An Activity Theory framework to explore distributed communities

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

In a previous analysis of VMDL evidence, activity levels were interpreted as varying over time with corresponding changes in communication richness requirements.

“In a previous analysis of VMDL † evidence, these levels were interpreted as varying over time with corresponding and changing communication richness requirements (Heeren & Lewis, 1997).”

• cites Heeren & Lewis, 1997 sourceSupported

May combine two claims.

Collective core knowledge in a community exceeds any individual's knowledge, and individuals can support group development by scaffolding others whose knowledge is not yet autonomously usable.

“From this model one might conclude that the collective core knowledge is, not surprisingly, more than that of any individual but also that each person can support develop-ment in a group by providing 'scaffolding' for others whose knowledge in certain domains is not yet available for their autonomous use (Lewis, 1995).”

• cites Lewis, 1995Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

• AssumptionThe authors state this as an assumption: An individual's knowledge can be modeled as a central core owned by the individual, surrounded by a zone of proximal development where help is needed.
• AssumptionThe authors state this as an assumption: In a community, some parts of each person's core knowledge overlap with others, and one person's zone of proximal development overlaps with others' core knowledge.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

In many adult actions, learning and work can become indistinguishable.

“It is at this stage that learning and work may come close together, and become indistinguishable in many cases of adult actions.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

Both intentional and experiential learning processes are constructive, building on and restructuring existing knowledge rather than adding unstructured data.

“In any event, both processes can be viewed as constructive, that is building upon and extending or restructuring knowledge already acquired rather than purely adding new 'data' without structure or relationship to that which already exists.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Distinguishing between collaboration and cooperation goals can help frame research on ICT support and the development of tools tailored to particular goals.

“This distinction between the goals becomes important, and is not simply a pedantic distinction, as it can help to provide a framework for research into the support role of information and communications technology and, hence, the development of tools, tailored to be used for particular goals.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

Workplaces can provide environments for incidental learning, especially when a self-reflexive culture is encouraged.

“Work experiences provide similar environments and learning can take place incidentally especially if a self-reflexive culture is promoted in the work place.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Learning can occur either intentionally or as a side-effect of actions aimed at other goals.

“Implicit in the above is that learning may take place 'with the intention of learning' or as a result of performing an action which has goals other than the learning of a specific concept.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Collaboration and cooperation are often used interchangeably, which can obscure the intention behind collective activity.

“Returning now to the earlier point about CSCW and CSCL, and the differences in goals, the words collaboration and cooperation are often used interchangeably but this may mask an important aspect of collective activity, namely the intention of the activity.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Activity Theory originated in Russian social-historical approaches about 70 years ago and combines objective, ecological, and socio-cultural perspectives on human activity.

“Activity Theory (AT) has its origins in the Russian tradition of social-historical approaches some 70 years ago and can be characterised by a comb-ination of (a) objective, (b) ecological, and (c) socio-cultural perspectives on human activity (Kaptelinin, 1996, p. 107).”

• cites Kaptelinin, 1996Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Creating abstract representations is key to collective problem solving, forming shared representations and making tacit knowledge visible.

“Schwartz (1995) suggests that the creation of abstract representations is a key to collective problem solving; it forms a mechanism for the 'construction of shared representation' and assists in making tacit knowledge visible.”

• cites Schwartz, 1995 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

A community's collective potential can be realized only if each member knows what others know and can both offer and receive help.

“This collective potential can only be realised if each member of the community is aware of the knowledge of others and can capitalise on that by offering and receiving help from others.”

• AssumptionThe authors state this as an assumption: In a community, some parts of each person's core knowledge overlap with others, and one person's zone of proximal development overlaps with others' core knowledge.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

In collaborative activity, a group may divide labour and members may hold personal goals for a phase before reuniting; such transitions require an explicit review and shift in the group's organisational structure.

“Such transitions require a review (and shift) in the organisational structure for the group and it is important that such changes be made explicit as the expectations of members of each other will need to change at each phase.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

Existing constructive theories of learning largely treat knowledge as abstract and neglect its social or contextual dimension.

“There is, however, something missing from such theories; they mostly view knowledge as an 'abstract' phenomenon and fail to acknowledge the social or contextual dimension to knowledge.”

May combine two claims.

Tutors play a key role in making appropriate channels available, monitoring their use, and taking corrective action to sustain fragile learning communities.

“It is clear that tutors play a key role, not only in being instrumental in making appropriate channels freely available but in monitoring how they are being used and in taking corrective action to sustain fragile learning communities.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

The division of labour requires establishing adequate motives for every member of the community.

“The division of labour requires the establishment of adequate motives for every member of the community.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

The constraint of ubiquity is critical in the design of groupware for distributed learning communities.

“This triad of nodes also extends the previous one to include the design of groupware -software designed for group communication, shared workspaces, the collective editing of documents, etc.The constraint of ubiquity referred to above is critical here.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

To maintain group coherence, compromises and less-than-state-of-the-art tools should be chosen.

“In order to maintain group coherence, some compromises and use of less-than-state-ofthe-art tools should be chosen.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Groups are likely to achieve a good group product if they develop structured interdependence with individual autonomy, facilitated by task design but relying on a high-status pupil-coordinator.

“. . .groups were likely to achieve a good group product if they proved able to develop a framework of structured interdependence together with individual autonomy.This we argue is facilitated by the task design, but relies upon the emergence of a high-status pupil-coordinator . ..”

• cites Hoyles et al., 1994 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

When planning distributed learning communities, it is necessary to be aware of the potential and limitations of each class of communication channel.

