Abstract: Interactive tabletops can be used to provide new ways to support face-to-face collaborative learning. A little explored and somewhat hidden potential of these devices is that they can be used to enhance teachers’ awareness of students’ progress by exploiting captured traces of interaction. These data can make key aspects of collaboration visible and can highlight possible problems. In this paper, we explored the potential of an enriched tabletop to automatically and unobtrusively capture data from collaborative interactions. By analyzing that data, there was the potential to discover trends in students’ activity. These can help researchers, and eventually teachers, to become aware of the strategies followed by groups. We explored whether it was possible to differentiate groups, in terms of the extent of collaboration, by identifying the interwoven patterns of students’ speech and their physical actions on the interactive surface. The analysis was validated on a sample of 60 students, working in triads in a concept mapping learning activity. The contribution of this paper is an approach for analyzing students’ interactions around an enriched interactive tabletop that is validated through an empirical study that shows its operationalization to extract frequent patterns of collaborative activity.

Abstract: This article reports a theory-driven experimental study that evaluates the effects of an annotation functionality on online social interaction and individual learning outcomes. The central hypothesis of this study is that directly addressing a part of a text by annotating it and then connecting each annotation with its related discussion can decrease coordinative interaction costs and result in a higher-quality discussion that favors greater gains in individual learning outcomes. To reach our objective, we carried out a theory-driven experimental study that compares two versions of an anchored discussion system: one with annotation functionality and one without it, both displaying the learning material side by side with its associated discussion in one window. Participants were 106 students enrolled in two sections of a blended-format course in health education. We assigned each section to a software condition. The examination of students’ online social interaction centered on a fine-grained content analysis of coordination and knowledge construction activities as well as sequential analysis of knowledge construction activities. The results indicate that annotation functionality decreased coordinative interaction costs and stimulated more elaborated discussions that favored greater gains in individual learning outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Abstract: Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been at the center of media attention and hyperbole since 2012. As MOOCs proliferate and continue to influence higher education, it is increasingly pressing to define frameworks for their design and evaluation. This paper proposes such a framework, grounded in CSCL and learning sciences research along with a discussion of the unique aspects of MOOCs as learning environments. Through the lens of distributed intelligence the framework defines distinct, but interconnected, dimensions of MOOCs that must work synergistically to maximize individual as well as collective learning. Introduction and Motivation In all the hyperbole surrounding the rollout of Massively Online Open Courses (MOOCs) over the past year and a half, much has been said and written about the "campus tsunami" (Brooks, 2012) that is purportedly poised to change the face of higher education. Interestingly, while much of the positive feedback has focused on the noble sentiments behind making world-class courses (mostly from elite universities) freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world, a fair amount of the negative press aimed specifically at instructionist MOOCs or xMOOCs (as characterized by Daniel, 2012) has revolved around the quality of the courses themselves. Though this criticism covers the gamut of instructional design issues, (mostly misplaced views of) dropout and completion rates have garnered the most attention. We believe that often both the praise and criticism of MOOCs is founded on historical assumptions about learning environments and outcomes that do not necessarily apply (at least without some reconsideration and reframing) to this new phenomenon. MOOCs today are a moving target—their form and function is shifting weekly, as course designers and platform providers around the world dream up new approaches to open online learning. To remain grounded in this shifting landscape, we need a flexible and generalizable framework for understanding the effects of MOOC design decisions on learning. As a start, we reframe the question What makes a good MOOC? to How can we make a MOOC work for as many of its diverse participants as possible? MOOCs attract a global set of learners with an extensive range of goals and prior knowledge. These individuals vary in the approaches they take to learning, their responses to the social and pedagogical context for learning, and their intrapersonal strategies for dealing with challenges. Framing design and evaluation in this way emphasizes the potential for optimization for different participants or groups of participants—and the possibility of defining different learning outcomes for these different groups of learners. Learning outcomes should also be defined expansively, based on the goals that course designers have to influence cognitive and affective competencies of any subset of learners, or learning on the level of the collective. Furthermore, it helps to view a MOOC as a designed object (Simon, 1969) whose creation should ideally be influenced not only by faculty and instructional designers, but also by technologists, data scientists and learning researchers. These stakeholders influence different elements of the MOOC that interrelate to create learning opportunities for participants. A framework for the design and evaluation of MOOCs must reflect the complex nature of these interrelationships. It must also encapsulate principles from the learning sciences to guide the creation of a robust set of criteria for the design and evaluation of MOOC learning experiences. These criteria will not only help meaningfully frame the discourse on MOOC quality, but also serve prospective learners, course designers and faculty, researchers, as well as the technologists who are charged with developing and evolving the platforms on which MOOCs are deployed to meet needs and enable innovative experimentation.

