A produção coletiva em fórum na EaD online na perspectiva da teoria da atividade

Abstract

This research investigates how group writing production is set in a digital discussion forum. It tries to describe how the educational activity took place, in the view of the forum members, how the rules were established, how the tasks were given out among the members of this online community for the accomplishment of the production and also which contradictions came up and which solutions enabled the expansion of the focused activity. The field for research was the Educational Design Forum, studied in the Teacher Training in Digital Environment discipline, covered on the 2 nd term in 2003 at the Education Program of the PUCSP College. The information was collected from the electronic records in the digital environment and from a questionnaire sent by email to the students taking part in this forum. The Activity Theory was used as theoretical and methodological reference to support the analysis. From the mediation concept in Vygotsky (1984, 1987) to the Activity Theory in Leontiev (2004) and Engeström (1999, 2002) it was possible to describe the elements in the activity system and the relations between them as well as to highlight the factors that contributed for the development of this system. Finally, the activity in group production demonstrated that the students participation and the teacher s mediation have to be reckoned likewise their relation with the environment in which they are, with the activity system elements that relate with each other, reciprocally and mutually, and that overcoming the contradictions promoted the building of knowledge