Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Collaborative Technology in the Classroom

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Technology to Support Children's Collaborative Interactions

Abstract

Children enact and develop classroom collaboration through dialogue, and technology alone cannot make this happen. Despite high spending on technology in schools, the focus is more on content-sharing and subject knowledge than on tools for fostering peer collaboration. Interactive whiteboards bring benefits of awareness, control and shared space, but not always peer collaborative working. Tablets can lead to isolated working if used 1:1, but attention to awareness, control and contingency can mitigate this. Training and a culture of collaborative working, careful composition of student groups and separate shared displays can also help. Group size, screen size, experience, training and linking across devices can all support collaboration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Baines, E., Blatchford, P., & Chown, A. (2007). Improving the effectiveness of collaborative group work in primary schools: Effects on science attainment. British Educational Research Journal, 33(5), 663–680.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blatchford, P., Galton, M., Kutnick, P., & Baines, E. (2005). Improving the effectiveness of pupil groups in classrooms (Final Report to ESRC, L139 25, 1046).

    Google Scholar 

  • Blundell, R. (n.d.). How schools spend their money on IT. Retrieved December 1, 2020, from https://commercial.co.uk/schoolspendingedtech/.

  • Brudy, F., Holz, C., Rädle, R., Wu, C.-J., Houben, S., Klokmose, C. N., & Marquardt, N. (2019). Cross-device taxonomy: Survey, opportunities and challenges of interactions spanning across multiple devices. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–28). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crook, C. (1996). Computers and the collaborative experience of learning. Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cukurova, M., Luckin, R., Millán, E., & Mavrikis, M. (2018). The NISPI framework: Analysing collaborative problem-solving from students’ physical interactions. Computers & Education, 116, 93–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidsen, J., & Vanderlinde, R. (2016). ‘You should collaborate, children’: A study of teachers’ design and facilitation of children’s collaboration around touchscreens. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 25(5), 573–593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawes, L., Mercer, N., & Wegerif, R. (2000). Thinking together: A programme of activities for developing thinking skills at KS2. Questions Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dillenbourg, P., & Jermann, P. (2010). Technology for classroom orchestration. In M. Khine & I. Saleh (Eds.), New science of learning (pp. 525–552). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flewitt, R., Messer, D., & Kucirkova, N. (2015). New directions for early literacy in a digital age: The iPad. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(3), 289–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garte, R. R. (2015). Intersubjectivity as a measure of social competence among children attending Head Start: Assessing the measure’s validity and relation to context. International Journal of Early Childhood, 47(1), 189–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich, P. (2012). The iPad as a tool for education: A study of the introduction of iPads at Longfield Academy, Kent. NAACE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, S. E., Mercier, E., Burd, E., & Hatch, A. (2011). Multi-touch tables and the relationship with collaborative classroom pedagogies: A synthetic review. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 6(4), 515–538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, S. (2010). The impact of interactive whiteboards on classroom interaction and learning in primary schools in the UK. In M. Thomas & E. Cutrin-Schmid (Eds.), Interactive whiteboards for education: Theory, research and practice (pp. 86–101). IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, S., & Siddle, J. (2016). New technology. In D. Wyse & S. Rogers (Eds.), A guide to early years and primary teaching. Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornsby, G. G. (2010). Computer support for children’s collaborative story-making in the classroom. In K. Mäkitalo-Siegl, J. Zottmann, K. Frederic, & F. Fischer (Eds.), Classroom of the future (pp. 115–139). Brill Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, E. M., Mynatt, E. D., & Trimble, J. P. (2007). When design just isn’t enough: The unanticipated challenges of the real world for large collaborative displays. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 11(7), 537–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakonen, T., & Niemi, K. (2020). Managing participation and turn-taking in children’s digital activities: Touch in blocking a peer’s hand. Social Interaction. Video-Based Studies of Human Sociality, 3(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerawalla, L. (2015). Talk Factory generic: Empowering secondary school pupils to construct and explore dialogic space during pupil-led whole-class discussions. International Journal of Educational Research, 70, 57–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerawalla, L., Petrou, M., & Scanlon, E. (2013). Talk Factory: Supporting ‘exploratory talk’ around an interactive whiteboard in primary school science plenaries. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 22(1), 89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kharrufa, A., Balaam, M., Heslop, P., Leat, D., Dolan, P., & Olivier, P. (2013). Tables in the wild: Lessons learned from a large-scale multi-tabletop deployment. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1021–1030). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreitmayer, S. (2015). Designing activities for collaboration at classroom scale using shared technology. Doctoral Dissertation, The Open University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kyriakou, A., & Higgins, S. (2016). Systematic review of the studies examining the impact of the interactive whiteboard on teaching and learning: What we do learn and what we do not? Preschool and Primary Education, 4(2), 254–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lechelt, Z., Rogers, Y., Yuill, N., Nagl, L., Ragone, G., & Marquardt, N. (2018). Inclusive computing in special needs classrooms: Designing for all. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 11–22). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lew, M., Mesch, D., Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. (1986). Positive interdependence, academic and collaborative-skills group contingencies, and isolated students. American Educational Research Journal, 23(3), 476–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, S. C., Pow, J. W. C., Wong, E. M. L., & Fung, A. C. W. (2010). Empowering student learning through Tablet PCs: A case study. Education and Information Technologies, 15(3), 171–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, C., Wong, L., & Shao, Y. (2012). Comparison of 1: 1 and 1:m CSCL environment for collaborative concept mapping. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(2), 99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, C. C., & Kao, L. C. (2007). Do handheld devices facilitate face-to-face collaboration? Handheld devices with large shared display groupware to facilitate group interactions. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 23(4), 285–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Major, L., Warwick, P., Rasmussen, I., Ludvigsen, S., & Cook, V. (2018). Classroom dialogue and digital technologies: A scoping review. Education and Information Technologies, 23(5), 1995–2028.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mangafa, C., Moody, L., Woodcock, A., & Woolner, A. (2016). The design of guidelines for teachers and parents in the use of iPads to support children with autism in the development of joint attention skills. In A. Marcus (Ed.), Design, user experience, and usability: Novel user experiences (pp. 178–186). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marquardt, N., Ballendat, T., Boring, S., Greenberg, S., & Hinckley, K. (2012). Gradual engagement: Facilitating information exchange between digital devices as a function of proximity. In Proceedings of the 2012 ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces (pp. 31–40). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N., Hennessy, S., & Warwick, P. (2010). Using interactive whiteboards to orchestrate classroom dialogue. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 19(2), 195–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N., Hennessy, S., & Warwick, P. (2019). Dialogue, thinking together and digital technology in the classroom: Some educational implications of a continuing line of inquiry. International Journal of Educational Research, 97, 187–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N., & Hodgkinson, S. (2008). Exploring talk in school: Inspired by the work of Douglas Barnes. Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mercer, N., Wegerif, R., & Dawes, L. (1999). Children’s talk and the development of reasoning in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal, 25(1), 95–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercier, E., Vourloumi, G., & Higgins, S. (2017). Student interactions and the development of ideas in multi-touch and paper-based collaborative mathematical problem solving. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(1), 162–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Literacy Trust. (2019). Lack of access to technology in schools is holding pupils back. Retrieved May 10, 2021, from https://literacytrust.org.uk/news/lack-access-technology-schools-holding-pupils-back/.

