A dialogic understanding of the relationship between CSCL and teaching thinking skills

This paper reviews the literature linking ICT to teaching thinking skills and advocates a new dialogic framework which has implications for practice. The main conceptualisations of the relationship between ICT and teaching thinking are described as, the computer as tutor, the computer as cognitive tool and the computer as support for collaborative learning. The computer supported collaborative learning movement is critiqued for not always taking into account the radical implications of the concept of dialogue or ‘dialogic’ which is the idea that meaning-making requires the inter-animation of more than one perspective. It is then argued that dialogic lies at the heart of higher order thinking and that ICT has some unique affordances to help teach thinking through the deepening and broadening of dialogue. A dialogic theoretical framework for understanding the relationship of ICT to the aim of teaching thinking is presented with several implications for practice