Sage without a Stage: Expanding the Object of Teaching in a Web-Based, High-School Classroom

• Published in: The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning
• Main Authors: Murphy, Elizabeth, Rodriguez-Manzanares, Maria A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Athabasca University Press (AU Press) 2009
• Subjects: Online learning; e-teaching; high school; cultural historical activity theory; expansive learning; Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1067864ar; https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v10i3.579

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.