The editors of this inaugural edition, with typical encouragement of their contributing authors, have invited elaboration of our views on selected papers. Through these additional commentaries, the editors seek to stimulate further discussions about theory in technology enhanced learning (TEL) research. For my contribution, I would like to tease out the impact on my own TEL research (both present and future) of the findings of three important papers in this edition: Al-Ali's (2020) reflective and authentic account of navigating the allure and complexity of activity theory; Passey's (2020) scrutiny of researchers’ conceptions and uses of models, frameworks and theories; and Sweeney's (2020) examination of university teachers engaging with literature and the interdependence of theory and practice. To me, the most significant points of commonality amongst the three papers, and the reasons that I wished to comment on these in particular, are their legitimisation of risk, uncertainty and ambiguity for TEL researchers when we are navigating theory. The acknowledgement of risk, uncertainty and ambiguity seems to be shared by many TEL researchers, yet their normalisation and confrontation seem limited to conversations with good supervisors and mentors, for those of us lucky enough to have them. Authors of papers such as these, and this journal’s initiators and editors, do us a great service by exposing these themes for wider debate.
