Maintaining Continuity of Inquiry Learning Experiences across Contexts: Teacher's Management Strategies and the Role of Technology

摘要

An inquiry-led investigation with technology was designed and implemented, aiming to enhance our understanding of how inquiry learning takes place within a personal, socio-cultural and institutional context. Children used personal technologies across contexts, to plan and collect evidence, analyse and share their work. These technologies are boundary objects, connecting students' experiences across the classroom, out-of-class activities, a fieldtrip and the home, and enabling students to carry out inquiry activities autonomously. The science teacher aimed to maintain a sense of continuity across contexts by utilising specific management strategies: interchanging between highlighting and constraining technology use, ensuring that all students know what they need to do in and out of class, communicating interdependencies among groups and by translating group data to an overview of the whole class data. These strategies are identified as prerequisites for any successful inquiry learning experience to take place.