Background

Activity theory (sometimes known as Cultural Historical Activity Theory, or CHAT) is an established theory widely used in technology enhanced learning research, as well as in many other fields of enquiry. It is a mature theory with a rich history, yet it is still under active development by many scholars internationally. It is particularly interesting to technology enhanced learning researchers because it foregrounds the concept of mediation, and in doing so positions the role of ‘technologies’ as central to everything that humans do. Within educational research, activity theory is often valued for its ability to grasp the dynamics of complex social situations and understand phenomena in context. Yet its dense terminology and long history of debate can seem unforgiving for newcomers.

This special issue will consider the use of activity theory within technology enhanced learning research. It will collect together a range of papers describing research endeavours that use activity theory to understand how social and cultural contexts are crucial for how technology is used in practice.

The issue is the third in a series, continuing from two previous special issues in the same journal and edited by the same team:

• Activity theory in technology enhanced learning research, published in 2023.
• Activity theory in technology enhanced learning research (part 2), published in 2025.

Paper types

The special issue is open to the following paper types:

• Standard papers (6,000-12,000 words).
• Commentaries (2,000-4,000 words).

The above submission types and word limits are advisory only. If you have ideas for other kinds of submissions of different lengths, then please contact the special issue editors.

Submitted articles will be double-blind peer-reviewed, and published articles will be distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0).

Submission instructions and provisional timeline

Please submit full papers through the Studies in Technology Enhanced Learning website:

Submit

Submissions will be accepted until the end of August 2027. Once submitted, papers will be sent out to peer review. We aim to return reviews approximately one month later, and revised manuscripts will be due one month after that.

Once major or minor revisions are completed, authors will receive typeset versions for checking.

Publication will occur through 2026 and 2027 on a rolling basis.