Sociocultural view of understanding learning and teaching with ET using a garden metaphor, Lim (2002).

The garden metaphor resembles an onion diagram. I look at each layer and how it influences the activity systems which are a the core of the garden (Lim, 2002). Firstly, societal requirements and norms guides educational activity's purpose. The changing environment for society has an impact on the context in which many activities are set. Currently, with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also impacting on the design and delivery of activities. Due to the lock down, later possibly limited physical presence at schools, all educational activities need to be remotely done.

The educational system sets standards for the aims and goals of activities; however, I feel these are very slow to change with the requirements of society. This is understandable as it takes considerable cost and labour to change these standards. However with the digital platforms used in today's world it should allow for more flexibility.

Schools regulate the day to day aspects of the learning and teaching process. They provide the underlying ethos for activities and provide the structure to the schooling environment. Schools want teachers to be innovative in their activities, but still want the most consistent results possible. I personally don't know if these two ideas are always compatible. This is going to be highlighted even more now that teachers and learners have been forced into remote learning due to the lock down. Many were required to do so without proper guided instruction on how these lessons and remote learning tools work.

The type of students also impact of the level and type of activities that can be done, as well as their access to resources. The diversity of learners' socio-economic backgrounds in a single school make activity design and deliver a formidable challenge.

Course study is again something that is slow to change at school level and can sometimes constrain ambitious teachers. The new circumstances with lock down is going to have a big impact on assessment policies and standards. It is challenging to set assignments that need to be done remotely now, that once was done under control conditions in the classroom.

Each of these layers impact and influence the others at different levels as well. I, as a teacher, need to take in account the layers that influence how I design and implement activities for learning. Similarly, I look at how I can influence the delivery or acceptance of the activities.

Reference: Lim, C.P. (2002). A theoretical framework for the study of ICT in schools: a proposal. British Journal of Educational Technology. Vol 33, No 4, 411-421