Can the interactive whiteboard help to provide ‘dialogic space’ for children's collaborative activity?

Abstract

This paper is based on a project investigating the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) as tools for children's group-based learning in primary science. A series of science activities were designed with participating teachers, in which groups of three or four children used the IWB to access information, consider options, plan actions and make joint decisions. Of particular interest in this paper is whether the IWB helps to provide a shared ‘dialogic space’ for reasoned discussion, within which children are able to jointly access relevant information, share different points of view and achieve collective solutions to science-based problems. Our analysis is framed by notions of ‘dialogic teaching’, in which the relationship between the guiding role of the teacher and children's active involvement in their own learning is highlighted. We offer some conclusions about the value of IWB technology for supporting children's talk and collaborative activity, which may assist its use and development.