Probing Technology as Affordances for Negotiating Meaning in the Elementary Science Classroom - A Participation Perspective

Probing technologies are assumed to augment and speed inquiry learning. However, in practice, handheld-based classroom practice is regarded as only having scratched the surface of what is possible. The purpose of this article is to propose regarding the probe as a catalyst for negotiating meaning in inquiry learning activities rather than to perceiving the devices simply as educational computing technology. Viewed from a participation-framework perspective, we claim that probing technologies trigger the cycle of, and interplay between, reified object generation (numbers, graphs,...) and engaged participation among learners. An analysis of a probe-supported inquiry activity in a grade 5 elementary classroom is conducted. Three episodes in an inquiry classroom reveal the focusing and reified effects of probes in enhancing meaning negotiation, and in supporting student-driven exploration. The function of probes in both emergent and instantaneous aspects of learning is also discussed.