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The increased popularity of tablets in general has led to uptake in education. We critically review the literature reporting use of tablets by primary and secondary school children across the curriculum, with a particular emphasis on learning outcomes. The systematic review methodology was used, and our literature search resulted in 33 relevant studies meeting the inclusion criteria. A total of 23 met the minimum quality criteria and were examined in detail (16 reporting positive learning outcomes, 5 no difference and 2 negative learning outcomes). Explanations underlying these observations were analysed, and factors contributing to successful uses of tablets are discussed. While we hypothesize how tablets can viably support children in completing a variety of learning tasks (across a range of contexts and academic subjects), the fragmented nature of the current knowledge base, and the scarcity of rigorous studies, makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions. The generalizability of evidence is limited, and detailed explanations as to how, or why, using tablets within certain activities can improve learning remain elusive. We recommend that future research moves beyond exploration towards systematic and in-depth investigations building on the existing findings documented here.

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The authors wish to thank the ESRC, the participating students, teachers and head teachers, and the large number of colleagues and postgraduates who assisted with project design, sample recruitment, data collection, and data preparation (especially Ayesha Ahmed, Annabel Amodia-Bidakowska, Sarah Baugh, Elisa Calcagni, and Helen Lancaster who helped with everything).

INTRODUCTIONThis paper reviews recent research in the area of situated cognition, focusing on the domains of mathematics, science and technology. The key issue addressed here is the disjunction between classroom learning and cognition in practice. The notion of apprenticeship inside and outside the classroom, the potential scaffolding function of computer-based learning environments, the role of prior knowledge in learning, and the notion of a general thinking and problem-solving capability are also explored, and implications for pedagogy are considered.The first important implication for our understanding of knowledge construction and problem-solving processes comes from the previously established literature which characterises cognitive differences between novices and experts. This work indicates that predominantly through an interactive process of cognitive apprenticeship, experts spend years acquiring intuitive specialist knowledge and sophisticated mental models of their domain (e.g. Collins and Gentner, 1987). These models are influenced by the social and cultural context in which solving a problem takes place, including the physical structure, the purpose of the activity, the existence of collaborating partners and the social mileu in which the problem is embedded (Furnham, 1992). Rather than being an individual, purely experiential process, then, cultural transmission plays a major role in the construction of domain expertise. However, practical applications of expert/novice comparisons are somewhat limited. Since experts and novices do not normally share similar goals or constraints nor wish to carry out similar tasks, teaching novices what experts are assumed to know is not Downloaded by [University of Montana] at 19:15 03 April 2015 2 Sara Hennessy necessarily an optimal strategy. Direct comparison between expert problem solving and that of young novices in the form of schoolchildren is therefore unlikely to be illuminating. The previous tendencies of cognitive psychologists to characterise various forms of everyday knowledge as deficient by comparison with expert knowledge lack credibility in the light of recent research concerning the construction of informal knowledge. The latter is successfully used in a range of domains -by children and adults -to meet the demands of everyday problemsolving situations, without recourse to school-taught strategies. Expert problem solving is similar to this 'knowledge in action' in that practitioners rarely find it useful to draw upon knowledge or skills attained during schooling. This is because schooling does not really prepare pupils for later life or for problem solving in the workplace; it can be viewed as a unique culture, a specialised practice with its own conventions, organisations and concerns, which are in fact of little value to society outside. The consequent gap between schooling, and everyday practice by children, adult expert practitioners and 'just plain folks' (Lave, 1988), is now well-documented and is explored below. SITUATED COGNITION Learning a...