**8. The three case studies**

The case studies are rooted in three very different contexts. Based on an idle glance you would believe that there were few if any similarities between a classroom for 2nd grade children and a group of grown up student teachers living geographically far away. And of course there are apparent differences. Still, the main impression of the research is that there are more similarities than differences. In this study learning is understood as meaning created in the tension between different voices, learning is not only accomplished through interaction; it consists of these interactions. Thus the term *productive* embraces the process as well as the product of learning (Lillejord & Dysthe, 2008). So what does the term *productive interactions* mean in this study? The common background for all the three case studies was that students were supposed to collaborate on text-writing. In the study of the pupils through composing collaborative texts and in the studies of the student teachers through composing portfolios, giving feedback to each other and online discussions. The underlying expectations were that through collaboration the students should learn to argue and reflect. The study of the pupils in the classroom and the study of the distance learners show that whether the interactions are going to be productive or not, is partially dependant on the way that the assignments are performed. Productive interactions in the study of the pupils are visualised through the *creative story* that enhance *explorative talk*. These assignments encourage the students into a dialogue characterised by disagreement, argumentation and imagination. They are sharing understanding through a co-construction of knowledge. The students are also interacting when they are composing the *experience stories*. Still the interaction expressed through *cumulative talk* is limited because the students are only asked to collect information about what they have done. They are simply sharing the information about their common experience. There is no challenge or encouragement to argumentation and

performance of the assignments has immediate consequences for what kind of feedback the other students are going to give. The informative assignments lead to cumulative feedback. Cumulative feedback gives limited room for disagreement and reflection because it does not

"You had to agree and repeat what the others said or just stop the whole conversation. There was no room for dialogue. It had to be a monologue. And I thought, 'Where is my

The creative assignments on the other hand open for explorative feedback. Explorative feedback, which results from creative assignments such as the one above, gives rise to and opens up for critical questions and objective disagreement, and leads to new, common knowledge. The students disagreed with each other and discussed their deepest beliefs, professional identity, and mission. The nature of the net-based discussion, as compared to real life discussion, was visualized by the student who expressed that he had to sharpen his thoughts and opinions on what the other students had written. He experienced much deeper conversations than if they had been sitting around a table because they could read long rows of thoughts that others had ruminated. In classroom teaching as well as distance learning the teacher has to be conscious of the influence the performance of the assignments

The case studies are rooted in three very different contexts. Based on an idle glance you would believe that there were few if any similarities between a classroom for 2nd grade children and a group of grown up student teachers living geographically far away. And of course there are apparent differences. Still, the main impression of the research is that there are more similarities than differences. In this study learning is understood as meaning created in the tension between different voices, learning is not only accomplished through interaction; it consists of these interactions. Thus the term *productive* embraces the process as well as the product of learning (Lillejord & Dysthe, 2008). So what does the term *productive interactions* mean in this study? The common background for all the three case studies was that students were supposed to collaborate on text-writing. In the study of the pupils through composing collaborative texts and in the studies of the student teachers through composing portfolios, giving feedback to each other and online discussions. The underlying expectations were that through collaboration the students should learn to argue and reflect. The study of the pupils in the classroom and the study of the distance learners show that whether the interactions are going to be productive or not, is partially dependant on the way that the assignments are performed. Productive interactions in the study of the pupils are visualised through the *creative story* that enhance *explorative talk*. These assignments encourage the students into a dialogue characterised by disagreement, argumentation and imagination. They are sharing understanding through a co-construction of knowledge. The students are also interacting when they are composing the *experience stories*. Still the interaction expressed through *cumulative talk* is limited because the students are only asked to collect information about what they have done. They are simply sharing the information about their common experience. There is no challenge or encouragement to argumentation and

challenge the students' personal attitudes or values. One of the students said:

has on the students' choice of learning strategies (Helleve, 2007).

place in this?' It was confusing."

**8. The three case studies** 

creativity. *Cumulative* as well as *explorative* talk are characterised by interaction. However, cumulative talk is limited because the students have to repeat and reproduce information. Explorative talk, on the other hand, enhance *productive interactions*; the possibility for argumentation and creativity. Another question is what characterises the opposite situation when there is no interaction between the members? When the communication between the members broke down as described through the *discussional talk*, I chose to call this *counteraction.* In the study of the distance learners the students gave feedback to each other on texts written for their portfolio. Of fundamental importance to the "magic group" success is their *interaction*. However, the difference in the way the assignments are constructed decides if the students are going to collect common information or if they are challenged to engage in productive interactions. When the students are challenged on their values and attitudes as professional teachers they meet in the inter-subjective space that Rommetveit (1979) calls a *temporarily shared social world*. What makes the interaction productive is that they are challenged to a reflective dialogue with people they trust, but with whom they still disagree. Sara, one of the distance learners said that she thought of the other members' different opinions as guests. And then she thought: "What do the guests want from me? Will they be staying in my head for ever or will they disappear"? And from that point of view she gave feedback to the other members' texts, like guests. The concept *reflective dialogue* expressed through *explorative talk* and *explorative feedback* is used as an equivalent to what I have described as *productive interaction*. Thus the performance of the assignments is one element that characterizes productive interactions. The study of the students in the blended environment is only based on interviews with the student teachers, not on observations of the collaborative activities. What the students claim is that the productive learning or *productive interactions* that are important for them as future teachers are asynchronous discussion and feedback from peers. Summing up there seems to be some basic implications for development of productive interactions that are similar across classroom learning and distance learning in the three case studies.
