We present a study of children collaborating around interactive tabletops in three different countries: India, the United Kingdom and Finland. Our data highlights the key distinctive physical strategies used by children when performing collaborative tasks during this study. Children in India employ dynamic positioning with frequent physical contact and simultaneous object movement. Children in the UK tend to prefer static positioning with minimal physical contact and simultaneous object movement. Children in Finland use a mixture of dynamic and static positioning with minimal physical contact and object movement. Our findings indicate the importance of understanding collaboration strategies and behaviours when designing and deploying interactive tabletops in heterogeneous educational environments. We conclude with a discussion on how designers of tabletops for schools can provide opportunities for children in different countries to define and shape their own collaboration strategies for small group learning that take into account their different classroom practices.

Interactive tables provide multi-touch capabilities that can enable children to collaborate face-to-face simultaneously. In this paper we extend existing understanding of children's use of interactive tabletops by examining their use by school children in a school in Delhi, India. In the study, we explore how the school children exhibit particular types of collaboration strategies and touch input techniques when dealing with digital objects. In particular, we highlight a number of behaviours of interest, such as how the children would move the same digital object on the table together. We also discuss how the children work in close proximity to each other and dynamically organize their spatial positions in order to work together, as well as establish territory and control. We go on to examine some of the finger-based interaction and manipulation strategies that arise in these contexts. Finally, the paper considers the implications of such behaviours for the deployment of tabletop applications in these particular educational contexts.