This week we had a paper published in Springer’s Journal of Computers in Education, entitled: Facilitating collaborative learning between two primary schools using large multi-touch devices. This paper is the first output from a collaborative project between Durham University’s School of Education (led by Andrew Joyce-Gibbons) and Cardiff Metropolitan University (led by Gary Beauchamp), focusing on computer-supported collaborative learning through multi-touch devices.
The abstract of the paper is below; you can read the full paper (or download a PDF) online:
Facilitating collaborative learning between two primary schools using large multi-touch devices
James McNaughton, Tom Crick, Andrew Joyce-Gibbons, Gary Beauchamp, Nick Young and Elaine Tan
This paper presents a technical case study and the associated research software/hardware underpinning an educational research trial in which large touchscreen interfaces were used to facilitate collaborative interactions between primary school students at separate locations. As part of the trial, an application for supporting a collaborative classroom activity was created which allowed students at either location to transfer resources to the students at the other via a ‘flick’ gesture. The trial required several novel innovations to the existing SynergyNet software framework to enable it to support synchronous remote collaboration. The innovations enabled the first successful classroom collaboration activities between two separate locations within the United Kingdom using large touchscreen interfaces. This paper details the challenges encountered in implementing these innovations and their solutions.
Keywords: Multi-touch devices; Gestures; Computer-supported collaborative learning; SynergyNet; Networking; ICT
(also see: Publications)
Digital, Data & Policy 