Talk Factory is designed to support exploratory talk during pupil-led discussions in educational settings.
Talk Factory displays six ‘rules for talking’ which can be edited by the teacher to support the needs of their class. Three are positive, or desirable, features of discussion (e.g. ‘explains reasons’ and ‘explains disagreement’) and three are negative, or undesirable features of discussion (e.g. ‘interrupts others’).
The teacher/pupil can tap on a rule in real time every time a pupil follows it during a discussion.
Talk Factory includes a bar graph which represents the taps on each of the rules. It also includes a sum of desirable and undesirable events, and a timeline. These features can be used by the teacher and the children to evaluate how well their discussion adheres to the rules for talking.
The app can be used in the classroom or outdoors during field trips, for example.
For more information and to download a version of Talk Factory for use on an interactive whiteboard see: http://www.open.ac.uk/creet/main/TalkFactory