1. Insights into Constructivism and Connectivism

SHORT REVIEW ON

Mattar, J. (2018). Constructivism and connectivism in education technology: Active, situated, authentic, experiential, and anchored learning. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 21(2), 201-217.

 

The research paper presents the comparison between different constructivist-related theories in the context of distance education. Based on the search and review of articles and content analysis as the main technique for collecting and analyzing data, the result marks similarities and differences between constructivist-related theories: situated cognition, activity theory, experiential learning, anchored instruction, and authentic learning. Connectivism is also analyzed with the link to constructivist approach. According to Mattar (2018), while situated and anchored learning share the same idea in the importance of context for learning, experiential learning places experience as the central position of learning process and active learning emphasizes how learner engagement and action is significant to support learning. Moreover, authentic learning, rather a separated theory, is a general principle found in the other theories, which highlights that “learning contexts, tasks, activities, and assessment should be the most authentic possible” to help students apply the knowledge to practice. At the same time, connectivism – whose emphasis on the guidance and the social presence of facilitators and participants, is considered as the updated version of constructivism, the general philosophy of education in the digital age, which also manifests Vygotsky’s concept of zone of proximal development (ZPD).

 

2.  A post on "What learning personally means to me"

Based on the relevant reading materials, I believe that the constructivist learning theory is what I understand and set as my goal for learning. 5 main aspects of constructivist theory clarify the important features of learning process with the focus on student-centered learning approach: The situated cognition, anchored learning and authentic learning share a common belief that knowledge is accumulated and internalized through real-life contexts, interaction, and should be applied to authentic tasks in the complex realistic world; Active learning emphasizes that learners can reflect and gain knowledge through engagement and action rather than passively perceive; Experiential learning adds the role of practice-based experience as the drive for learning and teaching (Mattar, 2018). In other words, constructivism highlights the keys to a successful learner: being active, self-directed, creative, socially engaged. Doolittle (1999) posited another way of categorizing types of constructivism learning theory: cognitive, radical and social constructivism which all also emphasize the student-centered approach to learning: knowledge and cognition are gained and develop through the process of active cognizing, adaptive process, experience, social interaction and language usage. Overall, in my opinion, constructivist learning theory is what modern learning should be in the context of rapid development and digital era where each learner is entitled to self-select to learn things relevant to their needs with their own time and pace. On the other hand, applying the constructivist learning theory to educational practice may raise some challenges, especially in teaching adult online. It seems that not all students are able to be self-directed and there is still the lack of instruction of how to engage in a less traditional classroom (where there is no more the prominent role of teacher as the instructor in class). This means that some students may find it struggling when following the teaching design based on constructivism. Regarding instructivism, I personally think that this learning theory is not suitable and effective for teaching adults online. Firstly, in terms of adult education, instructivisim does not match the essence of andragogy which puts emphasis on the learning rather than teaching, the ability to be self-directed and the aims at knowledge relevant for their needs in real life. Even worse, it tends to deter students from their critical thinking and creativity (Mattar, 2018). Besides, when it comes to online teaching, where there is no direct and physical presence of teachers, it is students’ responsibility to be independent, self-directed and active to gain knowledge from diverse resources of knowledge and interactions. Therefore, instructivism with the focus on the role of instructors seems not to facilitate the online learning process.

 

References: Mattar, J. (2018). Constructivism and connectivism in education technology: Active, situated, authentic, experiential, and anchored learning.  Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia, 21(2), 201-217.

Doolittle, P. E. (1999). Constructivism and online education.