What do students do in a F2F CSCL classroom? The optimization of multiple communications modes

This exploratory study analyzes how students use different communication modes to share information, negotiate meaning and construct knowledge in the process of doing a group learning activity in a Primary Grade 5 blended learning environment in Singapore. Small groups of students interacted face-to-face over a computer-mediated communication (CMC) technology called Group Scribbles (GS) to jointly complete a learning task. The lesson designers attempted to optimize the use of CMC technology and face-to-face (F2F) discussion in students’ collaborative learning, with the aim of harnessing the specific features of each medium. Building on notions from communication studies and from interaction analysis, we observed the construction and evolution of the interactions through analyzing the artifacts that were produced by a group of students – in verbal talk, gestures, and sketches drawn and text inscribed in GS. F2F and GS interactions intertwined to support collaborative learning. The findings from this study could inform design aspects concerning integrating and reinforcing the strengths of both communication modes when introducing computer-assisted collaborative learning (CSCL) in a F2F classroom.