Collaborative learning with tablets: Analysing students' meaning making of <scp>3D</scp> body models in upper secondary education

This paper explores the use of a shared tablet within the context of collaborative learning among a teacher and upper‐secondary students (aged 16–17). We analyse how various resources are mobilised for joint meaning making. Drawing on video‐recorded episodes, this qualitative case study shows how human and digital resources emerge when students collaboratively make meaning of body‐related concepts using a shared tablet and how these resources support learning. The findings identify seven types of resources that were used when making meaning of body concepts while interacting with an application related to muscles and kinesiology. These resources include: 3D visualisations, students' prior knowledge, personal narratives, instructional video, the app's side menu, tactile functionalities and bodily representations. This paper offers insights for designing collaborative learning instructions involving tablets to support the co‐creation of meaning in small groups. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Extensive research has indicated that the use of shared tablets can support collaborative learning when students take active roles, benefit from access to resources and develop problem‐solving skills by interacting with learning materials. Although there is a growing recognition that tablets can engage students in deep cognitive processes—such as analysing, evaluating and creating—current research has not yet explored how students mobilise and simultaneously use human and digital resources for joint meaning making. What this paper adds 3D visualisations displayed on a shared tablet play a crucial role in interpreting abstract concepts such as body injuries, thereby facilitating meaning making among students. Yet, students still need to mobilise additional resources for interpretation and learning. By analysing three video interactional episodes, this case study shows how resources emerge when students collaboratively make meaning of body‐related concepts using a shared tablet and how these resources support learning. The findings identify seven types of resources that served to support student learning: 3D visualisations, students' prior knowledge, personal narratives, instructional video, the app's side menu, tactile functionalities and bodily representations. Implications for practice and pedagogy The study offers educational implications regarding collaborative learning and co‐creation of meaning in students' small group involving a shared tablet. It sheds light on the design of tablet‐mediated learning instructions and the need to consider tasks that engage problem‐solving and dialogical pedagogies, allowing for interactive discussions and the co‐creation of meaning. Teachers should give attention to the multiple resources at play in such learning settings and be sensitive to how they are combined when students engage in making meaning together. This sensitivity would enable teachers to use such resources to guide students' reasoning and engagement.