Abstract

This article reports on a participatory design project conducted with K-12 schools in the US and Sweden to create an international collaboration on Marine Biology using video production as a tool for learning and representation. The aim of the project was to explore teachers’ challenges and strategies due to digitalization and new curricular demands through a lens of sociocultural perspectives. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used to understand and support participating teachers’ development as well as the design process. Using the CHAT model as a design tool enabled teachers to grasp a complex learning environment and frame contradictions and tensions in the activity. Challenges in terms of curricular demands and media literacy could be identified and addressed as part of interacting activity systems, and the process enabled expansion of knowledge and ideas for both design and future work practice.