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Tabletop environments as focal multimedia settings for small-group collaborative knowledge building

Design · All designs
Evidence · 1 claim (1 mixed) · 1 study (1 theoretical), q1 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description

Stahl proposes tabletop educational environments as a hybrid of oral, literate, and digital interaction, analogizing them to conversation around a tribal fire. He writes that 'the tabletop can integrate physical and digital artifacts, spoken and written texts, and human and computational support to form a focal point, subject matter, and dynamic resource for collaborative knowledge building.' The framing positions tabletops as small-group rather than personal or whole-class media.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

  • Apparent technological possibilities require considerable interface design, user evaluation, pedagogical structuring, and collaborative culture in order to achieve desirable educational results

Constraints

Target Learners

  • small groups of learners in classrooms, workplaces, or social gatherings

Learning Goals

  • collaborative knowledge building

Claims

Examples

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Key Sources

  • Gerry Stahl. (2011). Collaborating around the tabletop. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 6:485–490. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-011-9135-7
Page metadata
Field Value
type design
id tabletop-multimedia-tribal-fire-small-group-knowledge-building
title Tabletop environments as focal multimedia settings for small-group collaborative knowledge building
description Stahl proposes tabletop educational environments as a hybrid of oral, literate, and digital interaction, analogizing them to conversation around a tribal fire.
status review
generated by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-18
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 1 — gerry-stahl-2011

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