Why all CSL is CL: distributed mind and the future of computer supported collaborative learning

• Authors: David Williamson Shaffer;Katherine A. Clinton
• Venue: CSCL '05 Proceedings of th 2005 conference on Computer support for collaborative learning: learning 2005: the next 10 years!
• Year: 2005

In this paper, we argue that this distinction between CSCL and HCI is based on a particular understanding of the relationship between humans and computers---and more generally between humans and their tools in activity systems. We draw on work by Shaffer and Kaput (1999), Clark (2003), and Latour (1996a; 1996b; 1996c) to conduct a thought experiment, extending the analytical reach of activity theory (Nardi, 1996b), mediated action (Wertsch, 1998) and distributed cognition (Pea, 1993) by adopting a stronger form of the concepts of distribution and mediation in the context of cognitive activity. For rhetorical purposes, we posit this stronger form of the distribution of intelligence across persons and objects as a theory of distributed mind. Our purpose in describing a theory of distributed mind as an extension of (but not replacement for) extant sociocultural theories on this 10th anniversary of the International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning is to problematize for the field its current focus on human collaboration as supported by computers. We are concerned that a field focusing on the interactions of humans will overlook the ways in which meaningful cognitive (and therefore pedagogical) activity is distributed among human and non-human agents within activity systems. We argue that all computer-supported learning is fundamentally collaborative---whether or not the computer is supporting the interaction of persons in the learning process. The consequences of such a move are a call for a tighter integration of the fields of CSCL and HCI, and a more powerful framework to help guide pedagogical choices in an age marked by rapid expansion of powerful cognitive technologies.