Chronotope : an investigation of the spatial and temporal organization in technology-mediated collaborative learning

The present dissertation project investigated the organization of space-time in collaborative learning processes mediated by Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The background of my argumentation is that we live in an historical moment in which the introduction of continu-ously evolving virtual spaces and the implementation of novel pedagogical approaches entail the transformation of the spatial and temporal relations of pedagogical activities. In order to examine these transforming space-time relations and the role that they may play in the learning process, I propose an adapted socio-cultural perspective based on the dialogical notion of chronotope. A chronotope depicts the emergent configuration of space-time relations during an intentional, collaborative learning activity. In sum, the perspective that I adopt considers cognition and learning as distributed in the environment, and space and time as interdependent social constructions. The dissertation report aimed to account for multiple types of physical, so-cial, virtual, real and imagined spatialities and temporalities as they are per-ceived, discursively negotiated, and bodily enacted by participants in ICT-mediated learning practices. I carried out four studies that examine various aspects of space-time re-lations. In Study I, I explored how participants in collaborative learning activities locate themselves and the others across multiple physical, social and virtual spaces; in Study II I investigated how the space-time frames detected in students’ discourse on the task affect the process of task inter-pretation; Study III was aimed at analysing if and how space-time configu-rations bodily enacted by participants affect the pace and the quality of the learning process; in Study IV I examined the significance and implications of patterns of organization of space-time during the process of instrumental genesis. All the studies adopt a qualitative ethnographic methodology that involves the triangulation of participant observation, discourse analysis, and video analysis. The results of my studies suggest that examining the organization of space and time can provide crucial insights into technology-mediated col-laborative learning activities, informing both theory and practice. Under-standing how participants locate themselves and the others in space and time might help us to design learning space-times that enhance coordination and collaborative processes. Considering the discursive framing of space-time by the students can help teachers and instructional designers to ensure that divergent assumptions concerning space-time frames will not induce students to deviate from the set task. Modelling the space-time configura-tions bodily enacted by participants may provide cues for scaffolding the learning process, helping students to orchestrate space and manage time, in line with the teachers’ pedagogical aims. Finally, detecting patterns of space-time organization may inform decisions concerning where and when to provide just-in-time information, scaffolds and tools to enhance students’ learning without interrupting their experience of flow.Tämä väitöskirja käsittelee aika-tilan organisointia yhteistoiminnallisissa oppimisprosesseissa, joissa hyödynnetään tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa. Väitöskirjan argumentin lähtökohta on,että elämme historiallisella hetkellä, jossa oppimisen suhde tilaan ja aikaan on muutoksessa. Muutokseen vaikuttaa uusien virtuaalisten tilojen ja pedagogisten lähestymistapojen käyttöönotto. Kehittelen väitöskirjassa sosiokulttuurista näkökulmaa, jonka avulla voidaan tutkia muuttuvia aika-tila-suhteita ja niiden roolia oppimisprosessissa. Näkökulma hyödyntää dialogista kronotoopin käsitettä, jonka avulla kuvaan tavoitteellisen, yhteistoiminnallisen oppimistoiminnan aikana syntyviä aika-tila-suhteiden muodostelmia.Kaiken kaikkiaan valitsemani näkökulma tarkastelee kognitiota ja oppimista ympäristöön hajautuneina ilmiöinä. Lisäksi tarkastelen tilaa ja aikaa toisistaan riippuvina sosiaalisina konstruktioina. Väitöskirjan tavoitteena oli selittää monentyyppisiä fyysisiä, sosiaalisia, virtuaalisia, todellisia ja kuviteltuja tilallisuuksia ja ajallisuuksia osana tieto- ja viestintäteknologiaa hyödyntäviä oppimiskäytäntöjä. Tavoitteena oli selittää tilallisuuksia ja ajallisuuksia sellaisina kuin osallistujat havaitsivat ne, neuvottelivat niistä diskursiivisesti tai toteuttivat ne kehollisesti. Toteutin neljä osatutkimusta, joissa tutkin aika-tila-suhteita eri näkökulmista. Ensimmäisessä osatutkimuksessa tutkin sitä, miten yhteistoiminnallisen oppimisen osallistujat sijoittivat itsensä ja toisensa useiden fyysisten, sosiaalisten ja virtuaalisten tilojen välillä. Toisessa osatutkimuksessa tarkastelin, miten opiskelijoiden tehtävän tekemiseen liittyvistä keskusteluista tunnistamani aika-tila-kehykset vaikuttivat heidän tehtävän tulkitsemisen prosessiin. Kolmannen osatutkimuksen tavoitteena oli analysoida,kuinka osallistujien kehollisesti toteuttamat aika-tila-muodostelmat vaikuttavat oppimisprosessin tahtiin ja laatuun. Neljännessä osatutkimuksessa tutkin, minkälaisia merkityksiä ja seuraamuksia aika-tila-suhteiden säännönmukaisuuksilla oli työvälineen syntyprosessissa. Kaikissa osatutkimuksissa käytin laadullista etnografista metodologiaa ja hyödynsin tutkimusmenetelmällistä triangulaatiota. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytin osallistuvaa havainnointia, diskurssianalyysiä ja videoanalyysiä. Tutkimukseni tulokset viittaavat siihen, että ajan ja tilan organisoinnin tutkiminen voi tuottaa ratkaisevan tärkeitä oivalluksia teknologiavälitteisestä yhteistoiminnallisesta oppimisesta. Tuloksista on hyötyä sekä käytännössä että teorian kehittämisessä. Sen ymmärtäminen, miten osallistujat sijoittavat itsensä ja toisensa tilassa ja ajassa, voi auttaa suunnittelemaan oppimisympäristöjen aika-tiloja, jotka edistävät osallistujien keskinäistä koordinaatiota ja yhteistoiminnallisia prosesseja. Sen huomioiminen, miten opiskelijat kehystävät aika-tilat diskursiivisesti,voi auttaa opettajia ja oppimisympäristöjen suunnittelijoita varmistamaan, etteivät aika-tila-kehyksiin liittyvät monenlaiset olettamukset saa opiskelijoita poikkeamaan annetusta tehtävästä.Osallistujien kehollisesti toteuttamien aika-tila-asetelmien mallintaminen voi antaa vihjeitä, miten oppimisprosessia voidaan tukea. Opiskelijoita voidaan tukea tilan organisoimisessa ja ajan hallitsemisessa opettajien pedagogisten tavoitteiden suunnassa. Lopuksi aika-tila-suhteiden säännönmukaisuuksien tunnistaminen voi auttaa tekemään päätöksiä siitä, missä ja milloin kannattaa tarjota opiskelijoille oikea-aikaista tietoa, tukea ja välineitä jotka edistävät heidän oppimistaan ilman, että heidän virtauksen kokemuksensa häiriinty

