Analysing technology mediated learning in social context
Channel: Michael Paskevicius
Date: 2014-11-18

In this short presentation, I ground my area of research in relation to one of the seminal thinkers in education theory.  Grounding my understanding of how we learn in the writings of Lev Vygotsky and the sociocultural school of thought, I will then look at how Vygotsky’s notion of tool mediation has been expanded through Activity Theory, by making explicit the social context in which tool appropriation takes place in education, the use of contradictions to expose tensions, with some examples from the literature.

Analyzing technology mediated learning in social context prepared for coursework module EDCI 614 at the University of Victoria. 

References: 
Bellamy, R. K. (1996). Designing educational technology: Computer-mediated change. In Context and consciousness: Activity theory and human-computer interaction, 123-146.
Cole, M. (1998). Cultural psychology: A once and future discipline. Harvard University Press.
Conole, G., Dyke, M., Oliver, M., & Seale, J. (2004). Mapping pedagogy and tools for effective learning design. Computers & Education, 43(1), 17-33.
Dippe, G. (2006). The missing teacher: Contradictions and conflicts in the experience of online learners. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Networked Learning 2006. Lancaster: Lancaster University.
Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit.
Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive Learning at Work: Toward an Activity-theoretical Conceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), pp. 133-156.
Hardman, J. (2005). An exploratory case study of computer use in a primary school mathematics classroom: New technology, new pedagogy? Perspectives in Education, 23(4), 99-111.
Jonassen, D. H., & Rohrer-Murphy, L. (1999). Activity theory as a framework for designing constructivist learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 47(1), 61-79.
Kaptelinin, V. (2006). Acting with technology: Activity theory and interaction design. Mit Press.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge university press. 
Murphy, E., & Manzanares, M. A. R. (2008). Contradictions between the virtual and physical high school classroom: A third‐generation Activity Theory perspective. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(6), 1061-1072. 
Murphy, E., & Rodriguez-Manzanares, M. A. (2008). Using activity theory and its principle of contradictions to guide research in educational technology. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 24(4), 442-457.
Norman, D. A. (2002). The design of everyday things. Basic books.
Rieber, R. W., Robinson, D. K., Bruner, J. E., Cole, M. E., Glick, J. E., Ratner, C. E., & Stetsenko, A. E. (2004). The essential Vygotsky. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Saljo, R. (1999). A sociocultural perspective on the human-technology link. Learning with computers: Analysing productive interaction, 144.
Tharp, R.G. & Gallimore, R. (1988). Rousing Minds to Life: Schooling in Social Context. New York: Cambridge University Press 
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind In Society: The Development Of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 
Wertsch, J. V. (1991). Voices of the Mind: A sociocultural approach to mediated action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.