Collaboratively established talk rules, combined with teacher scaffolding, can help students talk together in ways that support learning. Most classrooms today utilise digital technology, and talk rules have proven beneficial for learning in this context. However, research on the strategies teachers use to make talk rules relevant in activities…

We contrast the centrality of free and full communication, especially as it occurs in classrooms, for John Dewey's democratic vision of the Great Community with the technologically mediated classroom communication characteristic of the COVID-19 pandemic. We focus on Google's dominance of educational communication in particular. Drawing on Shoshana…

Rooted in the Greek tradition of Socrates and Aristotle, debate pedagogy utilizes the interpersonal 'heat' that comes with a clash in opinions to engage students in learning. Well-structured classroom debates can engage students, give them agency in their learning, and challenge them to view the layered perspectives that lie under the surface of…

This study examined Korean (n = 143) and Taiwanese (n = 261) EFL students' willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) in in-class, out-of-class, and digital settings. Follow-up interviews (n = 20) were also conducted to identify factors that might have influenced their L2 WTC. Results showed that Korean and Taiwanese participants…

Democratic discussion in the classroom has been viewed as a way to increase consensus, however the spread of false and misleading information through social media and influencers can make classroom discussions problematic. This electronic text analysis study highlights the social media site of Quora and posts related to the Gulf War. Posts related…

This qualitative study examines how a student-generated meme activity influences adult learners' interaction in online class discussions. A multiple-case design is applied to understand how this class discussion activity facilitates online threaded interactions. This study recruited 28 adult learners from a two-section graduate-level asynchronous…

This study explores how preservice (PST) English language arts teachers fostered dialogue in virtual classrooms by using both dialogic and digital tools. Qualitative analysis of PST-created transcripts and lesson plan reflections revealed successes and challenges PSTs experienced in supporting students' participation and response to others' ideas.…

How might teachers and students deepen dialogic space in online discussions centered on race? This paper explores challenges of creating shared spaces of collective inquiry online across audio/visual/written modes. We explore why participants switch modes--e.g. from oral/visual participation to written chat--while participating in a synchronous…

Whole-class mathematical discussion in a problem-solving activity is recognized as a powerful pedagogical activity but also a challenge for teachers who must consider several difficulties that learners might face, particularly in terms of an overload of Working Memory and Executive Functions. This study investigates how the use of a digital…

This article describes the experience of two educators in a master program in Pedagogy in the Netherlands. Their experience is of an online gathering with students and educators that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students and educators were not allowed to meet face-to-face, thus resorted to online education. What happened at that online…

This study examines the communication preferences of Chinese undergraduates in an international university program in China, focusing on the role of language, culture, and communication tools in interactions with foreign staff. Based on semi-structured interviews with 14 students, the research investigates three main questions: how students prefer…

This study examined students' understanding of, and reflective inquiry into discourse, specifically their epistemic discourse understanding and meta-discourse, and investigated their roles and relationships in fostering productive inquiry in knowledge building. The participants comprised two classes of ninth grade visual arts students inquiring…

Higher education institutions have various and mostly well-established methods for students to consult with their lecturers. Lecturers have traditionally expected students to make use of face-to-face interaction through after-class consultations and asking questions in class. It is, however, imperative that higher education reflects on whether…

Responding to the need for learning to remain engaging and productive while classrooms have moved online, a qualitative study was conducted to gain greater insight into the use of asynchronous online discussions as a replacement for their in-class counterpart. Specifically, the researchers aimed to gauge student responses to their use of the…

The understanding of online classroom talk is a challenge even with current technological advancements. To determine the quality of ideas in classroom talk for individual and groups of students, a new approach such as precision education will be needed to integrate learning analytics and machine learning techniques to improve the quality of…