Re: education, technology & chat

[Bill Barowy <xmcageek@comcast.net>]

On Wednesday 10 November 2004 1:40 am, phil_chappell@access.inet.co.th wrote:
> You mention some criteria for picking good partners, and that Jane notes
> "results" each time partners are formed. I wonder what results she is
> noting? 

Recalling past conversations, she is, in real time, looking to see if children 
are working on their tasks -- when 1st graders begin playing, they often talk 
out, gesture, giggle, etc.  But also she has the children turn in their work 
which she checks for completion.  She IS recording the development of reading 
ability using things like running records that are based upon Pinnel and 
Fountas (which in turn are based upon Marie Clay's work)

Is it the kinds of collaborative dialogue that occur during the
> task? 

We are planning to do some discourse study this year, but generally that is 
not what Jane can easily do on her own.  23 first graders keep her very busy.  
And recording group audio in a noisy classroom is not easy.  There's a whole 
lot of hawthorne effect that equipment has on kids this age.  While I can 
stand and observe and write my brains out and the kids htink nothing of this 
except occasionally to ask what i'm writing, a video camera turns them into 
total goofballs.  We have a decoy camera (one that no longer works) that we 
leave on the camera mount  whenever we are not videoing with the real camera 
so a camera is always there to see.

And/or is it the outcomes of the task that are noted?

Yes.

 I agree with
> you that it goes deeper than an intuition on who will be good co-learners,
> and am interested in understanding peer interactions mediating learning in
> much more depth.

Me too.  I really think this must be put in a developmental perspective.  What 
one is going to see for productive peer interactions in say, 7th grade is 
very different from what I'm seeing in first.  I say that based upon a prior 
study i did of 7th graders doing science inquiry, in which once or twice we 
actually had a collaborative inquiry conversation after trying for about a 
year.

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bb