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

understanding these resources. In one instance, two students (Lucy and Kylie) are
each working at their own computer, and talking about what is displayed on screen;
they select the ‘liquid to gas’ key. One student is working in the ‘Hide Particles’
viewing option and the other has selected the ‘View Particles’ option. The opening
screen (shown in figure 6.10) shows a beaker inside another beaker: the outer one
contains ice and the inner one contains water. The water is represented in a pale-blue-
white colour with reflective qualities.

The students are prompted by the worksheet to answer the following question: ‘ What
liquid can you see in the picture?’ In response to the question, the students do not
stay with the opening screen but click on the temperature setting until they reach the
final image which represents ice, the frozen liquid. The ice is represented in a darker-
blue than is the water with a flat texture and without the reflective qualities of the first
image. In addition to the change in colour, the change from a liquid to a solid is
represented by a change in shape. As the liquid freezes, the shape is shown as
changing from the ‘shape of the beaker’ to a semi-circular shape representing the
gradual freezing of a part of the liquid and then, as all the liquid has become frozen,
filling the shape of the beaker. A change in shape, from what looks, front on, like a
cube to the ‘shape of the beaker’ was used to realise the transformation from a solid
to a liquid. The students read this change in shape as indicating a return to ‘its
original state’.

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