Improving the scaffolds of a mobile-assisted Chinese character forming game with the SCAPE framework

Appropriate design of collaborative learning activities for students using 1:1 handheld devices can lead to peer scaffolding, building up students collaborative skills. Building on such prior studies in mCSCL (mobile Computer Supported Collaborative Learning), we derived Chinese-PP, a novel design of in-class mobile synchronous collaborative learning game on constructions of Chinese characters from components, with the unique characteristic of spontaneous small group formations. In this paper, we propose a framework, namely, "SCaffold Analysis and Provision Envisioning" (SCAPE) to guide us in examining and refining/revising the interplay among various forms of scaffolding in the learning model across various Design-Based Research (DBR) cycles of our study on Chinese-PP. We believe a generalized SCAPE framework has the potential to inform TEL research in a structure to embark on the iterative process of enacting and redesigning the socio-techno-pedagogical frameworks developed by individual research projects. Copyright © 2011 Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.