Comments on Anderson

In his article Getting the mix right again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction, Anderson first defines interaction (and the word form interactivity) using Wagner’s (1994) words: “reciprocal events that require at least two objects and two actions. Interactions occur when these objects and events mutually influence one another.” He then proceeds to state that interaction, a prerequisite of learning, can be divided into various categories, including teacher to student, student to student, and student to content. Anderson proposes a theory that “deep and meaningful formal learning is supported as long as one of the three forms of interaction is at a high level” (p. 7). Depending on the type of learning community an individual finds himself in, different levels of each of these types of interaction exist. A teacher-guided lecture, for example, almost always creates a high level of teacher to student interaction; while a CD-ROM-based training module utilizes higher levels of student to content interaction. Considering this “equivalency theorem,” as he calls it, and how to effectively manipulate it, educators are in a better position to create and assess the increasingly broad range of educational mediums (web-based being one) available to the private and public sector.

Anderson also briefly discusses implications that each kind of interaction object (teacher, student, and content) has on teaching and learning theory. He closes by considering how to apply his equivalency theorem to teaching techniques employed in campus-based and web-based instructional models.

I appreciate Anderson’s recognition of the fact that learners do not all prefer one particular medium of instruction. In the backdrop of our more and more technologically advanced computer age, this reality opens up a variety of resources and methods to meet the educational needs of an increasingly finicky public. This choosiness will only increase as the web expands and this technology becomes available to a greater percentage of people.


Anderson, T. (2003) Getting the mix right again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 4, No 2.