A Multimodal Framework for Computer Mediated Learning: The Reshaping of Curriculum Knowledge and Learning

The same modal resources as those that are described above are used to display all of
the ‘states of matter’ in the CD-ROM, for this reason I will not describe each one here
further. Some of the specific ensembles of writing, image, colour and movement as
they are displayed on the screen to realise each states are discussed in the following
section where the focus is on the students’ engagement with the resources of the
screen.

The Engagement of the Students with the Resources of the CD-ROM
The focus in this section is on how the students engaged with the resources of the
CD-ROM and on the ‘gap’ between what is designed in the CD-ROM, and the
students’ reading of these resources and their design. The students’ use of the CD-
ROM is organised in two different ways in the lesson. In the first part of the lesson
the students work through the CD-ROM on individual computers, and later in the
lesson they use an Interactive Whiteboard to present and discuss their ideas to the
class. Initially I focus on the different ways that four of the students engage with the
resources of the screen and interact with one another when working on separate
computers. I then go on to discuss the students’ engagement with the CD-ROM in a
whole class presentation using the interactive whiteboard. In both instances I
comment on how the resources of the screen and their organisation in this lesson
reshape the role of teacher and students in the science classroom.

The Students ‘Individual’ Work with the CD-ROM

In the first part of the lesson the students work on separate computers to investigate
‘states of matter’ and the transformation from a solid to a liquid, a liquid to a gas, a
gas to a liquid and a liquid to a solid. The teacher mediates the students’ engagement
with the CD-ROM through a worksheet. The worksheet instructs them to observe
each transformation in the ‘Hide Particles’ viewing option and to predict what will
happen when the temperature is raised or lowered. It then instructs them to select the

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