educationally meaningful feedback. Based on the above results, we discuss a new educationally important structure of software mediation and describe the way the two software activities resourced collective thinking and students' initiatives. Finally, for each type of software environment, we propose certain hypotheses for future research regarding the support of collaborative problem solving.