Abstract: Research on simulator training has rarely focused on the way simulated contexts are constructed collaboratively. This study sheds light on how structuring role-play and fostering social interactions may prove fruitful for designing simulator training. The article reports on a qualitative study of nautical students training in a ship simulator. The study examines how a group of students, together with a professional maritime pilot, enacted professional roles and collaboratively constructed a simulated context for learning to navigate. Their activities on the bridge were framed within the maritime profession’s hierarchical system of captain and officers, and we examine in detail how these institutionally defined positions become important resources for meaning-making during role-play. The article portrays how two competing activity contexts were constructed, and how the role-play provided opportunities for enacting professional roles and work tasks. However, it also shows that it is challenging to pick up on what is significant to learn and to confront this in debriefing. The article concludes that the students’ collaboration and meaning-making is an entity of training that may be more efficiently addressed.

Abstract: This paper contributes to a theory-grounded methodological foundation for automatic collaborative learning process analysis. It does this by illustrating how insights from the social psychology and sociolinguistics of speech style provide a theoretical framework to inform the design of a computational model. The purpose of that model is to detect prevalence of an important group knowledge integration process in raw speech data. Specifically, this paper focuses on assessment of transactivity in dyadic discussions, where a transactive contribution is operationalized as one where reasoning is made explicit, and where that reasoning builds on a prior reasoning statement within the discussion. Transactive contributions can be either self-oriented, where the contribution builds on the speaker’s own prior contribution, or other-oriented, where the contribution builds on a prior contribution of a conversational partner. Other-oriented transacts are particularly central to group knowledge integration processes. An unsupervised Dynamic Bayesian Network model motivated by concepts from Speech Accommodation Theory is presented and then evaluated on the task of estimating prevalence of other-oriented transacts in dyadic discussions. The evaluation demonstrates a significant positive correlation between an automatic measure of speech style accommodation and prevalence of other-oriented transacts (R = .36, p < .05).

Abstract: My research is in applied theory. My objective has been to develop models of individual behavior that incorporate realistic constraints (such as transactions costs or social networks) and study their aggregate and welfare implications both theoretically and empirically. This summary groups my work into four topics. (1) Networks. I combine models, experiments and data to study social capital, social networks and their interactions with markets. (2) Consumption and household …nance. I study the implications of adjustment costs and borrowing constraints on risk preferences and consumption. (3) International trade. I explore the e¤ects of contractual and physical transaction costs on trade and productivity in international markets. (4) Auctions and markets. I study the foundations for market e¢ ciency using models of auctions with …nitely many participants, and when some bidders su¤er from behavioral biases. i. Networks Neoclassical economics often assumes that agents can write formal contracts that are costlessly enforced by the legal system. However, in many economies, low-cost contract enforcement is imperfect , and agents often rely on informal arrangements that take place in the social network.bius, Tanya Rosenblat and I build a theory of trust based on informal contract enforcement in social networks. In this model, network connections between individuals can be used as social collateral to secure informal borrowing. We de…ne network-based trust as the highest amount one agent can borrow from another agent, and express this quantity as the sum of the weakest links on all disjoint paths connecting borrower and lender, also known in mathematics as the maximum network ‡ow. We then use this reduced form in three applications related to the theory and measurement of social capital. (1) We predict that dense networks generate bonding social capital that allows transacting valuable assets, while loose networks create bridging social capital that improves access to cheap favors like information. (2) For job recommendation networks, we show that strong ties between employers and trusted recommenders reduce asymmetric information about the quality of job candidates. (3) Using data from Peru, we show empirically that network-based trust predicts informal borrowing, and we structurally estimate and test our model. A broader contribution is a framework for informal contracting in networks which we use in several other papers that I discuss below. The previous paper provides a theoretical framework for informal borrowing in networks. But how valuable are networks for loan transactions in practice? Sociologists often argue that allocations are primarily determined …

