eBay: An authentic learning object

Abstract

The Internet has evolved to its current form as a result ofuser-generated content and interactivity and this phenomenon must be more widely recognised informal education. This paperproposes that popular wehsites which are reflective ofhow society uses the Internet on a daily basis should provide the context for authentic and engaging online learning experiences. This position is established through the integration a/three socia-cultural views ojlearning: Situated Cognition, Distributed Cognition and Activity Theory. The integration ofthese three theories enables evaluation ofthe Internet as a mediating tool ofauthentic activity which is socially constructed and bound. The popular online auction site eBay is used to demonstrate the ideas raised throughout this paper.