Open Educational Resources : an Opportunity for Democratic Education?

In this article, I argue that Open Educational Resources (OERs) cancreate opportunities for democratic education by emphasizing collaborative construction, re-vision and updating of knowledge content. This may allow people belonging to different communities and social groups to take collective responsibility for the creation and maintenance of public knowledge content to be used for educational purposes. Such potential is only partially exploited if the practices of reuse favour consumption in place of co-construction. Moreover, although primarily intended for formal education, the potential or OERs is best expressed in hybrid practices where formal and non-formal contexts are not intended as mutually exclusive. A participatory and hybrid framework for the re-use of OERs in the long term might create the conditions of a more democratic management of knowledge in the larger society. However, to fully exploit the potential of OERs there is a need to develop policies and practices able to address a number of challenges raised by the hybrid, participatory, and technology-enabled co-creation, re-use and re-mix of public knowledge.In this article, I argue that Open Educational Resources (OERs) cancreate opportunities for democratic education by emphasizing collaborative construction, re-vision and updating of knowledge content. This may allow people belonging to different communities and social groups to take collective responsibility for the creation and maintenance of public knowledge content to be used for educational purposes. Such potential is only partially exploited if the practices of reuse favour consumption in place of co-construction. Moreover, although primarily intended for formal education, the potential or OERs is best expressed in hybrid practices where formal and non-formal contexts are not intended as mutually exclusive. A participatory and hybrid framework for the re-use of OERs in the long term might create the conditions of a more democratic management of knowledge in the larger society. However, to fully exploit the potential of OERs there is a need to develop policies and practices able to address a number of challenges raised by the hybrid, participatory, and technology-enabled co-creation, re-use and re-mix of public knowledge.Peer reviewe

Analyzing the Space–Time of Collaborative Sensemaking Through Video Analysis : Methodological Reflections on a Case Study

