'But it doesn't count, sir' - A conversation about using electronic discussion in VCE English

For some time now, English teachers have used electronic discussion in their classrooms. There is also a considerable literature suggesting benefits to student learning in doing so. However this research often downplays the context in which the discussion group is used - so that the particularities in use, including teacher decision-making as they negotiate the challenges of particular curriculum frameworks, are lost. This article will report on how one VCE English teacher set up an electronic discussion for his students to discuss a novel they were studying. In particular it will look at the decisions and choices he makes - his reasons for wanting to use electronic discussion and why he chose to do so in the way that he did. It will suggest that teacher use of ICT in the English classroom is particularistic, contextual and situated.