This post was completed in response to an ETEC 512 module on Situated Learning and Distributed Cognition. It is based on the following articles:

Brown, J. S., Collins, A. & Duguid, S. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42. Retrieved from http://www.johnseelybrown.com/Situated%20Cognition%20and%20the%20culture%20of%20learning.pdf

Hutchins, E. (2000). Distributed Cognition. Retrieved from http://eclectic.ss.uci.edu/~drwhite/Anthro179a/DistributedCognition.pdf

Hi Folks,

Great reads this week. I started with the article on distributed cognition and when I read Hutchins (2000) comments about it being impossible to “account for the cognitive accomplishments of our species by reference to what is inside our heads alone” (p 9) and “a more or less explicit decision was made…to leave out culture, context, history, and emotion” (p 10) the bells started to sound in my head. When I read the article on situated learning it felt like I was reading a practical guide to Hutchins’s theoretical explanation: theory translated into practice, thought becoming action.

So I started to think about important ideas and connections and with the end of the course in sight decided I’d attempt to map it all out. I thought you might enjoy the picture more than the 1000 words. You can view it at the following link; it’s a work in progress so I’ll update it during the week. You can use the same link to view the changes.

http://popplet.com/app/#/1128302

This link may not work for you, thanks for heads up Brett, so you can view the mind map on my blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/doadams/

Don