Les interactions homme-machine dans un contexte éducatif : un espace interactif hétérogène

Abstract

From an interactionist standpoint, human-machine interactions cannot be restricted to human-interface interactions but create an heterogeneous interactive space, the main characteristic of which is to gather directly and indirectly various actors belonging to different social groups who have developed their own uses for the machine and orientated the machine towards the achievement of specific projects or scopes. A case-study concerning the use of the computer in a learning situation illustrates which are the various elements and actors (the learner, his or her peers, the teachers, but also the designers) taking part in this interactive space. The article proposes then to make a distinction between four levels ranging from the design of a system to an application in a specific field. It shows that each of these four levels frames the other levels from the bottom to the top, and vice versa. The result of this analysis shows that the notions of «designer » on the one hand, and «user » on the other, are closely related and do not constitute separate categories. The conclusion is that the notion of expertise itself is relative and cannot be defined independently from the way the users actually use the machine and from the objectives they try to reach.