Abstract
This chapter proposes that Burke’s (1969) dramatistic analysis using the Pentad (act, scene, agent, agency, purpose) is a valuable methodological tool for investigating how learning theory offers a better understanding of mediated learning environments. It is argued that this framework provides a coherent and comprehensive consideration of learning and communication mediated by electronic means. Research into computer mediated communication needs to acknowledge the intertwining notion of the agents, acts and agency (mediation) within a specific scene, particularly in an online learning environment. Burke’s (1969) work provides a useful framework for discussing and describing a mediated environment and appears to be a valid framework within which to analyze different learning and communicative environments.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Scene: The location of an activity, where something occurs, one of the Pentadic elements.
Act: That which is done with in a scene, one of the Pentadic elements.
Agent: The individual undertaking an act in a scene, one of the Pentadic elements.
Agency: The means by which an individual undertakes an act, one of the Pentadic elements.
Screenface: The learning relationship an individual develops through mastery and appropriation of the computer. Analogous to the ‘chalkface’ to describe the activity of teaching.
Agency: The means by which an individual undertakes an act, one of the Pentadic elements.
Purpose: The reason an individual undertakes an act in a scene, one of the Pentadic elements.
Screenface: The learning relationship an individual develops through mastery and appropriation of the computer. Analogous to the ‘chalkface’ to describe the activity of teaching.
Agent: The individual undertaking an act in a scene, one of the Pentadic elements.
Pentad: Five interlinking elements (described above) which, when combined, provide a cohesive framework for analyzing a situation.
Pentad: Five interlinking elements (described above) which, when combined, provide a cohesive framework for analyzing a situation.
Purpose: The reason an individual undertakes an act in a scene, one of the Pentadic elements.
Act: That which is done with in a scene, one of the Pentadic elements.
Scene: The location of an activity, where something occurs, one of the Pentadic elements.