Thinking together with Talkwall: conceptualizing interactional processes

This article presents an empirical analysis from an international project that combined in-class microblogging and jointly created ground rules for talk. The analysis resulted in a conceptual framework that highlighted three key interactional processes: (1) the intermingling of oral and written communication, (2) the traveling of ideas within classrooms, and (3) the occurrence of concurrent interactions. In this article, we argue that these processes are intensified by specific affordances of microblogging tools that are designed around short-text formats and a shared presence. We discuss how this setup creates new opportunities and challenges for teachers considering changes in participation patterns across lessons in the project. We illustrate the processes, showing the need for cognitive and social structuring to guide students’ exchange of ideas across individual, group and whole-class work to widen participation and facilitate the co-creation of an inclusive classroom culture. The article contributes to a broader discussion about how augmented dialogic spaces in classrooms can be better understood and shaped, beyond the specific microblogging tools covered in this empirical analysis.