Abstract: Come_IN computer clubs are a well-established approach to foster learning, social networks and integration in German neighborhoods with a high percentage of migrant population. We have transferred this concept to a different part of the world: a Palestinian refugee camp. Similar to the German neighborhoods we deal with, refugee camps are also the result of migration moves; however, in this case - an enforced one. This paper describes the come_IN approach and investigates its adaptation to a Palestinian refugee camp. Obviously it exhibits fundamental cultural, social, and political dissimilarities from the German setting. Refugees living in camps have to deal with a number of local living and subsistence challenges, as well as having to tackle mounting critical issues related to their refugee status. Here we describe the first three years of activities and experiences.

Abstract: In this paper we examine how two groups of middle school students arrive at shared understandings of and solutions to mathematical problems. Our data consists of logs of student participation in the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) system as they work on math problems. The project supports interaction both through chat and through a virtual whiteboard. We have examined in detail, the sequential work these students do to constitute and specify ‘the problem’ on which they are working in the ways they produce whiteboard objects and text postings. Solutions emerge as students come to understand the problem on which they are working. This understanding is achieved through gradual respecification of the math problem on which they are working.

Abstract: One of the most important issues that are dealt with in CSCL environments is self, and collaborative, regulated learning; independent of the support of teachers. In the first part of this paper, I will bring forward an innovative pedagogical approach for collaborative learning of math problem solving, accompanied by appropriate software (1) Metafora’s planning tool: a visual based planning and reflecting space for socio-meta-cognitive elicitation of collaborative learning processes, and, (2) Geogebra: a math application for the creation of dynamic Geometric figures in Cartesian domain. In the second part of this paper I will illustrate a learning scenario within the context of a collaborative math problem solving scenario. Then, I will highlight a behavior of collaborative learning, in which one team member, S1, makes progress with solving the problem, and goes back to help his peer, S2. S1 scaffolds his peer’s work by (1) Reporting what he, S1, did on the shared planning-reflecting space (2) Monitoring his peer’s error (3) Explicating this error to his peer (4) scaffolding his peer’s construction of a Geogebra model, without giving him the whole answer. This observation serves as an important progress in the attempts of modern educators, and education design-researchers, to share some of the responsibility of the learning processes

Abstract: Emotions play a crucial role in collaboration. They help to make inferences about the partner and can strongly influence task performance. Due to limitations of emotional cues in computer-mediated collaboration (CMC), the collaborative process can be impacted. In this study, we report on the effect of an Emotion Awareness Tool (EAT) designed to facilitate the sharing of emotions between partners, on the perceived emotions after collaboration and the perceived quality of the interaction. Results showed that the EAT stimulated participants to engage in a mutual modeling of emotions. In the EAT condition, the perceived amount of time spent on emotion modeling process was positively correlated to the perceived intensity of positive emotions after collaboration. The EAT increased the perceived degree of transactivity, but only for women. This study provides a first step in exploring the effect of emotion awareness in CMC tasks including a comparing approach for its gender-specific relevance.

Abstract: The benefits of collaborative learning are well documented. However, most of the research has been done with children beyond the ages of early childhood. This could be due to the common and erroneous belief that young children have not developed the capacity to work collaboratively toward a given aim. In this paper we show how small group co-located collaborative learning on a single display computer improves oral language, logical-mathematical and social skills in pre-school children. Considering that early childhood teachers have a responsibility to provide a supportive environment, teacher mediation is essential in order to achieve collaborative learning. Thus, teachers were trained in the use of the technology and strategies for effective collaborative learning. The study was implemented in 10 kindergarten classrooms with 268 children between the ages of 5 and 6 years old. A group of 5 kindergarten classrooms with equivalent characteristics participated as a comparison group. During the four-month intervention, children worked on collaborative activities at least twice a week. A quasi-experimental approach was used to assess the implementation, including pre- and post-testing. The data showed differences in the learning of oral language, logical-mathematical and social skills, with the experimental group demonstrating significantly greater achievement.

