Research on the Paideia Method (a method for discussing a topic) was conducted in 20 classrooms across five schools, of varying socio economic environments (ages 11-13) in Auckland, New Zealand in 2010.   The researchers sought to further examine the results from their pilot study of the Paideia Seminar, entitled ‘Talking Allowed: I like it when the teacher lets us talk without telling us what to say’ trialed in 2008 (Sinclair & Davies, 2011).  In addition, in order to provide the optimum conditions to prepare the students for the face to face seminars, an online component (open source software) was added as an alternative medium to assist students in their preparation.  The research questions were: What happens to the Nature of Interaction and the Complexity of the Discussion when students participate in a Paideia Seminar and an on-line discussion in preparation for the face to face Seminar? What is the optimal role of the teacher when participating in a Paideia Seminar and an on-line discussion to increase complexity of discussion?

The idea of a community of learners proposed and activated by Brown, Reuman-Moore & Hugh, (2009)  has at its core, the intention to learn. The claim is that students develop deeper conceptual understandings in a community of learners compared with those who attend the more traditional classrooms (Brown & Campione, 1998; Rogoff, Matusov, & White, 1996). Within a learning community, Bahktin (1981) acknowledges the function multiple voices play in the construction of meaning and understanding, as they do not exist on their own but are reliant on the ever-changing quality of the dialogue at that moment of the interaction. 

By utilising Bahktin’s (1981)  idea of dialogical meaning-making, the student is able to play a more active role in their learning through talking with others in authentic exchanges, which help them to share and build meaning collaboratively (Gutierrez & Larson, as cited in Lyle, 2008).  Classroom discussion is a frequently used teaching strategy, but is often unwittingly dominated by teacher talk, whereas the interactive nature of the on line discussion on Moodle and the face to face discussion via the Paideia Seminar, allows students to be more actively engaged in sharing information and perspectives through interaction with others.

There has been in recent times, increasing interest in on-line approaches for school-aged students and its impact on learning (Boulton, 2008; Chen & Wang, 2009; Jahnke, 2009; Kleine Starman, 2003; Quek, 2010; Yu, 2009).  Interestingly, a recent study in Taiwan by Chiu & Hsiao (2009) with 11-12 year olds discussing on-line found that almost 70% of the collaborative groups were classified as passive or reticent and frequently off-task. Their suggestions were that there is a greater need for methods such as training or intervening approaches that enhance interaction and improve the quality of discourse in computer-mediated collaboration for elementary school students. This study will provide ideas for how this could be achieved.

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