“We can make our words powerful”: students’ perspectives about using Talk Factory, a classroom technology to support exploratory talk

ABSTRACT

Previous research suggests that students can use exploratory talk to support their thinking and learning. However, students’ own perspectives on such talk, and whether/how they value it, are rarely sought. Thirty 12-year-olds and their teacher used Talk Factory on an interactive whiteboard and iPads to support exploratory talk in English lessons twice/week for five weeks. Four focal students took photographs and chose words that described their feelings; their responses were discussed in two interviews together with their experiences of the lessons. These students were video recorded whilst presenting their experiences and opinions to the class. Thematic analysis of the interviews identified four themes: how students adopted exploratory talk, challenges they faced, ownership of their discussions, and the value of mobilising their ideas. The students described feeling more empowered, more engaged, and how they valued the exploration of difference.

KEYWORDS:

• Talk factory
• exploratory talk
• secondary school

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the students who participated in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/04250494.2022.2135431

Notes

1. The Talk Factory apps used in the current study are no longer available, however a new and very similar PWA is available for free at https://talkfactory.uk and is suitable for use on desktop and most handheld devices.

Additional information

Funding

No external funding was received.

Notes on contributors

Lucinda Kerawalla

Lucinda Kerawalla is an honorary lecturer (she was a full-time senior lecturer when she undertook the research reported here) at the Children’s Research Centre, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.

Meera Chudasama

Meera Chudasama is an English, Media and Film Studies teacher at a secondary school in the UK. She is also a visiting researcher at Children’s Research Centre, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK., Country of residence: UK

David J. Messer

David J. Messer is Professor (emeritus) at Children’s Research Centre, Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.