Are one-to-one computers necessary? An analysis of collaborative web exploration activities supported by shared displays

Collaborative web exploration, in which learners work together to explore the World Wide Web, has become a key learning activity in education contexts. Learners can use a shared computer with a shared display to explore the web together. However, such a shared-computer approach may limit active participation among learners. To address this issue, this study proposed to use one-to-one (1:1) computers, connected to the shared displays through a groupware, to facilitate the collaborative tasks. This study analyzed the exploratory activities and discussion dialogues obtained when students were exploring the web with the shared computer and the 1:1 shared-displays. The results show that with only shared computers student discussions did not coherently facilitate the group to judge information or make group decision. On the contrary, when using the 1:1 computers with the shared displays, students collected and surveyed richer information on the web. The approach could support students to take part in individual exploration and join the group activity based on their individual exploration. Compared to the shared-computer approach, students demonstrated a more elaborative discussion patterns in which students clarify and self-reflect upon the information they found to judge the value of the information and make group decision.