Activity Theory: Basic Concepts and Applications

This tutorial introduces participants to Activity Theory, a conceptual approach that provides a broad framework for describing the structure, development, and context of computer-supported activities. The tutorial will consist of lectures, discussion and small group exercises. A Web community will be established so attendees will be able to continue to learn about and use activity theory.

Kaptelinin, Victor and Bonnie A. Nardi. ACM SIGCHI (1997). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Theory>Rhetoric

Post-Cognitivist HCI: Second-Wave Theories    

Historically, the dominant paradigm in HCI, when it appeared as a field in early 80s, was information processing ('cognitivist') psychology. In recent decades, as the focus of research moved beyond information processing to include how the use of technology emerges in social, cultural and organizational contexts, a variety of conceptual frameworks have been proposed as candidate theoretical foundations for 'second-wave' HCI and CSCW. The purpose of this panel is to articulate similarities and differences between some of the leading 'post-cognitivist' theoretical perspectives: language/ action, activity theory, and distributed cognition.

Kaptelinin, Victor, Bonnie A. Nardi, Susanne Bodker, John M. Carroll, Jim Hollan, Edwin Hutchins and Terry Winograd. ACM SIGCHI (2003). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>History