“An awareness of the potential and the limitations of each class of channel is necessary when planning to set-up distributed learning communities.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Openness and tolerance, and the will to reflect on others' meanings, are more important in CMC than in face-to-face discussions.

“Openness and tolerance, and the will to reflect on others' meanings, are even more important in CMC than in face-to-face discussions.”

• cites Løth & Køhler, 1995Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Activity Theory includes hierarchical levels of activity, action, and operation; an activity may be achieved through various actions, the same action may contribute to different activities, and operations may contribute to various actions.

“Another notion contained in AT is that of hierarchical levels: activity -action -operation An activity (global) may be achieved through a variety of actions, and the same action may be used as a contribution to different activities.Similarly, operations may contribute to a variety of actions.”

• cites Kuutti, 1996Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

How communication protocols are established relates to individuals' roles in the community and their expectations of others and themselves.

“How the protocols are established relates to the role of individuals in the community and their expectations of others and themselves.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

Collaborative working groups are learning in experiential, tacit, constructive, and contextual ways.

“Clearly, collaborative working groups are learning -experientially, tacitly, constructively, contextually.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

The framework suggests necessary conditions for effectiveness in setting up environments: task selection demanding division of labour; maintenance of common goals and motivation via explicit assessment; mutual expectations; awareness of roles and leadership changes; availability of appropriate communication tools; and tutor intervention level.

“In setting up the environments the framework suggests certain conditions necessary for effectiveness: • the selection of tasks (by the tutor or the learners themselves) which demand a division of labour; • the maintenance of common goals and motivation, partly provided by suitable, explicit assessment procedures; • the mutual expectations of learners and tutors; • the awareness of individual role”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Attempts to account for all relationships influencing human learning are likely to fail due to many interdependent parameters, but complexity can be constrained by examining triads of nodes from Fig. 2 one at a time.

“Attempts to consider all the relationships influencing human learning activities are likely to fail due to the multitude of interdependent parameters but it may be that the complexity can be constrained if various triads of nodes taken from Fig. 2 are examined one at a time.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Notions from Activity Theory can provide a framework for further research that explores collaborative learning issues by focusing on subsets of interdependent parameters.

“It has been suggested that notions from Activity Theory can provide a framework for further research which explores these issues by focusing on subsets of interdependent parameters which exist in collaborative learning activity.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

For full participation in community activity, tools should be accessible and easily usable by all members.

“If community activity is to have full participation, then tools should be selected which are accessible to and easily usable by all members.”

May combine two claims.

Conditions found in existing working practices where learning takes place informally include social interaction, trust building, motivation, sharing tacit knowledge, explicit group management changes, and changing roles and leadership expectations.

“Amongst these are: • social interaction; building of trust and maintaining motivation; • sharing tacit knowledge to maintain common understanding; building trust and reducing feelings of exclusion; • changing group management structure (as the nature of the immediate task changes) requires to be made explicit; • changing roles and leadership expectations.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The key element in the subject-rules-community triad is the set of agreed communication protocols that need to be established.

“The key element in this triad in the current context is the set of agreed protocols for communication that need to be established.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

An activity can only be carried out successfully through specific actions usually by individuals or sub-groups, so actions are likely to be undertaken at the individual level.

“In general, an activity can only be carried out successfully through specific actions usually by individuals or sub-groups (which again are likely to require a breakdown into more specific actions).Hence, actions are likely to be undertaken at the individual level.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Activity Theory identifies critical features of effective distributed working communities, and these can be applied to create frameworks for distributed learning communities.

“Activity Theory points to critical features of effective distributed working communities and it is constructive to consider ways in which they can be applied to create frameworks for distributed learning communities.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Many issues highlighted for learners in distributed communities relate to other group learning environments and some to individuals learning through problem solving with a local or remote tutor.

“Finally, although this paper has focused on learners in distributed communities and the role of communications technologies, many of the issues highlighted relate to other group learning environments and some of them to individuals learning through problem solving on their own with a local or remote tutor.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

In CMC contexts, personal skills include social skills for capitalizing on help from peers and tutors, as well as technological skills.

“This triad draws attention to issues of personal skills which may be social as they relate to capitalising upon available help from peers and tutors, but also, in the CMC context, technological.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

In a community, an activity requires establishing a common language and commitment to a shared explicit motive; actions cannot be predetermined and need space for interpretation, negotiation, and group ownership.

“In a community this requires the establish-ment of a 'common' language with all members coming to be committed to a shared, explicit motive (object).In other words, the actions cannot be set along predetermined lines; there must be space for interpretation, negotiation and the establishment of group ownership of the motive.”

May combine two claims.

In working communities, a member may take a minor role matching competence or availability; in learning communities, the task must be sub-divided so every member can contribute equally in time and impact.

“In the former, a member may take on a minor role which matches his/her competence or availability to devote time to the activity.In a learning community the task must be capable of sub-division such that every member can contribute (in time and impact) equally.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

Critical elements for division of labour are capitalizing on individual skills and clear ownership of some aspect of the task.

“Critical elements are the capitalising upon individual skills and clear ownership of some aspect of the task.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Activity Theory concerns the whole social environment, so its account of tools should include human artefacts such as tutors and gurus who mediate tasks.

“It must be stressed, however, that AT is concerned with the whole social environment and so this formulation should include human artefacts.That is, those people who are not a part of the community of learners (for example, tutors, gurus) but who may provide considerable 'mediation' in the tasks being performed.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

The framework highlights conditions that need to be met in the design and implementation of CMC for on- and off-campus learners.

“In addition, the framework highlights conditions which need to be met in the design and implementation of CMC for on-and off-campus learners.”