The rise of the video-recorder teacher: the sociomaterial construction of an educational actor

Abstract

This paper draws on Actor Network Theory (ANT) and on the sociology of cultural consumption to examine the phenomenon of corporate Massive Open Online Courses (X-MOOCs). Through the analysis of texts available in the public domain, the paper argues that over a short period (between 2012 and 2013) digitisation technology became associated with the emergence of a hybrid 'actor': the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) Teacher. A parallel is drawn between the 'interactive affordances' of digital instruction and the playback and cataloguing options that have contributed to shifts in TV viewing habits. The DVR teacher is described as an artefact in the service of a postmodern project of self-improvement through cultural consumption, which recruits digitisation to meet a growing demand for 'upgrades to the self'. In the conclusion, the paper explores how the study of digital education could benefit from an interface between sociomaterial studies and the sociology of culture.

The pause/play button actor-network: lecture capture recordings and (re)configuring multi-spatial learning practices

“…Moreover, as an immutable mobile the lecture capture recording can extend the spatiality of the original lecture event into new locations, and help assemble and translate new actornetwork configurations. In doing so, it is postulated that space and time are folded and (re)configured in the practice of lecture recording, forming the sociomaterial construction of the "hybrid" educational actor (Perrotta, Czerniewicz, & Beetham, 2016), held together by innocuous but powerful actors such as the play/pause button. Furthermore, the temporal dimensions of the lecturer can be significantly altered by capture technologies, whereby their voice and actions can be paused, replayed, stopped, and even accelerated.…”

Influence of the Internet on Media Consumption Patterns: An Analysis Based on the Local Infrastructure in Colombia

“…Estas necesidades pueden incluir la distracción, el aprendizaje, la compañía, la evasión y la autoestima. A través del consumo de contenidos audiovisuales, las personas pueden escapar de la realidad, aprender, sentirse acompañadas, evadir problemas cotidianos y reforzar su autoconcepto (Perrotta et al, 2016).…”

Agency as an emerging phenomenon in the construction of massive open online courses: a discursive–material approach to the techno-pedagogical edX platform and its forums

“…Opening this black box sheds light on the way agencies emerge within MOOC dispositifs. Perrotta, Czerniewicz, and Beetham (2016) observed the emergence of what they call the digital video recorded (DVR) teacher. The DVR teachera hybrid entity comprising domain-specific content, digitization technology, and traditional academic practiceis now almost omnipresent within MOOCs.…”

“…If one lifts the black box of the user-friendly interface, MOOCs (and their platforms) appear to be messy knots of human and non-human elements (see Perrotta, Czerniewicz, and Beetham 2016), the complex configuration of which invites, enables, and constrains specific forms of agency. To lift the hood of this black box for techno-educational platforms such as edX, we draw on Foucault's understanding of dispositif.…”