Computer Mediation for Learning and Play

Abstract

About 20 years ago, I was fortunate to become acquainted with some people at the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (LCHC), a research unit at The Rockefeller University in New York City. This group, led by Mike Cole, was concerned with a broad range of issues in the general areas of communication, collaboration, activity, literacy, meaning making, and social justice. Soon, I began participating in an e-mail discussion group known as xlchc the laboratory as extended through computer mediation. This was an early example of the power of the new medium, not only for informational exchanges, but also for building and maintaining a scholarly community. Later, the LCHC moved to the University of California at San Diego. The electronic discussion forums, now a family of e-mail groups, moved as well, or perhaps I should say, they continued and grew in their cyber homes. Members of the LCHC used the new media not only for their own interactions, but also for their explorations of how learning environments could be enhanced. Eva Ekeblad gives a rich account of this history in her article Contact, Community and Multilogue: Electronic Communication in the Practice of Scholarship at http://cite.ped.gu.se/Eklanda/Papers/ISCRAT/CoCoMu.html. A major element of the LCHC work has been the Fifth Dimension, a distributed literacy consortium of after-school enrichment programs. I asked Mike whether some of those working with the Fifth Dimension would share their experiences for the JAAL Technology column. For November, Bill Blanton, Melanie Greene, and Mike agreed to give an account of their work. To get them started, I just asked a few questions. As you'll see, they had plenty of answers.