In this research methods case study, I discuss some of the methodological choices I made and some of the challenges that I encountered while investigating how people organize the context of their activities in space and time. In this case study, I collected and analyzed video data to look at the organization of space and time during learning activities mediated by information and communication technologies (ICT). According to the qualitative approach I adopted, research designs have “built-in flexibility” allowing new and unexpected insights, leading to a growing sophistication of the design itself. This type of qualitative research is characterized by the progressive, non-linear development of theory and by the continuous interaction of theory and data throughout the process. Even though such non-linearity often constitutes an added value for qualitative research, it does not eliminate the need for a rigorous preliminary planning. I will use the example of the data collection and analysis of my case study to reflect on the delicate equilibrium between initial planning and flexibility of the research design in qualitative video analysis.In this research methods case study, I discuss some of the methodological choices I made and some of the challenges that I encountered while investigating how people organize the context of their activities in space and time. In this case study, I collected and analyzed video data to look at the organization of space and time during learning activities mediated by information and communication technologies (ICT). According to the qualitative approach I adopted, research designs have “built-in flexibility” allowing new and unexpected insights, leading to a growing sophistication of the design itself. This type of qualitative research is characterized by the progressive, non-linear development of theory and by the continuous interaction of theory and data throughout the process. Even though such non-linearity often constitutes an added value for qualitative research, it does not eliminate the need for a rigorous preliminary planning. I will use the example of the data collection and analysis of my case study to reflect on the delicate equilibrium between initial planning and flexibility of the research design in qualitative video analysis

Transforming the space-time of learning through interactive whiteboards : the case of a knowledge creation collaborative task

The present article aims at qualitatively exploring the emergent space-time configurations of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) usage within a collaborative media design task at a university of applied sciences. During this course, the students had an opportunity to use the IWB technology to support the collaborative learning process within small groups of 4-5 members. It is argued that research on the space-time transformations enabled by digital technology, carried out by adopting the dialogical concept of chronotope, is useful to improve the understanding of learning in technology rich settings. Participant observation was conducted on two groups of students. Video-audio records of the students' activity and of group interviews were collected and qualitatively analyzed. The findings reveal that the IWB was only partially integrated within the students’ activity. Most of the IWB usage took place during the first phase of the course. The IWB use was characterized by specific space-time configurations that allow to examine how the students attempted to integrate the IWB in their learning space. The students’ reflections during the group interview allow to advance our understanding concerning the emergence of the space-time configurations identified by the researcher, as well as on the students’ perception of the learning environment. It is concluded that the potentiality of IWB and the effectiveness of the emergent space-time configurations is strictly dependent on the nature of the learning task and the pedagogical approach adopted.The present article aims at qualitatively exploring the emergent space-time configurations of Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) usage within a collaborative media design task at a university of applied sciences. During this course, the students had an opportunity to use the IWB technology to support the collaborative learning process within small groups of 4-5 members. It is argued that research on the space-time transformations enabled by digital technology, carried out by adopting the dialogical concept of chronotope, is useful to improve the understanding of learning in technology rich settings. Participant observation was conducted on two groups of students. Video-audio records of the students' activity and of group interviews were collected and qualitatively analyzed. The findings reveal that the IWB was only partially integrated within the students’ activity. Most of the IWB usage took place during the first phase of the course. The IWB use was characterized by specific space-time configurations that allow to examine how the students attempted to integrate the IWB in their learning space. The students’ reflections during the group interview allow to advance our understanding concerning the emergence of the space-time configurations identified by the researcher, as well as on the students’ perception of the learning environment. It is concluded that the potentiality of IWB and the effectiveness of the emergent space-time configurations is strictly dependent on the nature of the learning task and the pedagogical approach adopted.Peer reviewe

To work on paper: il ruolo degli artefatti nella costruzione di conoscenza

Peer reviewe

Students’ Self-Organization of the Learning Environment during a Blended Knowledge Creation Course

Learner-centered blended learning approaches, such as Knowledge Creation, emphasize the self-organizing characteristic of thought and action, and value the students’ autonomy and self-regulation during the engagement in collaborative learning tasks. In blended contexts, the students need to organize their learning paths within a complex environment, including multiple online and offline learning spaces. This process of self-organization during courses based on the Knowledge Creation approach is currently an overlooked topic of research. The present case study is aimed at addressing this research gap by providing an in-depth understanding of the collaborative self-organization of a group of five undergraduate students participating in an interdisciplinary media design course. The course was designed according to the Knowledge Creation approach and was carried out before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dialogical theory of the chronotope and the theory of cultural models constitute the main theoretical tools for the research. We used qualitative methods inspired by ethnography, including participant observation, in addition to the collection and analysis of audio-visual records, stimulated recall interviews, and learning diaries completed by the students. The findings show that the group self-organization changed across different phases of the collaborative task and involved the development of specific practices of self-organization. Cultural models associated with the task contributed to determine the students’ choices related to self-organization