Abstract: Productive collaboration is an integral component of socially constructed perspectives of learning. Yet effective collaboration is quite challenging and not without its own risks. Collaboration, both distributed and face-to-face, must be nurtured; technologies can support or undermine its positive growth in learning communities. We present an exploratory investigation of the types of social interactions that are both productive and non-productive in face-to-face informal science learning contexts. We include an analysis of the ways in which social media technologies can be designed to support more collaborative interactions.

Abstract: This study focuses on vocational education teachers’ instructional activities in a new technology-enhanced learning (TEL) setting A content analysis is applied to investigate teachers’ and students’ interactions in a 3D game context The findings illustrate that when teachers’ and students’ interactions are mediated by a game, teachers seem to apply different discussion activities to empower vocational learning than they do in traditional classroom settings Additionally, the present study shows that teachers spontaneously develop new ways of supporting vocational learning processes In more detail, two main types of instructional activities were identified: a “knowledge-providing” approach and a “joint problem-solving” approach Additionally, findings illustrate how teachers using different types of instructional approaches are followed up with different processes by students The article is concluded with a general discussion of the emerging challenges regarding the technological and pedagogical development of vocational education and teachers’ instructional activities in new TEL settings based on a more long-term design-based research project (ongoing since 2004)

Abstract: Although Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) technologies have gained an increasing role in educational environments, there are few automatic systems that address involvement, knowledge-building and collaboration in order to support tutors in the time consuming process of analyzing conversations. We propose a cohesion-based analysis model integrating multiple natural language techniques, an intervention scoring mechanism and a comprehensive collaboration assessment method, derived from social knowledge- building, reflected at utterance level through cohesion. Furthermore, by combining a holistic perspective of the entire conversation with a more fine grained view focused on each participant, we obtain a thorough evaluation of chat conversations with focus on topics modeling, participant interaction and collaboration. In order to sustain our model, we have performed a preliminary validation study that proves that our analysis is consistent with tutor evaluations.

Abstract: This chapter reflects on the finalized EU-funded project PeTEX-platform for e-Learning and Telemetric Experimentation aimed at designing and prototyping a CSCL platform-system for developing, implementing, and delivering educational and training programs in the field of manufacturing engineering. The main challenge for the PeTEX project team was to transform actual laboratory test beds, domain specific content and social interaction modes into a web-mediated socio-technical system in order to bring together learning and workplace as CSCL@Work. The designed learning system is based on Moodle and includes distributed tele-operated experimentation facilities, educational content and socio-technical affordances to provide the basis for an international large-scale online learning community. For this purpose the project team developed and established new collaborative learning approaches for students and professionals within the ICT-based system. This chapter gives an overview on the fundamental theoretical principles as well as important steps and results of the participatory design approach applied during the project’s lifetime. It concludes with a set of new tasks and challenges to be considered in future systems.

Abstract: Most research in massive online youth communities has focused on understanding patterns of participation and collaboration in games, social networks, and virtual worlds. Few studies have examined the nature and dynamics in amateur design communities where youth contribute content they have designed themselves. In this paper, we examine quantitative trends of participation in a youth design site focused on programming. Scratch is an online community with over 1 million registered youth designers 11-18 years of age. Drawing on a random sample of 5,000 youth programmers and their activities over three months in early 2012, we examined log files that captured the frequency of their contributions and comments on the site, making visible distinct classes of users who engaged in different sets of practices that support design on a collective scale. In the discussion we discuss implications for the design of collaborative spaces, tools, and communities.

