Potential uses of shareable interfaces to support individual cognitive development through peer discussion

My background is in the experimental investigation of individual cognitive developmental in children of 3 to 11, and in particular language and reading development. In the past 8 years some of my work has investigated how peer discussion might foster the growth of understanding in the individual. I am now interested in how shared interfaces can support productive discussion. The workshop focuses on technologies that use multiple inputs: I would argue that the arrangements of opportunities and constraints provided by such inputs are crucial in determining productive collaboration, and in looking at children in particular, one needs to consider developmental constraints.