This study performs a content analysis of the communication that develops in online educational situations. It focuses on two aspects of communication in a context in which we observe instructional leadership: how leadership is seen in the virtual classroom and how teachers view their role. The study attempts to answer the question of how teachers…

This paper defines the metaphor of outsideness in relation to web-based interaction. Outsideness is conceived of as a key influence in online academic conversation. In particular, through the sharing of cultural perspectives, asking questions to resolve doubt, and collaborative writing and re-writing as a basis for shaping ideas through reasoning.…

This paper presents the findings from a project that explored teachers' adaptations to technological change in four large classes in higher education. In these classes, lecturers changed from single- to multi-lecture settings mediated by videoconferencing, requiring them to transfer their beliefs and practices into a new pedagogical space.…

This review focuses on three interconnected socio-emotional aspects of online learning: interaction, sense of community and identity formation. In the intangible social space of the virtual classroom, students come together to learn through dialogic, often asynchronous, exchanges. This creates distinctive learning environments where learning…

This article will analyse primary teachers' views on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in the broader context of pedagogy in the classroom. It uses data collected from primary teacher interviews in the early stages of a funded research project (which analysed interactivity and ICT in learning and teaching) to explore and…

Designing collaborative three-dimensional learning games for vocational learning may be one way to respond to the needs of working life. The theoretical vantage points of collaborative learning for game development and the "design-based research" methodology are described; these have been used to support collaborative learning in the vocational…

This paper discusses the findings of a case study conducted with an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher at a German secondary school. This case study is part of a research project that investigates the new competencies that EFL teachers need to acquire in order to be able to use the interactive whiteboard (IWB) to develop their practice,…

This paper explores how and to what extent digital multimodal text production can play a role in project work. The focus is upon describing and understanding how teachers and learners view multimodal text production as part of a learning process. Group-based project work has been used extensively in Norwegian schools since the 1970s. One criticism…

In this study the authors have looked at the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in Mexico from a linguistic anthropological perspective. Twenty lessons were video recorded to compare the use of IWBs and traditional boards in different areas of the curriculum in primary schools. Data were analysed as a set of sequenced communicative events in…

The teacher's role has often been described as one of "orchestration", and this musical analogy is a powerful one in characterising the manipulation of features in the classroom setting in order to generate activity or "performance" which leads to learning. However, a classical view of orchestration would fail to recognise the extent to which…

This paper seeks to set the scene for the ensuing articles in this themed issue by placing the recent developments with interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in their historical context. It argues that use of this instructional technology has already had a profound impact upon teaching and highlights the importance of educational researchers considering…

Recent literature on the role of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) has indicated numerous ways in which teachers make use of the IWB to support children's learning. In these studies there is a growing awareness of changing roles in the classroom as teachers gain confidence in the use of new technologies. This study describes how a researcher worked…

This paper will offer a discussion of the literature concerning multimodality, orchestration and participation related to classroom use of the interactive whiteboard (IWB). Specifically, it will explore the place, or potential use, of the IWB to resource a multimodal approach to teaching and learning, emphasising the complex connections that need…

In this discussion piece the authors reflect on work over the past decade, arguing that mathematics teachers have developed technical proficiency in the use of interactive whiteboard hardware and associated software before using this to develop confidence in creating and modifying materials to be used with commercially produced programs in…

This discussion paper highlights a number of themes emerging from contemporary research into teaching with whole-class interactive technologies. Focusing particularly on the contributions to this special issue, the paper considers the significance of whole-class interactive technologies (primarily interactive whiteboards) with respect to the use…