PREFACE
Durham is a small town in the North of England: it is dominated by a large
Norman Cathedral. The pominance of this building has reminded me of
Schelling's famous study in which people were asked how they would set
about meeting an unknown person in Manhattan on a specified particular date
No instructions were given: all that Schelling's subjects were told about
this stranger was that he or she kneww about the world the same things that
they knew. The inhabitants of Durham are likely to be in good agreement
about what to do in a comparable situation - I suspect that many of them
would stand outside the Northerly entrance to their cathedral, beneath the
Sanctury knocker no doubt. Perhaps they would stand there at mid-day. Just
as with Schelling's subjects heading for the clock at Grand Central
Station, this harmony of action tells us something very imporant about
living in human cultures; something that it is easy to loose sight of. We
all know a great deal about what others around us expect about our
expectations. More generally, we are all in possession of a great deal of
common understanding, and we deploy this mutual knowledge most effectively
in the coordination of social action.
The example highlights a distinctively human capacity for
intersubjectivity - for projecting beliefs, expectations and other
psychological states into others. It does so in relation to mutual
knowledge of a very general kind: knowledge about local geography and
culture. However, such intersubjective attitudes also are adopted in
situations where common ground between us is much more intimate. In
particular, this human capacity is what gets mobilised in situations
that typically we describe as "collaborative". Moreover, I believe it
is at the core of our achievements within the various settings of
organised learning. The communications of learning are most effective
when they occur against a rich background of shared understanding.
Much of what must go in education can be described as an investment in
constructing such a resource and deploying it as a platform from which
to explore further.
In the present book, I shall develop further this orientation to
educational practice and consider how it is best supported - rather
than undermined - by new technology. I believe the relationship of
new technology to education now is a matter of some concern. In
Chapter 1, I review the progress that has been achieved during the
recent period that computers have been applied to teaching and
learning. I sense that there is an unease regarding the threat that
this technology presents to the social quality of educational
practice. Consequently, I summarise in Chapter 2 a theoretical
perspective that does pay serious attention to this social dimension.
It is a perspective that I believe helps us frame the place of
technology in education more effectively: we may refer to it as a
socio-cultural perspective. In Chapter 3, it is contrasted with more
familiar psychological theorising. There I discuss computational and
constructivist models of cognition, and contrast them with
socio-cultural theories - particularly in terms of their implications
for the development of new educational technology.
Chapter 4 presents a discussion of the most controversial metaphor
for characterising the possible relation of computers to teaching: the
metaphor of a computer-based "tutor". The nature of such learning
interactions *with* the technology is compared with those interactions
that we enjoy with more traditional tutors. One of the problems
arising from the experience of computer tutoring is that the
experience of learning can easily become dislocated from a broader
community structure that characterises classroom life. In Chapter 5,
I consider this context by discussing the senses in which a
collaborative culture of learning has to be developed *in relation to*
this technology.
A more traditional sense of collaborative learning is introduced in
Chapter 6. Here the findings of research on peer-based structures are
discussed and a framework for systematising this research presented.
In Chapter 7, this is pursued in relation to some empirical
observations in primary school settings: children interacting *at*
computers. The observations happen to involve young children and they
happen to involve modest computer resources. However, it is intended
that they illustrate very general points about the nature of
collaborative discourse and about how it is effectively resourced by
technologies. Further case study material is presented in Chapter 8,
where I discuss the circumstances of interacting *around* computers
and interacting *through* them. In both cases, it is possible to see
the supportive role of new technology within collaborative structures
that are more loosely-coupled than the familiar sense of collaboration
as focused, localised joint activity.
There are three principle motives for writing this book. One arises
from a belief that psychological thinking should more actively address
practitioner concerns. At the moment, I perceive an uneasy relation
between teachers and new technology. Yet, I do not find within
cognitive psychology a great deal of helpful theorising or research to
help guide the effective appropriation of computers into educational
practice. Secondly, I am motivated by a concern to demonstrate that
socio-cultural theory provides a persuasive framework for thinking
about teaching and learning. In particular, it may offer a
distinctive perspective on the relation of technologies to education.
Finally, I believe that the experience of collaboration is a neglected
topic within Psychology. Certainly, there is some tradition of
researching collaborative learning within Developmental Psychology,
but I believe that tradition is limited in its scope.
In the past, psychologists interested in children and their
development have not been greatly interested in computers. Equally,
Psychologists interested in computers have not been greatly interested
in development. I risk bypassing many people by working at the
intersection of these topics. Yet, I feel there is a fascinating
challenge arising from the task of integrating new technology with the
practice of teaching, the experience of learning and with
psychological theories of cognition very generally.