Online Learning Logbooks as Boundary Objects Across Educational Contexts

Abstract

This paper examines an online I level master's program held by UnitelmaSapienza (Rome, IT), meant for teachers, trainers, and educators from diverse fields and backgrounds. Throughout the program, the learners engage in a series of meaningful activities aimed at creating knowledge artifacts, following the Trialogical Learning Approach. Our focus here is on the "Multimedia Context" activity, where 14 groups of four participants each cover specific roles and cooperate to develop a multimedia learning resource on a chosen topic. Employing a qualitative approach, this study analyses the online logbooks generated during this group activity, totalling 84 logbooks and 742 units of analysis. The objective is to investigate the potential of this device tool to act as a meta-boundary object while participants are actively involved in constructing concrete educational artifacts. The content analysis thus delves into how objects and practices facilitate learning and participation, with a specific emphasis on (a) mediation, (b) practices, and (c) the training path. Additionally, it explores how students' identities evolve within the group context, considering the dimensions of (a) We, (b) the Group, (c) I, (d) the Other. Given the study's overarching purpose, the results suggest that the learning logbooks may serve as standardized forms of boundary objects, enabling professionals from diverse communities of practice to exchange ideas, concepts, and tools from seemingly unrelated domains within the focal domain of inquiry.