‘Wait, let's just think about this’: Using the interactive whiteboard and talk rules to scaffold learning for co-regulation in collaborative science activities

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are usually used by teachers for whole-class teaching. This paper is based upon an ESRC-funded project1designed to investigate the value of this technology for supporting collaborative learning in the classroom. Groups of pupils used the IWB in a semi-autonomous manner when working together on science-related activities designed by the teacher. Using an analysis of video and other data from UK primary classrooms (pupils aged 8–10 years), it focuses on how the teacher may guide the children's collective learning at the IWB through the scaffolding of collaborative activities. We suggest that a distinction between ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ scaffolding is helpful, with the former happening when the teacher is present, and the latter achieved through the teacher's vicarious influence when a group is working independently. Our analysis supports the conclusions that teachers are able to scaffold children's group activities ‘directly’ and ‘indirectly’, that this promotes the development of children's ability to reason collectively and regulate their joint activities, and that the IWB provides a useful tool for enabling this process of scaffolded, collective learning.