Investigation 7. Instrumental genesis in technology mediated learning : From double stimulation to expansive knowledge practices

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the sociocultural foundations of technology-mediated collaborative learning. Toward that end, we discuss the role of artifacts in knowledge-creating inquiry, relying on the theoretical ideas of Carl Bereiter, Merlin Donald, Pierre Rabardel, Keith Sawyer, and L. S. Vygotsky. We argue that epistemic mediation triggers expanded inquiry and plays a crucial role in knowledge creation; such mediation involves using CSCL technologies to create epistemic artifacts for crystallizing cognitive processes, remediating subsequent activity, and building an evolving body of knowledge. Productive integration of CSCL technologies as instruments of learning and instruction is a developmental process: it requires iterative efforts across extended periods of time. Going through such a process of instrumental genesis requires transforming a cognitive-cultural operating system of activity, thus “reformatting” the brain and the mind. Because of the required profound personal and social transformations, one sees that innovative knowledge-building practices emerge, socially, through extended expansive learning cycles.Peer reviewe

Students’ Self-Organization of the Learning Environment during a Blended Knowledge Creation Course

Learner-centered blended learning approaches, such as Knowledge Creation, emphasize the self-organizing characteristic of thought and action, and value the students’ autonomy and self-regulation during the engagement in collaborative learning tasks. In blended contexts, the students need to organize their learning paths within a complex environment, including multiple online and offline learning spaces. This process of self-organization during courses based on the Knowledge Creation approach is currently an overlooked topic of research. The present case study is aimed at addressing this research gap by providing an in-depth understanding of the collaborative self-organization of a group of five undergraduate students participating in an interdisciplinary media design course. The course was designed according to the Knowledge Creation approach and was carried out before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dialogical theory of the chronotope and the theory of cultural models constitute the main theoretical tools for the research. We used qualitative methods inspired by ethnography, including participant observation, in addition to the collection and analysis of audio-visual records, stimulated recall interviews, and learning diaries completed by the students. The findings show that the group self-organization changed across different phases of the collaborative task and involved the development of specific practices of self-organization. Cultural models associated with the task contributed to determine the students’ choices related to self-organization

A Blended Learning Course as a Context to Support the Democratic Expression of the Self

In this article, we use a dialogical approach to discuss the relationship between learning and democracy. In particular, we conceptualize the democratic aspects of the Self based on the Bakhtinian theory of Magistral, Socratic and Menippean dialogues, and on Herman’s conceptualization of the dialogical self. Using these theoretical resources, we aim at building a framework that allows to examine the emergence of democratic selves from learning interaction. In particular, we explore how the three forms of dialogue characterize the Self during a blended course and how students move from Magistral power identity positions to Menippean dialogues. We interpret these movements as revealing the emergence of a democratic expression of the Self.Peer reviewe

Students’ self-organization of the learning environment during a blended knowledge creation course

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Learner-centered blended learning approaches, such as Knowledge Creation, emphasize the self-organizing characteristic of thought and action, and value the students’ autonomy and self-regulation during the engagement in collaborative learning tasks. In blended contexts, the students need to organize their learning paths within a complex environment, including multiple online and offline learning spaces. This process of self-organization during courses based on the Knowledge Creation approach is currently an overlooked topic of research. The present case study is aimed at addressing this research gap by providing an in-depth understanding of the collaborative self-organization of a group of five undergraduate students participating in an interdisciplinary media design course. The course was designed according to the Knowledge Creation approach and was carried out before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dialogical theory of the chronotope and the theory of cultural models constitute the main theoretical tools for the research. We used qualitative methods inspired by ethnography, including participant observation, in addition to the collection and analysis of audio-visual records, stimulated recall interviews, and learning diaries completed by the students. The findings show that the group self-organization changed across different phases of the collaborative task and involved the development of specific practices of self-organization. Cultural models associated with the task contributed to determine the students’ choices related to self-organization.Peer reviewe