Misleading Metaphors for Classroom Discussion in a Collaborative E-Reader

• In Event: 49.089 - Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: 49.089-3 - E-Learning, E-Readers, and Information and Communications Technology Literacy

Abstract

This paper reports on Phase I data of a two-phase qualitative study. This study seeks to understand teachers’ perceptions and uses of an e-reading application that incorporates social media tools to encourage discussions “inside” a digital book. It also examines the potential affordances and constraints associated with using the app for literacy instruction. Findings suggest that although focal teachers adopted the app to support varied meaning making opportunities, their classroom practices were shaped and ultimately constrained by the metaphors they adopted to define and understand the app. Analysis of teacher-student interactions within the app reveal a trend of Initiation-Response-Evaluation (Cazden, 1986) patterns, suggesting that the nature of discussion shifts by mode (online versus face-to-face) despite identical stimuli.

Authors

• Jennifer Higgs, University of California - Berkeley

• Catherine Anne Miller, The University of Vermont

• P. David Pearson, University of California - Berkeley