Abstract: Accountable Talk is a form of classroom interaction that positions students as thinkers in interaction and encourages students to make their thinking visible for collaborative reasoning. This paper reports on a two-year teacher professional development program in which teachers were coached to use Accountable Talk practices in their classrooms. Online collaborative learning activities were used to prepare students for these whole-class, teacher lead discussions using the same paradigm. Findings from a series of studies embedded within the two year professional development program provides evidence that novel conversational agent designs, based on the Accountable Talk approach to discussion facilitation, improve learning during the online exercises and better prepare students to benefit from whole class discussions. In this paper we evaluate the effect on teacher uptake of Accountable Talk practices when their students have participated in these online small group activities.

Abstract: The interaction between participation and the emergence of common knowledge is the subject matter of this paper. A case study of a single class provides the focal point of analysis. During the semester the students participated in a blogging activity. As a result of their participation, the students create and distribute knowledge. The online efforts of the students can be described as participation in both a discourse and knowledge community. At one level, blogging is an activity composed of writing, reading, and commenting, and at a second level, the students share their thoughts in their own voices. At a third level, over the course of the semester, the student posts and commentary form a commons of information that can be mined later in the semester for other kinds of learning activities. Knowledge creation, distribution, and accumulation are analyzed in terms of student participation at both the level of individual events and from the perspective of an ongoing community.

Abstract: The ability to argue well is a valuable skill for students in both formal and informal learning environments. While many studies have explored the argumentative practices in formal environments and some researchers have developed tools to enhance the argumentative skills, the social argumentation that is occurring in informal spaces has yet to be broadly investigated. The challenges associated with observing and capturing the interactions in authentic settings can be identified as the main reasons for this deficiency. On the other hand, the advancements in information technologies and the way these improvements lift the barriers between school and afterschool settings present ways to eliminate these challenges. To this end, this study utilizes a popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft (WoW), which provides an authentic environment, to investigate the quality of argumentation in online synchronous communication without interfering with the substantial characteristics of the interaction. The results of the study demonstrate the quality of argumentation skills that a group of adolescents are displaying in online synchronous WoW chat as well as the patterns that emerge from the interplay between a number of contextual variables including synchronicity, interest, and authenticity.

Abstract: In recent years, intelligent conversational agents have been used with some level of effectiveness as dynamic support for collaborative learning in online chat. The classroom discourse community offers insights from analysis of effective classroom discussion facilitation practices that might productively inspire the design of such facilitator agents. In this paper, we evaluate one such conversational agent-as-facilitator design, drawn from the literature on what has been termed Academically Productive Talk. Specifically we evaluate the effect of a facilitation strategy referred to as Agree/Disagree, where students are prompted to evaluate the assertions of a partner student. In a simple two condition study, we evaluate the effect of this facilitation strategy in comparison with an otherwise identical condition where this facilitation strategy is absent. The results demonstrate a marginal positive effect on learning (effect size .55 standard deviations) and a significant intensification effect on the collaborative discourse.

Abstract: We discuss the challenges of applying a game design frame on a learning activity, through a case study of a gamified collaborative review exercise. We distinguish problems of gameplay from problems of divergence between game and non-game logics. Using Béguin & Rabardel’s theory of instrumental genesis we observe how the gamification instrument shapes the review activity, in the process of continuously adapting artifacts and users’ activity schemes. We identify locally emergent solutions to the divergence issue: players resort to half-engagement with the game and tailor gameplay strategies, selectively ignoring, observing or bending rules such as to manage the relative priorities of game and non-game objectives. In our case study gamification is more than an engine for fun: it facilitates learning by structuring the collaborative activity in memorable events with specific tempo, attention focus, and communication style. Constant adjustment enriches learning and becomes part of the game.

Abstract: Nonaka’s model of knowledge creation can provide guidance for designing learning environments and activities. However, Bereiter is critical of the model because it does not address whether understanding is deepened in the process of socialization, externalization, combination and internalization. To address this issue of understanding, this paper proposed a framework that synthesizes the basic phases of problem-based learning with Nonaka’s model. This paper reports on a study investigating if a course designed based on this authentic framework can help to stimulate knowledge creation based on deepening understanding. Several types of data were collected in this design-based research, namely: reflections by the participants and instructor; group discussions; student-created artifacts; and documents, records and artifacts that reflect the overall design of the course. The findings suggest that the participants demonstrated advancing understanding amidst knowledge creating conditions and processes consistent with Nonaka’s model. Other key implications are also discussed.

