The added pedagogical value of using laptops in computer-supported collaborative learning on a wireless campus
Abstract: The article reports the results of a case study focusing on the added pedagogical value that laptop computers can afford to students in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) on a wireless campus, how the key elements of CSCL are manifested, and how university students use laptop computers in CSCL. Data were collected during Media Proficiency course with ten participants in a university where all entering students are given an opportunity to acquire a laptop computer through the university. Grounded theory analysis revealed that the students used laptops in interactions, in completing parts of their assignment and in organizing their learning. According to the students, in addition to mediating interactions, mobile tools made it easier to manage their study-related interaction in particular, and therefore facilitated attainment of their shared goal of completing the collaborative course assignment. The added pedagogical value is that the mobility afforded by such tools enables students to operate on the task-organizing and task completion levels of course activities.
Presider: Daniel K. Schneider, University of GenevaTECFA / FPSE