Talking to Learn Across Digital and Face-to-face Contexts

• In Event: 54.018 - Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

Research shows that discussion practices in classroom settings can support student
learning (e.g., Freedman & Delp, 2007; Gutiérrez, 1994; Nystrand, 1997; O’Connor & Michaels,
1993). With the increasing popularity of new media in K-12 spaces, classroom discussion has
expanded into digital settings, but the relation between learning and digital talk—what I refer to
as the interactive written communication that occurs in networked online spaces—is less clear.
On one hand, digitally mediated communication in K-12 classrooms fosters critical thinking,
collaboration, and new spaces for productive dialogue (e.g., Lam, 2000; Ruday, 2011). Yet,
teachers struggle to use digital tools in ways that support student interaction and learning (e.g.,
Hutchison & Reinking, 2011; Project Tomorrow, 2009).

Author

• Jennifer Higgs, University of California - Davis