Sharing visual context to facilitate late overhearer's understanding of the handheld-based learning activity

Peripheral participation is fundamental to collaborative learning. In the classroom, we see two situations in which peripheral participation is essential: formative assessment, during which a teacher attempts to assess the utility of an ongoing activity and intervenes if necessary; and peer-monitoring, during which a student attempts to learn what other students are doing. When augmenting the classroom with handheld, wireless computing devices, handling peripheral participation becomes more difficult. The proposed new handheld network service, Look, allows a late overhearer, who has not witnessed the creation of common ground, to monitor the interaction between group members already engaged in a collaborative situated learning without interrupting. Laboratory experiences with our prototypes indicate that Look balances lightweight implementation, ease of use, and utility in a way that could enhance classroom communication and learning.