Abstract: Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) research has been highly influential in understanding the potential of new technologies to support human activities. Research in the Learning Sciences (LS) draws on multiple fields to improve learning and education. Both are active research communities with well-established practices, core values and a substantial body of literature. As both concentrate on utilizing computing technologies to better support people, there is a natural overlap; however, the Learning Sciences are not simply HCI applied to the domain of learning. The practices, traditions, and values are substantially different leading to tensions are keenly felt by researchers who actively participate in both fields. They also make it harder for researchers in either field to move towards the other. To explore and improve the relationship between these fields, we organized the workshop “Human-Computer Interaction and the Learning Sciences.” This workshop was meant for both interdisciplinary researchers (i.e., active participants in both communities) and researchers from either discipline interested in the other field. In this paper, we support these audiences by providing introductions to the two fields: their histories, values and practices.

Abstract: This journal promised 6 years ago to publish studies on what it termed “CSCL and its flash themes” (Stahl 2007). Rather than devoting single issues to specific topics of timely prominence, we decided to welcome submissions about selected emerging themes of CSCL research on an on-going basis. Accordingly, we set aflame again in the current issue discussion of the topics of argumentation, scripting, and tabletop interfaces. These three areas of computer support for collaborative learning continue to be active foci of CSCL research. To begin the issue, we spark a new theme with a paper on the use of eye-tracking technology to support and to research collaboration, an approach that has not previously been discussed in this journal but has been gathering attention at the ISLS conferences recently. It is noteworthy that research in these flash themes is still not merely a matter of refining the details of well-established findings, but continues to raise fundamental and controversial theoretical and methodological issues from a CSCL perspective. In introducing their study of gaze perception among dyads of students, Bertrand Schneider and Roy Pea begin with an extended discussion of joint attention. As they document, joint attention is foundational to collaborative interaction and, indeed, to human sociality. From infancy on, people learn to take advantage of different forms and media of joint attention to make intersubjective sense. Any mode of intentionality (whether individual, group, or collective) involves an orientation to some subject matter; communication accordingly requires a coordinated orientation to a shared object, with the understanding that this orientation is shared and with a shared sense of the object’s meaning. For two people to solve a problem together—e.g., in a CSCL setting like answering questions about diagrams—the participants must take (or enact) the problem as the same problem and they must see (and describe) the object as the same object (Stahl 2013, Chapter 8; Zemel and Koschmann 2013). This requirement of successful collaboration is complex, multi-modal, subtle, and learned over a lifetime. It involves discourse, gesture, gaze, cognition, social skills, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning DOI 10.1007/s11412-013-9185-0

Abstract: The complex interaction of tool use (both physical and digital) in face-to-face collaborative learning situations, and the role that these tools play in facilitating group work is increasingly important as tools for learning become more sophisticated and specialized. In this paper, a group of five high school students is studied as they engage in a learning by design task to design an educational resource about a local waterway. They carried out this design work in The Design Studio at the University of Sydney, using an iPad projected onto a whiteboard wall. Multiple streams of data were collected, visualized and analyzed, which allowed the overall patterns of tool use for all members of the group to be identified in relation to the development of their design. Two patterns of tool use are identified and analyzed according to the practice of sketching identified in other fields of design.

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of collaborative reflection as a form of implicit learning at work. Theoretical assumptions about learning at work, group learning, and work models are therefore described and enhanced by two case studies carried out in the healthcare sector to identify occurrences of collaborative reflection. The analysis of these studies leads to a differentiated characterization of processes, situations, and circumstances in which collaborative reflection takes place. Further analysis covers the scope, roles, and outcomes of reflection to guide the development of sociotechnical means for support of collaborative reflection and learning at the workplace.

