What is Affordance

1.

It is a quality of an object that denotes the range of possible actions offered by that object. Considering affordances is necessary to identify possibilities for action within a virtual settlement. Learn more in: Excavating Business Intelligence from Social Media

2.

In a simplified way, it is a concept related to the properties of an object, where the object itself, because of its shape and design, suggests or “authorizes” the way it should be used. The interpretation of affordance, however, is not univocal and depends on the school of thought to which one makes reference. Since its introduction by the scholar J. J. Gibson, a major variation to the set of notions surrounding this concept is due to D. Norman (see before), who discussed it in the framework of industrial design and Human Computer Interaction. Learn more in: Ambient Intelligence

3.

A capability, an enablement. Learn more in: Peripheral Vision: Engaging Multimodal Social Media Datasets to Differentiate MOOC Platforms by Course Offerings and User Bases

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The intuitive reasoning of how a particular object must be used as informed by the object or the context where the object is present. Learn more in: Attention Perception and Social Cognition: Bridging the Gap Between the Physical and Perceived

5.

A design feature purposefully embedded in an object, technology, or environment in order to clarify its use, to suggest other possible uses, or to make use easier. The extent to which an affordance is utilized depends on the recognition, ability, and inclination of the user. Learn more in: E-Mentoring: Mentoring at a Distance

6.

A feature or characteristic of something that makes it easier for its users to perform an action. Learn more in: The Structural and Dialogic Aspects of Language Massive Open Online Courses (LMOOCs): A Case Study

7.

“Opportunities for action” as perceived by an organism in its environment. Learn more in: Social Media Affordances

8.

The term “affordance” was coined in 1977 by psychologist James Gibson. An affordance is the possibility of action(s) with a tool, digital or nondigital. All tools have affordances. Learn more in: Designing for Purpose-Driven Technology Use Among Preservice English Teachers

9.

A design feature that is purposefully embedded in an object, or environment, in order to clarify its use, to suggest other possible uses, or make its use easier. The extent to which an affordance is utilized depends on the recognition, ability, and inclination of the user. Learn more in: With the Likeness and Voice of Mentor: Mentoring Presence in Online Distance Learning

10.

An affordance is a resource or support that the environment offers an agent for action, and that the agent can directly perceive and employ. Learn more in: Enabling Distributed Cognitive Collaborations on the Semantic Web

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The relationship between the properties of an object and a person’s capabilities to use those properties in goal-directed activities ( Gibson, 1979 ; Norman, 2013 ). Learn more in: The Role of Metacognition in Learning via Serious Games

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A person’s perceived opportunity to utilise a particular tool for action, for example, a doorknob is for turning. Within software, these are typically organised through user interfaces. Learn more in: Software Literacy

13.

The term refers to the fit between an animal’s capabilities and the environmental supports and opportunities. An affordance is a potentiality for action; in other words, an action that can potentially be performed by a specific organism in a specific environment. Learn more in: Unstructured Information as a Socio-Technical Dilemma

14.

This concept was introduced by ecological psychologist James J. Gibson (1979). It refers to all the action possibilities latent in an environment for a particular observer. They are somewhat complicated in that they depend on the observer’s capacities for action, but are at the same time independent of the individual’s ability to recognize the possibilities. Affordances are distinct from functions in that functions tend to be specific opportunities for action associated with the “purpose” of an object, whereas affordances extend beyond the single purpose into all the inherent possibilities. Learn more in: Public Opinion and the Internet

15.

A function that is made possible through a technological device. Learn more in: Building Global Citizens: Empathy, the Limits of Human Nature, and First Steps towards Social Equality through E-Learning Assignments

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“ The affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill. The verb to afford is found in the dictionary, the noun affordance is not. I have made it up. I mean by it something that refers to both the environment and the animal in a way that no existing term does. It implies the complementarity of the animal and the environment ”. J. J. Gibson (1979). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), Boston. Learn more in: Fancy or Efficiency?: Which Are the Guidelines for an Effective Training on VLEs? A Crash Case in Anti-Cancer Pharmaceutical Production

17.

A characteristic of an environment that make learning possible in a certain way. Learn more in: Affordances in Virtual World Learning Communities

18.

Specific features of a tool or technology that facilitate learning. Affordance of different educational technologies vary and may include features such as visualization, interaction, manipulation, calculation, or play, to name a few. Learn more in: Preparing Pre-Service STEM Teachers to Teach Using Digital Modeling and Simulation Applications

19.

An opportunity for action made available by an interface. Learn more in: Game Design Frameworks and Reality Guides

20.

The perceived properties of a tool that represent its potential use. These properties have social, cultural, and historical significance and meaning. Learn more in: Using Google Drive to Write Dialogically with Teachers

21.

The concept of affordance is somewhat variable across scientific areas. Its mutation from verb to noun occurs in Gibson’s Theory of Affordances ( Gibson, 1986 ), referring to environmental actionable properties, but ultimately designating relationships between environments and actors therein. Affordances have been ascribed a functional role in active cognition, in an attempt to deconstruct our perception of such relationships, as when Donald Norman (1999) discusses real versus perceived affordances in interface design. Currently, affordances are strongly related with interaction processes, designating a range of action possibilities ( Xenakis & Arnellos, 2013 ) emerging from engagement between actor and environment or artifact. Learn more in: Creative Collaborative Virtual Environments

22.

Is a characteristic related to the message received from a virtual or physical object that implies its specific manner of use. Learn more in: Efficient Mobile Learning in Classroom Settings through MLE

23.

Inherent usefulness of an object or tool related to those actions or possibilities which are readily perceivable by the user. Learn more in: E-Learning Design for the Information Workplace

24.

A person’s perceived opportunity to utilise a particular tool for action, for example, a doorknob is for turning. Within software, these are typically organised through user interfaces. Learn more in: Software Literacy as a Vital Digital Literacy in a Software-Saturated World

25.

The way that a technology works and the understanding of what it can and cannot allow the user to do (Willcockson & Phelps, 2010). Learn more in: The Role of Robotic Telepresence in the Academic Library

26.

The perception and actual properties which are used to determine the possibilities for actionable use. Learn more in: Understanding User Experience

27.

It is defined as a feature or property of an online learning environment which can help learners use resources in this environment. Learn more in: International Students' Learning of EAP and Affordances in Online Learning Environments

28.

An enablement or ability, something that is made possible because of a mediating technology. Learn more in: Structuring and Facilitating Online Learning through Learning / Course Management Systems

29.

Affordances are those qualities of objects that lend themselves to the performance of a particular task or action. In computer software an affordance is often some aspect of the interface that suggests inherently how it is to be used. Learn more in: Usability and Affordances for Teaching and Learning in Second Life