Situations, interaction, process and affordances: An ecological psychology perspective

From an ecological psychology perspective, a full analysis of any learning context must acknowledge the complex nonlinear dynamics that unfold as an intentionally-driven learner interacts with a technology-based purposefully designed learning environment. Further, a full analysis must avoid focusing only on the individual within the learning context and not accounting for the intentionality and constraining influence of the designer and the broader community. Finally, such an analysis must either pin down how learning and development can be driven by perception of the environment alone (detection of affordances), or alternatively from an ecological perspective, by a cyclical interaction of perception and action. This paper presents these parameters for any model of context or situation in relationship to the issues raised by Akhras and Self's (this issue) presentation on intelligent learning environments. We propose that a full situation model would need to incorporate constraints not only from the environment, but also from the individual and most precisely from the specific interaction at the moment of an occasion.