W. Nejdl and K. Tochtermann (Eds.): EC-TEL 2006, LNCS 4227, pp. 579 – 584, 2006. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006 The LEAD Project*: Computer Support for Face-to-Face Collaborative Learning Wouter van Diggelen and Maarten Overdijk Utrecht University, Research Centre Learning in Interaction, Heidelberglaan1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands {w.vandiggelen, m.overdijk}@fss.uu.nl Abstract. The LEAD project 1 stresses that one of the important challenges with regard to technology-enhanced learning is to develop effective networked- computing support for face-to-face collaborative learning. To achieve this one has to gain a deeper understanding of face-to-face collaborative learning and the technology that supports the communicative processes that are involved. The LEAD project will enhance state-of-the-art research by studying this complex interplay within a collaborative classroom setting, an arrangement that has hardly been addressed in educational research and practice. Keywords: Collaborative learning, Problem solving support, face-to-face discussions. 1 Introduction Most views of computer-supported collaborative learning emphasize that new ways of learning will occur outside the classroom, connecting learners who are dispersed in time and space. These views assume a situation of online collaboration, distance learning and virtual teaching. Although overcoming time and space has a direct added value, it also leads to a partial focus. There are characteristics of face-to-face interactions, particularly the space-time contexts in which such interactions take place, that the emerging technologies are either pragmatically or logically incapable of replicating [5]. The LEAD project stresses that tomorrow’s learning will still take place in schools where learners meet face-to-face to collaborate, discuss and solve problems. Recent studies indicate that most of tomorrow’s learning will take place on-campus and face- to-face. The use of ICT has become commonplace, but in a way that only gradually is * Project team: Utrecht University, Research Centre Learning in Interaction; Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris; Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines, St-Etienne; University of Salerno, Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione; University of Salerno, Dipartimento di Informatica e Applicazioni; University of Nottingham, Learning Sciences Research Institute; ICATT Interactive Media, Amsterdam; Tilburg University, Faculty of Arts; University of Lyon, Interactions, Corpus, Apprentissages, Représentations. 1 The LEAD project (IST-2005-028027) is partially funded by the European Commission under the IST Programme of Framework VI.