An Activity System Analysis of Middle School Students’ Online Writing

• In Event: Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Framework for Examining Reading, Writing, and Language Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate middle school students’ online writing activity. A case study design, ethnographic methods, and activity system analysis (Engstrom, 1987) were used to illuminate the mediators (tools, rules, and roles) that were evident within an eighth grade language arts class situated within a school serving a diverse and predominately low-income population. This study demonstrates the complex web of mediators that may influence online writing activity thus complicating notions of online and offline writing. It shows that transformation may be both productive and problematic. Implications for pedagogy, research, and policy are outlined. This study is particularly pertinent within the current educational reform context that looks to online technologies to transform education.

Author

• Sonia Melanie Kline, Illinois State University