'Objectivity' and 'Situativity' in Knowledge It Artifacts Incommensurable but Sensible Dimensions in Different Contexts

摘要

The main claim of the paper is that in order to design Knowledge IT Artifacts it is necessary to uncover the Knowledge Artifacts that are currently in use (situativity) and to make the related technology respect the practices around them. The alternative dimension (objectivity) can be leveraged when such KA are not recognizable but in this case the tools characterizing this dimension can be used but with different purposes. This claim is based on a series of empirical studies in real settings that show how the local conditions play a fundamental role in the identification of the requirements of a technology supporting learning and problem solving.