UniPad: orchestrating collaborative activities through shared tablets and an integrated wall display

Abstract

UniPad is a face-to-face, digital simulation for use in classroom settings that runs on shared tablets and a wall display. The goal is to encourage students to talk, collaborate and make decisions together in real-time, by switching between working on shared 'small group' devices and a 'whole classroom' public display - instead of working by themselves using their own device. It is intended to improve peer discussion and teacher involvement by focusing and constraining shared attention at different stages of an activity. The domain for this study is finance management. The system was designed using an iterative, participatory design method with expert finance educators and then trialed using an in-the-wild study at a school. The findings show how the set-up helped in facilitating verbal participation in the classroom. We discuss how lightweight, multi-device shared technology systems, such as UniPad, can be designed and used for a range of classroom activities.