Premium
Collaborative learning and directive software
Author(s) -
Wegerif R.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of computer assisted learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.583
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2729
pISSN - 0266-4909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2729.1996.tb00034.x
Subject(s) - directive , software , educational software , computer science , variety (cybernetics) , quality (philosophy) , software engineering , artificial intelligence , philosophy , epistemology , programming language
In this paper interactions of groups of school students working with a variety of educational software are analysed to develop an account of the structure of collaborative educational activities supported by directive software. First the application of a quantitative method is described and its results used to question the hypothesis that directive software limits the quality of discussion between groups of users. The nature of the talk occurring around directive software is then explored in more detail. It is argued that the structure of educational activities around directive software can allow for the possibility of embedding exploratory symmetrical pupil discussion within a directed teaching programme: an educationally desirable combination otherwise difficult to achieve.