Association for the
Advancement of Computing in Education
Celebrating 30+ Years of
Service to the IT in Education / E-Learning Community
Celebrating 30+ Years of
Service to the IT in Education / E-Learning Community
Invited Speaker
At the 2008 EdMedia conference, a list of most often cited papers in EdMedia 2004-2008 was revealed (Ochoa, Mendez & Duval, 2009). Vygotsky’s theoretical work, originally published in Russia in the 1930s, came top of the list by a large margin. This paper examines why, and how this theory still can be relevant to twenty-first-century research. It is argued that an effective use of modern educational technologies calls for the use of advanced pedagogies. Vygotsky’s theory provides a profound understanding of teaching and learning that reflect the complexity of social and cultural contexts in the modern learner. The most frequently used concepts of Vygotsky’s theory are re-visited in relation to the research into new educational technologies. Additionally, the potential of some lesser known aspects of his theory, particularly in relation to educational technology, is explored. The inextricable connections between the Vygotskian approach and activity theory is discussed.
Dr. Irina Verenikina is Director of Graduate Teaching at the Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, Australia. She holds a Ph D in educational psychology from the Russian Academy of Education and is a Full Member of the Australian Psychological Society.
Before moving to Australia she held a research position in the Russian Academy of Sciences, International Laboratory of Communication and New Technologies. She was a leader in the Russian-American “New Information Technology and Literacy" Project which was funded by the US Andrew Mellon Foundation (in collaboration with LCHC, UCSD). In 2002-2008 Irina represented Australia and New Zealand as a member of the Executive Committee of ISCAR (International Society for Cultural Research and Activity Theory).
Irina’s research interests relate to the application of socio-cultural Vygotskian psychology to teaching and learning, as well as to the effective use of information technologies in education and work organisations.
