Walter and Chris talk about how they prepared for their series of conferences. In this case existing book groups were already meeting and the conferences needed little additional preparation. The teachers found it useful to share some key points and areas to be covered – in this case some work on existentialism.

Role of the teacher: Walter talks about the importance of the teacher taking a back seat so that the students develop their thinking through a series of exchanges among themselves with minimal teacher intervention.

In this clip a teacher’s question, “He does murder someone though; does that worry you?” prompts a series of exchanges between students at both ends. This is a fairly lengthy clip to illustrate the sustained nature of the exchanges.

The second clip deals with existentialism. Again a teacher’s question elicits students’ responses where they talk about being introduced to the idea of existentialism.

Lines of discussion are also prompted by students’ questions. A follow up question from one of the teachers prompts student to develop their thinking.

In this final clip, a student’s question moves the discussion onto the effect on the reader of narrative perspective.

Students’ perceptions of video conferencing with young people they don’t know: they talk about getting new perspectives from talking to students from other areas of the country.

Pupils’ perceptions about the effect of video conferences on discussing books: they talk about how video conferencing makes the discussions more formal and how it helps them listen more closely, take turns and explain ideas more fully.

Walter talks about his action research which investigates the impact of video technologies on the quality of book talk, the group dynamics and the role of teacher.

Chris Morris comments on the sense of occasion which the video conference brings; and how this makes students think through their contributions, listen closely and shape their response more carefully than they might normally do. It also adds to the depth of reading and enjoyment.

Walter Barbieri suggests that whereas students’ responses are more sustained and the discussion more fluent in the video conference and understanding enhance than in the book group, they may take fewer risks in exploring the text. Comparative insights.

Chris Morris talks about how the video conference gave the students an incentive to read a very challenging text and read it several times so that they could contribute to an informed discussion about it.