Activity Theory

1. Activity Theory Technology and Teaching Practice Research Group Workshop Barney Dalgarno

2. Historical Progression • Vygotsky’s Cultural Historical Psychology (Marxist Russia early 1900s) • Leading to Leont’ev’s Cultural Historical Activity Theory (1930s to 1970) • Engestrom’s Activity System and Expansive Learning (1980s)

3. Key ideas from Vygotsky • Unity of consciousness and activity, importance of language, development of mind in social and cultural context • Some ideas in common with Piaget’s ‘constructivist’ ideas (1950s) including knowledge construction through interaction with environment • Methodological focus on learning context as a whole rather than disparate elements - ‘formative experiments’ • Higher order functions through restructuring of basic functions mediated by ‘tools’, including physical artefacts, symbolic representations and language • Zone of Proximal Development

4. Key ideas from Leont’ev • Development through contradictions between organisms and their environment emerging through interaction • Three aspects of culture impacting on the mind and learning: tools, language and the division of labour • Activity as a core concept in understanding life, with all activity directed towards an object • Object as physical thing or object as motive (objective) • Idea of motivation by one objective but behaviour directed at a more specific objective (unlike animals) • Actions can become automatic operations (internalisation) or automatic operations can become conscious actions (externalisation)

5. Leont’ev’s notions of activities and motivation • Activities • Actions • Operations • Motive • Goals • Conditions Oriented towards

6. Activity Theory – key ideas from Vygotsky and Leont’ev • Consciousness and activity • Social nature of the mind • Mediation • Object focus • Hierarchy of activities • Internalisation and externalisation

7. Engestrom’s contributions • Greater focus on community (rather than the individual) • Notion of rules which impact upon an individuals interaction with the community • Expansive learning drawing on the notion of contradictions between competing activity systems

8. Engestrom’s representation of an Activity System

9. Engestrom’s contributions • Greater focus on community (rather than the individual) • Notion of rules which impact upon an individuals interaction with the community • Expansive learning drawing on the notion of contradictions between competing activity systems

10. Expansive learning

11. Activity Theory in Education Technology • As a framework for understanding and analysing the learning context • As a framework for guiding the instructional design process in context • As a framework to understand human computer interaction in context • As a tool to guide organisational learning

12. Activity Theory in Education Technology • As a framework for understanding and analysing the learning context • As a framework for guiding the instructional design process in context • As a framework to understand human computer interaction in context • As a tool to guide organisational learning