Let the divergence converge: on sociability computing
(Journal paper, 2006)

Full reference:
Storni, C. (2006) Let the divergence converge: on sociability computing, International Journal of Learning, Volume 12, Issue 1, pp.135-146IDC members among authors:
Cristiano Storni

Associated links:
Link to the paper

Abstract:The aim is to try to point out the relevance of Social Theory of Knowledge in organizing work-practices and to reject the idea of artifacts which isolate people from the others. The paper draw on evidence regarding how difficult is to make people interact and how weak are the opportunities to let them share knowledge in state of mere information. Skills and experiences are difficulty assembled and shared in a virtual space. This can be motivated by different considerations: first of all CMC is almost totally based on written communication and then it is personal computer based. The lack of different communication codes and, moreover, the fact that people are trapped in a “monitor-staring” experience (which actually isolates them from the outer world) makes CMC through Personal computer one of the most unsuccessful organizational form in knowledge sharing. People can get easily informed by ICT but ICT lacks the point when we try to design systems in order to support knowledge sharing. In my view this may lie down on different trends within technology design and social theory of learning and understanding: If we look at the history of the appearance of personal computer and the emergence of social learning theory we can see an evident divergence: a contradiction. While PCs came up by giving their creators the believe to let people free and be creative on their own in a society which individualism is stressed, at least implicitly, as a winning value, Social Theory of Learning (Cops, distributed cognition, Activity theory etc…) come up and get stabilized in recent decades by the internalization of socio-cultural-historical studies which contrary stress that meaning, understanding and learning are intrinsically non-individual products.