Communities of practice and activity theory are two theoretical frameworks used for understanding distributed teaching and learning. In this paper, we argue that both can play complementary roles in practitioners’ efforts to understand distributed learning environments. Communities of practice can be used more as a heuristic process and activity theory more as an educational model that gives answers to specific problems. However, it is not always possible to make a clear distinction between the two as they are interwoven when practitioners think about distributed learning contexts. Practice-based examples show how these frameworks can be employed in understanding distributed learning environments.