Social-Constructivism

 The core of constructivism is that learners actively construct their own knowledge and meaning from their experiences. Social constructivism emphasises the role of social and cultural factors in shaping learning (Duchesne, 2010, p. 213), also drawing heavily on Vygotsky’s belief that social processes are integral to education. This approach rejects the view that the locus of knowledge lies within the individual. Rather, the social constructivist view is that social interaction shapes cognitive development and is an essential component of the learning process (Cobb & Yackel, 1996; Prawat, 1996).

The four key principles of constructivism are:
1. Learners are active participants in learning
2. Learners are self-regulated
3. Social interaction is necessary for effective learning
4. Learners’ knowledge may be relative, since learners construct their own meaning, which depends on individual factors such as prior knowledge and sociocultural context.
The entrance of Web 2.0 marked the democratization of the internet, as users were not only able to read information, they were able to write, and the content could be modified. The Web became a highly interactive environment and in turn this has transformed learning and how we teach today.
For a teacher to take a constructivist approach it is important to assist the learners in developing new insights and connecting them with their previous learning. The activities created should be learner centred and learners should be encouraged to ask their own questions, carry out their own experiments, make their own analogies and come to their own conclusions. With ever growing access to the internet, information, ideas and learning have globalised and created a social sphere online and continue to constantly improve and update due to the constructivist nature of Web 2.0 and its worldwide community. Never the less, although I agree with the concept of constructivism and its place within the classroom, I do believe that objectivism must still be considered in students learning content. Both objective and constructive ways of learning should be implemented within the classroom to maximise learning.

References:

Duchesne, S. (2010). Educational Psychology For Learning and Teaching (4th ed.). Australia: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited.

Cobb, P., & Yackel, E. (1996). Constructivist, emergent, and sociocultural perspectives in the context on developmental research. Educational Psychologist, 31 (3-4), 175-190

E-Learning

What is the future of learning? Will technology continue to be the key driver in educational change?

The concept of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) presented by Pontydysgu recognises that e-learning is a tool that provides ongoing support for learning both in the classroom and workplace. It is the idea that learning will take place in different contexts and situations and will not be provided by a single learning provider.

The PLE model allows learners to develop a learning environment to suit and enable each individuals own style of learning. Ubiquitous computing refers to the ever changing technologies available and the way in which we adapt to meet the needs of learners. With the increasing use of mobile devices and the spread of connectivity, access to theory and knowledge is easily available. Social software is increasingly being used in education and training through such applications as web logs, wikis, tools and applications for creating and sharing multimedia and tools for sharing all kinds of different personal  knowledge bases including bookmarks and blogs.

The development and support for Personal Learning Environments would affect not only in how we use educational technology, but in the organisation of education. Students have access to blogging, a variety of resources online, and software tailored to their learning content and styles. This alteration would provide responsibility and independence for learners and encourage learning, as technology now allows for globalised learning. The potential for knowledge development and sharing within schools have the potential to facilitate training and development and at the same time develop organisational learning. PLE is what the future of education will become. The technology is available now, but it is in the hands of institutions to incorporate e-learning into their classrooms and workplaces.

 

Reference: Attwell, Graham (2007). The Personal Learning Environments – the future of eLearning? eLearning Papers, vol. 2 no. 1. ISSN 1887-1542.

Promoting Intellectual Quality with an IWB

 

It is easier to promote high levels of intellectual quality if teachers are using an interactive whiteboard (IWB). IWBs are a recent advance in educational technology they provide opportunities to allow students to think beyond memorizing content as the information presented can be easily manipulated and highly engaging. There have been a variety of debates on whether or not IWBs are of significant value in education, Kent (2010) firmly believes that IWBs possess the ability to amplify teaching and learning in classrooms.

The content presented on an IWB is great for deep learning, useful for presenting multiple interpretations and promote higher order thinking. Kent (2010) states that “we need to understand the benefits IWBs can offer when presenting a concept in a group setting… placing the concept in various contexts, creating links with existing knowledge, and lead discussions that probe student understanding” (p. 3). A variety of learning tasks can promote intellectual quality, these include; labelling, sorting, ordering or sequencing, puzzle, game and simulation.

When creating lessons teachers should be careful to identify whether or not their activity promotes high or low levels of ambiguity as this would determine levels of intellectual quality within the activity. Ambiguity can be successfully incorporated in two ways: Asking students specific questions leading into multiple interpretations; or asking students leading questions that lead to multiple correct answers. Teachers should be careful to plan all activities so that they do not limit the level of learning in the topic area, one example is creating a fact-recalling activity- as these are limited to specific answers and do not promote discussion. IWB software activities are a great way to promote intellectual quality learning in classrooms as long as teachers scaffold activities to support higher order thinking.

A great website to use for Interactive Whiteboard games:

http://pbskids.org/whiteboard/

References:

Kent, P. (2010). Secondary teaching with interactive whiteboards. South Yarra, VIC: Macmillan Publishers

Cyberbullying

Technology today is rapidly expanding to the point where communicating across the globe has become also instantaneous. The “anonymous, instant and far-reaching communication capabilities have brought a new dimension to child protection issues such as bullying” (Office for Internet Safety, 2008). Bullying itself is not a new concept; however the methods used to bully are drastically changing and manipulating lives.

Cyber bullying refers to the repeated verbal, physical or psychological aggression conducted by an individual(s) to another, through the use of the internet, mobile phones or other communication devices (Office for Internet Safety, 2008). Many cyber bullying campaigns promote the awareness within schools and the community, as bullying transcends within a school environment. All schools have an Anti-Bullying Policy or statement in place to prevent the case of bullying happening at school, whereas, cyber bulling is an online component that isn’t necessarily monitored and may be overlooked. At home, children should be supervised when using technology and parents should be conscious on what they are doing and who they are talking to.

Although an extensive amount of research on anti-bullying campaigns has established a means of decreasing acts of cyber bullying. I, myself as an upcoming secondary teacher, believe that if more students and parents were educated and knowledgeable about the significant impacts of cyber bullying and were aware of its preventions, then this would significantly reduce cyber bullying. By implementing awareness, through discussions and real-life activities, both parents and children will be able to recognise, respond and take action to cyber bullying.

View this tweet for some great parental cyber bullying advice!
https://twitter.com/al_luke/status/289760972413992961

References:
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). (2013). Cyber(smart:) – Schools. Retrieved from: http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Schools.aspx
Office for Internet Safety., O2., Barnardos., National Centre for Technology in Education. (2008). A guide to cyberbullying: Get with it! Retrieved from: http://goo.gl/OVhBP