This study explores learning and instruction within a technology-rich, coll
aborative, participatory learning environment by tracking the emergence of
shared understanding and products through student and teacher practices. Th
e focus is not only on the interactions among students or between students
and teachers, but on student-resource interactions, especially student-tech
nology interactions. In a I-week camp, students worked in activity groups w
ith 3-dimensional modeling software to develop virtual worlds. Holistic acc
ounts of 2 activity groups in the camp are presented, emphasizing the focus
of the activity, group dynamics including the role of the teacher, and the
historical development of learner practices. Then, a network methodology i
s used to trace the history of interactions accounting for the emergence, e
volution, and diffusion of learner practices. The findings suggest that bec
oming knowledgeably skillful with respect to a particular practice or conce
pt is a multigenerational process, evolving in terms of contextual de mands
and available resources. The tracings further reveal the reciprocal nature
of learning and doing, with building conceptual understanding occurring in
relation to local conditions and practices, and doing practices being a pa
rt of student learning. We are so accustomed to the separation of knowledge
from doing and making that we fail to recognize how it controls our concep
tions of mind, of consciousness and of reflective inquiry.