Portraits of the Activity Systems of International Higher Education Students in Online Learning

This chapter presents findings of a study of the activity systems of seven international students enrolled in online learning at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The seven students were interviewed using questions focused around the components of an activity system. Data were analyzed using a coding protocol designed for the study and based on Activity Theory. Findings are presented as seven individual portraits of the activity system of students. Each portrait is summarized according to the following components: subject, object, tools, norms, community, division of labour, outcomes.

Contradictions and Expansive Transformation in the Activity Systems of Higher Education International Students in Online Learning

This chapter features a description of three contradictions (i.e., disconnects) in the activity system of international higher education students in online learning. These disconnects are interpreted in relation to the constructs of teaching presence, real presence, and social and cultural presence and analyzed in terms of their origins in face-to-face, time- and place-dependent contexts of learning. Teaching presence is the external (to the student) regulation and management of learning, real presence is the sensory-rich character of learning, and social and cultural presence relate to specific types of interactions and communication that occur in conjunction with learning. Learning presence reflects a constructivist perspective that values socially-constructed forms of knowledge and self-regulation. The chapter follows with a description of how the disconnects can be bridged and the activity system expanded.

Cross-Analysis of the Activity Systems of Higher Education International Students in Online Learning

This chapter presents the results of a cross-analysis of the seven portraits of the activity systems of higher education international students in online learning. The cross-analysis relies on Activity Theory as a tool to identify and sort patterns in the data, in this instance across seven portraits. The cross-analysis aggregates findings from across all seven portraits into the Activity Theory components of subject, object, tools, norms, community, division of labour, and outcomes. The chapter provides an aggregate portrait of the activity system of the seven students.

Contradictions and 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.

The Activity System of Higher Education Students Using Technology

This chapter presents a review of studies and reports of students’ use of technology in higher education published primarily in the U.S. and Canada from 2005 to 2012. The review is conducted using an Activity Theory framework that organizes information from the literature according to the components of the activity system—subject, tools, object, norms, community, division of labour, and outcomes. The chapter concludes with a summary of the activity system and limitations of the approach.

An Overview of Activity Theory in Technology-Mediated Higher Education

This chapter provides an overview of Activity Theory. It outlines the origins and development of the theory, situates it in relation to other approaches, and explains the important role of history and culture in the theory. The second part of the chapter provides an overview of the components of an activity system: subject; object; outcomes; tools; community; division of labour; and norms. The chapter devotes particular attention to the component of tools, then presents and summarizes their importance in seven propositions using examples from higher education. The chapter follows with a discussion of the role of ethics, values, and emotions in Activity Theory and includes a visual representation of the activity system of Activity Theory.

A Review of Activity Theory Studies of Domestic and International Students Using Technology in Higher Education

This chapter serves as an introduction to the two studies featured in Section 2 (Chapters 7-10). It presents a review of a decade (2002-2012) of nine Activity Theory studies from peer-reviewed journals of higher education students’ learning in technology-mediated contexts. The review is organized around the following elements: purpose; rationale for Activity Theory use; summary of technology use; focus on technology-mediated learning; data collection; data analysis; findings, conclusions, and implications. The methods section provides an overview of why the nine studies were included while others were excluded. The chapter includes a comparison of the nine studies with those presented in Section 2, Chapters 7-10.

Introduction

This chapter presents an Activity Theory perspective on technology in a context of higher education. It introduces the reader to the basic constructs and principles of Activity Theory through the experiences of a hypothetical first-year university student, Anne. Her experiences highlight the complex role that technology can play in reshaping and disrupting forms of learning that are deeply rooted in cultural, historical, and social traditions. The chapter sets the stage for the argument that Activity Theory explains technology’s role in the development and transformation of learning and provides a framework to make sense of them.

Conclusion

The chapter begins with a discussion of the value of having adopted an Activity Theory perspective to write this book. It follows with consideration of the role of tradition and beliefs in transforming higher education. The subsequent sections summarize opportunities for expansion which readers may take away from this book as implications for policy and practice. These relate to expansion of conceptions of learning; control; support; tools; and boundaries. The chapter concludes with limitations of this book and of Activity Theory in general.

From Contradictions to Expansive Transformations in Technology-Mediated Higher Education

This chapter illustrates Activity Theory’s principle of expansive learning. It begins with an overview of expansive learning followed by description of a hypothetical, more culturally and historically developed form of the activity of higher education. The description is organized according to the seven components of the activity system. The outcomes of this hypothetical, transformed form of learning are the realization or near realization of the zone of proximal development and co-actualization. Following the description of the components of an expanded, more developed form of higher education, are the identification and analysis of three contradictions that must be resolved in order for the expansion to take place. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the expansive transformation of higher education might be realized and the role that contradictions could play in this transformation.