In previous posts, I wrote about synchronous e-learning and its links with constructivism and postmodern educational theories. I believe that the theory of constructivism is inherent in a synchronous e-learning environment, but I realise it is important to see these theories in practice. It is also important to use a range of technologies and resources to cater for different learning styles. So, I have picked out a couple of short YouTube clips: the first gives a visual overview of constructivism and the second is an example of a constructivist activity in a primary school class. Through these clips we should see the strength of the relationship between constructivism and synchronous e-learning.
The first clip gives a brief overview of constructivism. The clip makes it clear that constructivism is about the teacher and students working together to construct new ideas, knowledge and understanding.
I hope you can see how this also has links with postmodern theories of education. In a previous post I described how the interaction between a teacher and student, in postmodernism, should be seen as a conversation – that is – the teacher and students working together.
The second YouTube clip is an example of a constructivist activity in a primary classroom. Students are given shapes of various colours, shapes, sizes and textures that groups of students will sort. Every time a student uses a word relating to the characteristics of the objects, the teacher writes the word in the ‘yes’ column.
How is this activity constructivist? Through this activity, students will transform their prior knowledge about the properties of objects into new knowledge – they are constructing knowledge. Students not only work with their peers, they also listen and learn from them. The teacher acts as a facilitator of the discussion.
What is the relationship between this activity and synchronous e-learning? Can anyone think of a simple synchronous e-learning activity (which utilises computer/www2.0 technology) that uses similar theories/ideas to the activity in the clip? (I will post my own learning activity as a comment to this post).
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Here is a simple example I came up with that could be used in a secondary humanities classroom: in a synchronous e-learning students might be using instant messaging (such as Skype) to answer a question such as, what are some problems or issues that could arise as a result of Melbourne’s growing population? (The majority of students will have some prior knowledge concerning this issue that they can bring to the discussion).
ReplyDeleteStudents can use instant messaging to ask further questions and seek clarifications. Then a list of issues could be brainstormed and perhaps ranked in order of relative importance, i.e. which issue the student feels will have the biggest impact. Students can share any knowledge they may have about a particular issue. Students could be split into small groups to research an issue, and then bring their findings back to the synchronous e-learning community.
Do you think my example fits a constructivist, synchronous e-learning environment? How could it be changed to better fit? Any further thoughts or ideas?