Despite extraordinary advances in digital and communication technology over recent years, we know very little about the way these complex systems affect everyday work and interaction. This book seeks to explore these issues through a series of video-based field studies that look at the introduction of basic information systems in general medical practice, news production, the control rooms of the London Underground and computer aided design in architectural practice. It focuses in particular on social interaction and the way video-based field studies can inform the design, development and implementation of new technology.

This book contributes to the current debate about how to think and talk about human thinking so as to resolve or bypass such time-honored quandaries as the controversy of nature vs. nurture, the body and mind problem, the question of learning transfer, and the conundrum of human consciousness. The author responds to the challenge by introducing her own “commognitive” conceptualization of human thinking. She argues for this special approach with the help of examples of mathematical thinking. Except for its contribution to theorizing on human development, the book is relevant to researchers looking for methodological innovations, and to mathematics educators seeking pedagogical insights and improvements.

The field of educational research lacks a methodology for the study of learning that does not begin with humans, their aims, and their interests. The Materiality of Learning seeks to overcome this human-centered mentality by developing a novel spatial approach to the materiality of learning. Drawing on science and technology studies (STS), Estrid Sørensen compares an Internet-based 3D virtual environment project in a fourth-grade class with the class’s work with traditional learning materials, including blackboards, textbooks, notebooks, pencils, and rulers. Taking into account pupils’ and teachers’ physical bodies, Professor Sørensen analyzes the multiple forms of technology, knowledge, and presence that are enacted with the materials. Featuring detailed ethnographic descriptions and useful end-of-chapter summaries, this book is an important reference for professionals and graduate or postgraduate students interested in a variety of fields, including educational studies, educational psychology, social anthropology, and STS.