Activity Theory Perspectives on Technology in Higher Education

For over a decade Murphy and Rodríguez-Manzanares (both Memorial U. of Newfoundland, Canada) have been investigating and writing about technology-mediated education, trying out different frameworks for understanding it. Now they have found activity theory to be a tool for understanding the complexity of technology in higher education. One value of the theory, they say, is that it factors in development over time. Their topics include an overview of activity theory in technology-mediated higher education, contraindications and technology in higher education, activity theory studies of domestic and international students using technology in higher education, portraits of the activity systems of international higher education students in online learning, and cross analysis of the activity systems of higher education international students in online learning.

Two international scholars bring together 11 chapters by scholars and practitioners that focus on activity theory, which is a tool that can be used to understand the complex changes that are occurring in higher education due to the changes and integration in technologies. The focus is on the social, cultural, and historical settings in which technology is used.