Accessibility of Technology in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 237-251
Author(s):  
Deborah W. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Dependent Change ◽  
Technology In Higher Education ◽  
Human Systems

In systems thinking divisions apparent in science specializations are seen “as arbitrary and man made” (Checkland, 1981, p. 4). A key idea embedded in systems theory is that it can assist us in understanding of phenomena and that its holistic emphasis will promote orderly thinking. According to Checkland (1981), there are natural systems, designed systems, abstract systems, and human activity systems (p. 112). Human activity systems can be broken down into examples of open systems that are relationship dependent. Change is inherent in human systems, as the intricacy of the relationships in these kinds of systems require continuous adaptations if the system is to remain stable. Checkland viewed human activity systems as wholes that are emphasized by the existence of other systems.

Accessibility of Technology in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 16-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah W. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Dependent Change ◽  
Technology In Higher Education ◽  
Human Systems

In systems thinking divisions apparent in science specializations are seen “as arbitrary and man made” (Checkland, 1981, p. 4). A key idea embedded in systems theory is that it can assist us in understanding of phenomena and that its holistic emphasis will promote orderly thinking. According to Checkland (1981), there are natural systems, designed systems, abstract systems, and human activity systems (p. 112). Human activity systems can be broken down into examples of open systems that are relationship dependent. Change is inherent in human systems, as the intricacy of the relationships in these kinds of systems require continuous adaptations if the system is to remain stable. Checkland viewed human activity systems as wholes that are emphasized by the existence of other systems.

Accessibility of Technology in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 16-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah W. Proctor
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Dependent Change ◽  
Technology In Higher Education ◽  
Human Systems

In systems thinking divisions apparent in science specializations are seen “as arbitrary and man made” (Checkland, 1981, p. 4). A key idea embedded in systems theory is that it can assist us in understanding of phenomena and that its holistic emphasis will promote orderly thinking. According to Checkland (1981), there are natural systems, designed systems, abstract systems, and human activity systems (p. 112). Human activity systems can be broken down into examples of open systems that are relationship dependent. Change is inherent in human systems, as the intricacy of the relationships in these kinds of systems require continuous adaptations if the system is to remain stable. Checkland viewed human activity systems as wholes that are emphasized by the existence of other systems.

Contradictions and Technology in Higher Education

2013 ◽  
pp. 79-95
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
The Other ◽  
Activity System ◽  
Activity Systems ◽  
Technology And Learning ◽  
System Components ◽  
Technology In Higher Education

This chapter is about how new forms of activity emerge in higher education and the role that contradictions in general and tools specifically play in that emergence. Activity system components such as norms, division of labour, and tools develop but at different rates and in different ways over long periods of time. Likewise, different activities may share a component but the component may be more developed in one activity than in the other. The development at different stages means that there are always disconnects within and between activity systems. Activity Theory calls these disconnects by the term contradictions. The chapter begins with an overview of contradictions. It follows with hypothetical examples to illustrate contradictions in a context of technology-mediated higher education. The second part of this chapter provides an overview of how contradictions have been used to analyze technology and learning.

scholarly journals On the essence and ontology of systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo De Jesus Perez
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Von Bertalanffy ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Specific Field ◽  
Theory Of Everything ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Universe

In the first part of this research, publications were reviewed from 1968 to 2019, with the aim of observing how the definition of system has evolved, since it was established by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy. From this review it is concluded that this definition has not changed in essence, all the researchers consulted use concepts similar to those of Bertalanffy, when they propose a definition of system. However, according to the specific field of work, the authors add their own characteristics.Bertalanffy's definition and all that have been derived from it postulate that a system is a conglomerate of interacting components. But after a brief reasoning it is concluded that everything in our universe meets that definition. A system is an atom, a cell, a chair, a galaxy, or the universe as a whole. So systems theory would be the theory of everything, which is too broad and imprecise.Vagueness and imprecision have been eliminated when the concept of system has been applied to specific fields of knowledge and human activity and in each of them characteristics have been added that define more specifically the systems that are relevant to certain technical or scientific specialties. However, this has caused that many concepts developed in one field cannot be extended or used in others.In this work, a system definition is established that allows us to clearly and precisely describe what these entities are and distinguish them from other concepts and entities. In this way it has been possible to characterize what a system is, using concepts that are applicable to any of the types of systems that can be found in our known world: natural systems, man-made systems and social systems.

Reaching Inward: A Way Of Training in Human Systems Thinking

1985 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-156
Author(s):  
Marion Lindblad-Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Human Systems

scholarly journals Category Theory for Autonomous and Networked Dynamical Systems

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Charles Delvenne
Keyword(s):  
Dynamical Systems ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Ergodic Theory ◽  
Category Theory ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Topological Dynamics ◽  
Control Problems ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Discussion Paper ◽  
Open Systems Theory

In this discussion paper we argue that category theory may play a useful role in formulating, and perhaps proving, results in ergodic theory, topogical dynamics and open systems theory (control theory). As examples, we show how to characterize Kolmogorov–Sinai, Shannon entropy and topological entropy as the unique functors to the nonnegative reals satisfying some natural conditions. We also provide a purely categorical proof of the existence of the maximal equicontinuous factor in topological dynamics. We then show how to define open systems (that can interact with their environment), interconnect them, and define control problems for them in a unified way.

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