Orchestrating Learning in a One-to-One Technology Classroom - New Science of Learning - page 449

differences through argument and to enable students to learn from the opinions of
others.
The usability evaluation, shown in Table 22.1, revealed some minor issues of
robustness, for instance a frozen screen on some occasions, and drawing pads
that were too small. There were no reported problems regarding the tablet PCs or
wireless network.

Table 22.1 Summaries of usability

GS only SceDer and GS-SceDer

Pros Cons Pros Cons

The teachers - Easy to use

- Good to have a
separate public
and private area

-Crashes
- Cannot
estimate what
is the size of
images when
they are placed
on the board

- Learning to
design within
15-20 min

-Drawing
disabled
message
perhaps too
small, (because
students still
keep trying to
draw)

The students - Can draw, see

photos
- Can see/learn
other opinions
-Canworkwith
others
-Enjoythe
lesson
-Notraining
required, can
learnedina
short time

-Crashes
- Other people
move/delete
my sheets
- Size of sheets
too small to
draw
- Zoom option
not good
enough

- Did not have to
ask friends or
teachers which
board they are
working on

- Stops students
drawing
(note: system
has disabled
them from
drawing in
order to prompt
them to listen
to the teachers

In terms of usefulness , shown in Table 22.2, students and teachers reported that
they enjoyed the lessons, as they can see other people work and learn from their
opinions, especially in the mathematics classes. With regard to pedagogical aspects,
the teachers were able to use SceDer Authoring to design their scenarios without for-
mal training. We provided them with only two example scenarios on a printed paper.
In the aspect of continuity of scaffolding students to expected activities, the system
can provide a fluid transition between individual, group, and whole class learn-
ing activities. For example, when the teachers proceeded to the next activity with
a different working environment (board), the technology showed the correspond-
ing board to the students. There were some occasions when the teachers needed to
repeat steps in lessons and the technology enabled them to step back and repeat that
activity. In contrast, when using Group Scribbles alone, if the teacher proceeded to
the next activity, it took some minutes for all students to switch to the particular
board and prepare for the next activity. Some students continued to play with the