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The culmination of my quest for more powerful learning grounded in theory and research came when recently I conducted an experiment in pushing constructionism into the digital age.
Educational theory and practice have begun to appear more frequently in the popular press. Terms such as collaborative learning, [http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/comm440-540/CL2pager.htm ] project-based learning, [ http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning] metacognition, [ https://teal.ed.gov/tealGuide/metacognitive ] inquiry-based learning, [ http://www.inquirybasedlearning.org/?page=What_is_IBL ] and so on, might be new to some audiences, but they have a relatively long and well-documented history for many educators. The most widely-known and promising pedagogical approach is constructivism [http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/construct.html ] grounded on the work of Piaget, [ http://www.piaget.org/aboutPiaget.html ] Vygotsky, [http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html ] and Bruner [http://infed.org/mobi/jerome-bruner-and-the-process-of-education/ ]. Given how it has transformed my own understanding of pedagogy, teaching, and learning, constructionism [ http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/construct.html ] seems ripe for a similar resurgence — like a phoenix rising from the ashes of Taylorization and standardized testing.
From inside the article: "Constructionism is based on two types of construction. First, it asserts that learning is an active process, in which people actively construct knowledge from their experience in the world. People don’t get ideas; they make them. This aspect of construction comes from the constructivist theory of knowledge development by Jean Piaget. To Piaget’s concept, Papert added another type of construction, arguing that people construct new knowledge with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in constructing personally meaningful products."
A great article about Constructionism a hybrid pedagogy - a theory based upon collaborative, project-based and student ownership of learning resulting in a learning that is largely 'constructed' by the learner themselves.
Constructionism, constructivism, learner centred, authentic, real world, active process, problem based, integration of technology in an authentic way and most importantly transformative.
With 63 scoopit interactions this article obviously resonates with the broader education community.
How do I use these principles to facilitate someone becoming a Paramedic via the distance mode of learning. I use technology to create learner centred, authentic and problem based activities to facilitate their learning.
This may be having the student develop a video of their interactions with simulated patients, participate in lecturer facilitated collaborative exercises (synchronous and asynchronous) or collaborating in groups with their peers in both synchronous and asynchronous activities.
All of the interactions were previously done in a live environment. Today technology is just the vessel for which these interactions occur.
Me I’m still just one of many resources available to them.