Sage without a stage: A cultural historical activity theory perspective on E-teaching in web-based, high-school classrooms

Murphy, Elizabeth and Rodriguez-Manzanares, Maria A. (2009) Sage without a stage: A cultural historical activity theory perspective on E-teaching in web-based, high-school classrooms. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10 (3). pp. 1-19. ISSN 1492-3831

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Abstract

This paper reports on a study that uses cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) to make sense of e-teachers‟ activity in a context of high-school distance education. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with 13 e-teachers as well as seven management and support personnel in an organization responsible for the design and delivery of high-school distance education in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. As well, the authors conducted a second round of interviews with 12 of the 13 teachers. Findings revealed that the traditional metaphor of teacher as „sage on the stage‟ ceased to have a reference point in the distributed online classroom. The e-teachers were widening the object of their activity to include less teacher-centered forms of learning that involved more student independence.

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