Abstract: This study investigated relationships between how students “listen” (access existing posts) and “speak” (contribute posts) in asynchronous online discussions. Ten variables indexing four dimensions of students’ listening (breadth, depth, temporal contiguity and revisitation) and five variables indexing three dimensions of students’ speaking (discursiveness, depth of content and reflectivity) were calculated for 31 students participating in six week-long online discussions as part of an undergraduate educational psychology course. Multi-level mixed-model linear regressions indicated that responsiveness of students’ posts was positively predicted by how often they revisited previously read peer posts, and negatively related to a greater number of posts in the discussion overall. Post content quality was predicted by the percentage of posts viewed that students actually read (as opposed to scan). Put together, results suggest that when students take the time to read and re-read their peers’ posts there are related benefits in the quality of the posts they contribute. Introduction Asynchronous discussions are often seen as a powerful venue for knowledge construction due to their affordances for thoughtful commentary and reflective responses (Lipponen, 2002). The core premise is that learners build their ideas collectively and individually through dialogue; thus well-designed and supported online discussions can contribute to learning. Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain such learning including articulating one’s ideas, receiving feedback on these, socio-cognitive conflict caused by exposure to divergent views, the taking of multiple perspectives into account, and the internalization of collaborative activity (Stahl 2005; Lipponen, 2002). In common, all depend on two basic interrelated processes that learners must engage in: “speaking” (contributing posts to the discussion); and “listening” (accessing existing posts) [Wise et al., 2013]. When learning discussions are truly collaborative, these two activities are intimately related and inform each other. In contrast, if learners do not attend to others’ posts (or do so in an incoherent way) the “discussion” that results is more akin to a series of parallel monologues, explaining the findings of shallow and disjointed conversations noted by various researchers (e.g. Thomas, 2002; Webb et al 2004). Previous research has informed our understanding about the ways in which learners engage in the activities of speaking and listening in online discussions (e.g. Pena-Shaff & Nicholls, 2004; Hewitt, 2003; Ho & Swan, 2007; Wise et al., 2013) but heretofore not connected the two. This is important because the interrelationship (or lack thereof) between the activities of speaking and listening may be an important factor contributing to the extent to which asynchronous discussions live up to or fall short of their possibilities for supporting knowledge construction. In this study we bridge this gap by examining how students’ listening and speaking behaviors relate to each other. This work connects to the conference theme of learning across levels as the interdependent processes of individuals within the context of groups are examined over time. Theoretical Framework While the metaphorical language of speaking and listening refers to real-time spoken conversations; in online discussions these activities take a different form. In “listening” learners engage with the text-based expressions of others’ ideas at their discretion and on their own timeline (Jonassen & Kwon, 2001); in “speaking” they exercise decisive control over the timeline for composing their thoughts, and when and where in the conversation they contribute. This temporal flexibility and decoupling of participation timelines changes the dynamics of discussions, allowing time for reflection and the opportunity to revisit comments already “heard,” but also creating challenges for managing discussions that proliferate in one’s absence (Lipponen, 2002; Peters & Hewitt, 2010). New categories with which to characterize these behaviors also emerge. Conceptualizing Dimensions of “Listening” in Online Discussions Previous work (Wise et al., 2012a; 2012c; 2013) has conceptualized different dimensions to characterize the ways in which students attend to the posts of others and has explored different approaches students take in such online listening. At a basic level, students can differ in the breadth and depth with which they view their classmate’s contributions. The breadth with which students attend to others’ posts is important in terms of the diversity of ideas that they are exposed to and their ability to respond to the discussion as a whole, while the depth with which they attend to these posts is an indication of the degree to which they are considering others’ CSCL 2013 Proceedings Volume 1: Full Papers & Symposia

Abstract: This symposium brings together four research groups that have been working on advancing theoretical models of guidance for CSCL. The models share the emphasis on scripting and orchestration but vary in terms of their specific focus, grain size of collaboration, and the nature of learning activities they address. The goals of this symposium are, first, to present recent advances in theorizing guidance from a scripting and orchestration perspective, and, second, to discuss commonalities, differences and future trajectories for theory development on guidance for CSCL. The audience will be interactively involved by using technologies for knowledge building. These technologies allow the audience to contribute challenging cases, questions, and ideas for studies during and after the presentations via laptops and smart phones. To approach the second goal, the discussant will draw from these contributions and involve the audience and the presenters in refining and synthesizing the ideas in a final syn-