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

• Main Authors: Murphy, Elizabeth, Rodriguez-Manzanares, Maria A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Athabasca University Press 2009
• Subjects: Newfoundland; Canada
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/2448/; https://research.library.mun.ca/2448/1/Sage_without_a_Stage_Expanding_the_Object_of_Teaching_in_a_Web-Based_High-School_Classroom.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/2448/3/Sage_without_a_Stage_Expanding_the_Object_of_Teaching_in_a_Web-Based_High-School_Classroom.pdf; http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/issue/view/36

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.