Learning with artefacts: integrating technologies into activities
Interacting with Computers, 15 (6):
831-836 (2003)DOI: 10.1016/j.intcom.2003.09.006
Abstract
Papers comprising this special issue (15:5 and 15:6) focus on a common underlying problem; how information technologies are integrated into everyday human activities. The general problem (that human interaction with the world is mediated by artefacts) has a long history, which can be traced back at least to major conceptual breakthroughs made in the first half of the last century (Heidegger, 1962 and Vygotsky, 1978). In my view, this double special issue entitled ?from artefact to instrument? makes a substantial contribution to research addressing this problem. Making this contribution apparent requires selecting a baseline for comparison. One of the most common references in the papers in this special issue, also discussed by the editors in their editorial introduction (Rabardel and Waern) is the notion of ?cognitive artefacts? introduced by Norman, 1991. It appears appropriate to use this notion as a point of reference. According to Norman, 1991 Ä cognitive artefact is an artificial device designed to maintain, display, or operate upon information in order to serve a representational function". (p. 17). Three ideas related to the notion of cognitive artefacts are most relevant in the context of the present discussion. First, this notion emphasizes the cognitive, rational, information processing functions served by technologies used by human beings. Emotional, physical, social, and other facets of the use of technology, which do not fall into the category of purely cognitive functioning, are not covered by the notion. Second, cognitive artefacts, as described by Norman, are intended for individual, rather than collective use. Third, it is stated that artefacts do not change individuals' capabilities. It is the system's cognition, which is enhanced, so that the system can accomplish more with the artefact than without the artefact. The cognitive abilities of the person are unchanged. Introduction of the notion of cognitive artefacts was an important and influential attempt to overcome the limitations of the traditional cognitivist view of cognition as taking place ?in the head?. However, while this attempt was explicitly influenced by ideas of cultural?historical psychology, activity theory, and distributed cognition, the notion of cognitive artefacts was still a fundamentally cognitive concept dealing exclusively with information processing. A different perspective on the use of artefacts is represented by the papers in this special issue. The papers are based on a post-cognitivist theoretical tradition in HCI, activity theory, which emphasizes the importance of not only cognitive, but also social, cultural, and developmental aspects of the use of technology. As we will be shown below, the resulting view on the nature, role, functions, and consequences of the use of information technologies in everyday human activities is very different, and sometime even opposite to the one presented by Norman regarding the notion of cognitive artefacts.
