TY - JOUR
T1 - Using activity theory to conceptualize online community and using online community to conceptualize activity theory
AU - Barab, Sasha
AU - Schatz, Steve
AU - Scheckler, Rebecca
N1 - Funding Information:
Those familiar with the funding process know that for every grant that is funded, several grants are written. Researchers become accustomed to “casting their bread upon the waters”—roughly outlining the ideas that they would like to pursue. However, there is an enormous difference between conceptualization for the purpose of writing a grant and the reality of a funded project. In our case, although much thought, development, and testing had already been done, the first 6 months of the grant were largely focused on development of the e-ILF Web site. Although members of the community of teachers for whom the e-ILF was targeted were consulted on occasion for feedback and user testing, the Herculean task of creating a site that pulled together many existent technologies in a new and powerful way was too time-consuming to expect ongoing, active participation.
Funding Information:
Although the Web-based community discussed in this article emerged out of a number of influences, the primary design impetus was the funding of a 3-year research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant’s purpose was to support the design and research of a virtual community of in-service and preservice mathematics and science teachers sharing, improving, and creating inquiry based pedagogical practices—what has become the ILF. More specifically, it was funded to build an Internet space based on a “visiting the classroom” metaphor, and with an internal desire to support teachers in becoming full participants in and owners of their virtual space. Although building an electronic knowledge network was a part of the proposal, this was also a re- search grant. The research goal of this project was to understand the principles for fostering, sustaining, and scaling communities of practice in which the value to participants of sharing their practice and entering in the dialogue outweighs the costs of participation (e.g., time, technology access, and the concerns of letting others view one’s teaching). Although the effective use of technology in supporting a community of practice is a focus of this research, it is clear that technological environments are only one component of an overall community-building strategy. Thus, this research project examines the variety of variables that impact the dynamics of the social networks through which teachers seek to improve and share their pedagogical practices.
PY - 2004/1/1
Y1 - 2004/1/1
N2 - In this article we describe the evolving structure of the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), a sociotechnical interaction network (STIN) designed to support a Web-based community of in-service and preservice mathematics and science teachers sharing, improving, and creating inquiry-based pedagogical practices. Specifically, we apply activity theory as an analytical lens for characterizing the process of designing and supporting the implementation of this online community. Our findings lend support for three implications. First, activity theory can provide a useful analytical tool for characterizing design activity, especially in terms of illuminating the challenges of designing something like community. Second, as one moves toward trying to design a community, particularly one in which the members will be expected to engage in new practices that challenge their current culture, many tensions emerge. Third, consideration of the ILF as a STIN was a necessary conceptual step in our understanding of the ILF and the transactional nature of people and tools. It is our conception that activity theory and STIN are synergistic theoretical frameworks that, when taken together, can provide a richer view of design activity and community functioning than either can offer in isolation.
AB - In this article we describe the evolving structure of the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), a sociotechnical interaction network (STIN) designed to support a Web-based community of in-service and preservice mathematics and science teachers sharing, improving, and creating inquiry-based pedagogical practices. Specifically, we apply activity theory as an analytical lens for characterizing the process of designing and supporting the implementation of this online community. Our findings lend support for three implications. First, activity theory can provide a useful analytical tool for characterizing design activity, especially in terms of illuminating the challenges of designing something like community. Second, as one moves toward trying to design a community, particularly one in which the members will be expected to engage in new practices that challenge their current culture, many tensions emerge. Third, consideration of the ILF as a STIN was a necessary conceptual step in our understanding of the ILF and the transactional nature of people and tools. It is our conception that activity theory and STIN are synergistic theoretical frameworks that, when taken together, can provide a richer view of design activity and community functioning than either can offer in isolation.
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U2 - 10.1207/s15327884mca1101_3
DO - 10.1207/s15327884mca1101_3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:3943104270
SN - 1074-9039
VL - 11
SP - 25
EP - 47
JO - Mind, Culture, and Activity
JF - Mind, Culture, and Activity
IS - 1
ER -