Second graders’ collaborative learning around touchscreens in their classroom: Micro-studies of eight and nine year old children’s embodied collaborative interactions in front of a touchscreen

In “Second graders’ collaborative learning around touchscreens in their classroom”, Jacob Davidsen explores, analyses and discusses how eight- and nine-year-old children’s embodied collaborative interactions around touchscreens unfold in classroom settings. Having conducted micro-studies on children’s embodied interactions around touchscreens, the author has found that children’s body movements and, in particular, their hand movements are crucial in their processes of engagement and disengagement in collaborative activities around touchscreens. The data comprise 150 hours of video footage and ethnographic observations, all from a year-long study of naturally occurring activities in two second grade classrooms at a public school in Denmark.

The way of seeing and making visible children’s collaboration around touchscreens presented in this thesis is informed by CSCL, ethnomethodology and embodied interaction analysis. The findings provided by this way of seeing and making visible can have implications for researchers, teachers and policy makers, with regard to their understanding of children’s collaborative activities around touchscreens. The research is part of the field of CSCL@school, and the micro-studies contribute findings regarding children’s embodied practices of moment-to-moment co-operation of collaborative activities around touchscreens.