Designing Social Infrastructure: Critical Issues in Creating Learning Environments With Technology
Item
Title
Designing Social Infrastructure: Critical Issues in Creating Learning Environments With Technology
Abstract/Description
If design research involving technology-based tools is going to impact educational settings, the design process must be extended beyond the tool itself to encompass a broader range of factors such as the classroom social structures (e.g., beliefs about learning and knowledge, learning activities and participant structures, configurations of both physical space and cyberspace). Although prior research has underscored the importance of classroom social structures in technology integration, it has failed to specify the critical design variables that must be taken into account. Only by understanding the critical variables involved is it possible to develop a deep understanding of how and why things work. The Social Infrastructure Framework systematically frames the critical design elements in terms of 4 dimensions: (a) cultural beliefs, (b) practices, (c) socio-techno-spatial relations, and (d) interaction with the "outside world." This article details the design issues associated with each dimension based on examples drawn from a range of educational technologies. This article also describes how the framework can serve to advance the methodology of design research by serving as a tool for both design and analysis.
Author/creator
Date
In publication
Volume
15
Issue
3
Pages
301-329
Resource type
Research/Scholarly Media
Resource status/form
Published Text
Scholarship genre
Theoretical
Open access/full-text available
No
Peer reviewed
Yes
ISSN
1050-8406
Citation
Bielaczyc, K. (2006). Designing Social Infrastructure: Critical Issues in Creating Learning Environments With Technology. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 15(3), 301–329. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls1503_1
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