Ethnography of mediation in an educational ICT course

Abstract

This article comprises a discussion in which a theory of culture as a system of mediation is used as an interpretativeion frame for the inquiry into the culture of a university course. The argument is that the theory of learning that is applied in the same study, namely sociocultural and related theories, coheres with the methodological lens of what I have termed "ethnography of mediation" as mode of inquiry. In the ethnographic "images of electronic tool-making", the ethnographic text included in the article, the core of the culture of the M.Ed coursework is portrayed is the focus on electronic, interactive tools. There is less fertile ground in which to cultivate theoretical richness in the course, despite the motivation of the lecturer and the strong theoretical course content. The students' tacit theories of learning and of knowledge are regarded as a possible obstacle in their appropriation of the literature on learning and teaching. The successful engagement with electronic tool-making seems to come from their more motivated engagement with learning opportunities in this part of the curriculum. It is also the core of the culture of this group of people in their learning environment.

Keywords:

• Sosiocultural theory
• ethnography
• tool-mediation