Purpose: Using Activity Theory as an interpretive lens to examine the distribution of leadership, this paper shares a case study on how leadership for an ICT project was distributed in a Singapore school. Method: The case study involved observations of 49 meetings and 34 interviews of leaders and the teachers who were involved in the ICT project. Findings: Applying the lens of third-generation Activity Theory helped to reveal two main interrelated activity systems, and the leadership actions performed by senior and middle management. The two activity systems comprised the school and the ICT project. The focus in Activity Theory on the social–cultural perspective highlighted the role played by social norms in mediating the leadership activity. Implications for future research: The conclusion focuses on the understanding of distributed leadership as analysed through the lens of Activity Theory and suggests future research directions. Activity Theory enables research on distributed leadership to identify and examine interrelated activity systems that various leaders are involved in, and how these impact the leadership provided.
Online learning space design becomes a significant issue with the proliferation of online learning in higher education. Never before has the instructor been given such a privilege in building and molding the learning space to fulfill his/her instructional aspirations. However, enormous challenges are present to the instructor in taking advantage of this newly gained freedom. Most instructors have limited awareness of their new roles as learning space designers. Although learning space plays an important role in mediating student learning, it is a topic that is least understood. Therefore, it is important for online course instructors to start a dialogue in learning space design. This article reports our experiences of designing learning spaces in a discussion-based online course to facilitate and organize student learning.
There has long been a call for schools to prepare students for the twenty-first century where skills and dispositions differ significantly from much of what has historically characterized formal education. The knowledge based economy calls for policy and pedagogical efforts that would transform schools. Schools are to foster communities of learners. This paper suggests that para-communities may be points of leverage in the fostering of adaptive schools. A critical analysis is done on the differences between paracommunities (such as online communities) and schools; and an argument is made that they each serve differing goals and should be left distinct because they achieve different societal and economic demands.
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