The impact of device orientation on small group collaboration during whole class game-based simulations

Abstract

This paper evaluated how students collaborated when using a tablet as a shared interface during group activities that required collaborative decision making within complex system ecological simulation. The simulation was a whole class city management game called City Settlers, which supports young students to better understand interdependent systems including environmental sustainability, civics, economics, and history. While tablets are widely used in today’s K12 classrooms, their impact on collaboration when they are shared among students has not been thoroughly studied. In response, this work examines the challenges surrounding students’ collaboration using shared tablets. The use of tablets as the shared interface for the game critically influences students’ collaborative decision-making and impacts students’ learning and gaming experience. The researcher looked at a small group, three students, collaboratively playing the game City Settlers, and how they use the shared tablet. The finding shows that the orientation of the shared tablet has an impact on students’ engagement and collaborative learning process. For the student who is seating at the edge of the shared workspace of the tablet, the visibility can be low hence it creates friction for this student’s participation in the game.