  • Nussbaum, M., Alvarez, C., McFarlane, A., Gomez, F., Claro, S., & Radovic, D. (2009). Technology as small group face-to-face collaborative scaffolding. Computers & Education, 52(1), 147–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PISA. (2017). 2015 results—Volume V: Collaborative problem solving. Retrieved May 10, 2021, from https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264285521-en.

  • PISA. (2019). PISA 2018 results: Combined executive summaries. Retrieved May 10, 2021, from https://www.oecd.org/pisa/Combined_Executive_Summaries_PISA_2018.pdf.

  • Plank, T., Jetter, H.-C., Rädle, R., Klokmose, C. N., Luger, T., & Reiterer, H. (2017). Is two enough?! Studying benefits, barriers, and biases of multi-tablet use for collaborative visualization. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 4548–4560). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Promethean. (2020). The State of Technology in Education Report.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, Y., & Lindley, S. (2004). Collaborating around vertical and horizontal large interactive displays: Which way is best? Interacting with Computers, 16(6), 1133–1152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, Y., Shum, V., Marquardt, N., Lechelt, S., Johnson, R., Baker, H., & Davies, M. (2017). From the BBC micro to micro: Bit and beyond. Interactions, 24(2), 74–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wegerif, R., Mercer, N., & Dawes, L. (1998). Software design to support discussion in the primary curriculum. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 14(3), 199–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westendorf, L., Shaer, O., Varsanyi, P., van der Meulen, H., & Kun, A. L. (2017). Understanding collaborative decision making around a large-scale interactive tabletop. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 1(CSCW), 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuill, N., Rogers, Y., & Rick, J. (2013). Pass the iPad: Collaborative creating and sharing in family groups. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 941–950). ACM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zagermann, J., Pfeil, U., Rädle, R., Jetter, H.-C., Klokmose, C., & Reiterer, H. (2016). When tablets meet tabletops: The effect of tabletop size on around-the-table collaboration with personal tablets. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 5470–5481).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children & Technology Lab, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, UK

    Nicola Yuill

Authors
  1. Nicola Yuill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicola Yuill .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Yuill, N. (2021). Collaborative Technology in the Classroom. In: Technology to Support Children's Collaborative Interactions. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75047-3_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation