Grounded constructions and how technology can help

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 2007

The issues raised by the design and development of technologies to enhance learning has led to a demand for an appropriate language and form of conceptualization. However, we are insufficiently familiar with the way in which different types of mediated tool use occur, to develop the theoretical models needed for the development of this language and form of conceptualization. In its absence a somewhat eclectic variety of concepts and research, such as the concept of affordance, are recruited in accounts of learning with new technologies. In looking briefly at the relevant area in philosophy this paper will consider whether or not the use of concepts such as affordance give adequate weight to social practice, meaning and knowledge in the design of educational technology. A fruitful source for work in this field which has not been sufficiently exploited is philosophy, particularly recent work in epistemology.

2009

Educational Technology Research and Development, 1997

Journal of Philosophy of Education, 2008

This paper is concerned with the human dimension of technology-enhanced learning; many suppositions are made about this but the amount of attention it has been given relative to that paid to technology is quite limited. It is argued that an aspect of the question that deserves more attention than it has received in the work on the application of technologies to education is epistemology on the grounds that the nature of knowledge and the general character of mind are critically important. As regards epistemology this paper draws on recent developments in philosophy by John McDowell and Robert Brandom that deal with the relation of mind to world and the nature of experience. From McDowell it draws on the idea of second nature and particularly the argument that human beings acquire their cognitive capacities by initiation into language and tradition. From Brandom it draws on the idea that humans stand apart from animals and machines in that they respond to reasons as well as to causes. It is argued that the implication of these ideas for education differ radically from the pedagogic models that underpin much work on technology-enhanced learning where the suppositions about experience are quite different. Indeed the nature of knowledge is usually presumed rather than examined and often what is taken for granted is awareness as a conceptually unmediated response to the world. These questions are raised in the context of so far disappointing results of the use of technologies to enhance learning.

Interactive Learning Environments, 2003

A considerable amount of the effort and enthusiasm that goes into the development and implementation of technology-mediated learning environments often fails to create effective settings for learning. Too often the opportunities and advantages of the use of technology in the learning process are poorly exploited. This paper explores ways in which contemporary pedagogical principles can inform and guide the design of technology-mediated learning environments. The paper argues the need to plan learning settings based on meaningful and relevant activities and tasks which are supported in deliberate and proactive ways by the tutor. The paper presents and describes a framework which supports a design process comprising three critical strategies: the selection of learning tasks; the selection of learning supports and the selection of learning supports; as a strategy for the development of online learning settings that promote knowledge construction.

Educational Technology Research and Development, 1993

The design of situated learning must be closely linked to the ecological psychology of “situated cognition,” as exemplified by problem solving in a complex situated context, the Jasper Series. The extreme view of situated learning contends thatall thinking must be viewed as situated, and is therefore better explained by concepts of perception and action than by the concepts of information processing psychology. In this article, ideas of ecological psychology provide the background for describing four broad tasks for the design of situated learning: selecting the situations, providing scaffolding, determining and supporting the role of the teacher, and assessing situated learning. Further, three metrics for evaluating situated learning are suggested: affording transfer, providing meaning, and providing an anchor for cross-curricular investigation.

Educational Researcher, 1999

frame the conflicts between cognitive theory and situated learning theory in terms of issues that are primarily of interest to educational psychologists. We attempt to broaden the debate by approaching this discussion of perspectives against the background of our concerns as educators who engage in classroom-based research and instructional design in collaboration with teachers. We first delineate the underlying differences between the two perspectives by distinguishing their central organizing metaphors. We then argue that the contrast between the two perspectives cannot be reduced to that of choosing between the individual and the social collective as the primary unit of analysis. Against this background, we compare the situated viewpoint we find useful in our work with the cognitive approach advocated by Anderson et al. by focusing on their treatments of meaning and instructional goals. Finally, we consider the potential contributions of the two perspectives to instructional practice by contrasting their differing formulations of the relationship between theory and practice. indicates the depth of the division between adherents to cognitive and situated learning perspectives. Our purpose in this article is to broaden the ongoing debate by assuming a somewhat different vantage point. Anderson et al. and Greeno both frame the central issues in terms of their concerns as educational psychologists. In contrast, our interests are those of mathematics educators who conduct classroombased research and instructional design in collaboration with teachers. Elsewhere, we have argued that our research practice, which involves conducting longitudinal classroom teaching experiments in the course of which we develop sequences of instructional activities, is generally compatible with the activity of reflective teachers as described by , Lamport (1990), and. Thus, the viewpoint from which we approach the issues of learning and transfer is that of educators who view the classroom as a primary site for research and instructional development. As will become clear, the theoretical perspective that we find useful for our purposes is a version of constructivism that sees considerable merit in situated accounts of learning.

Learning Leading With Technology, 2005

Supportive scaffolding shows students that you understand their needs and "walk" with them as they work to meet learning goals. Constructing continued on p. 39

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the socio-cultural foundations of technology-mediated collaborative learning. Toward that end, we discuss the role of artifacts in knowledge-creating inquiry, relying on the theoretical ideas of Carl Bereiter, Merlin Donald, Pierre Rabardel, Keith Sawyer and L. S. Vygotsky. We argue that epistemic mediation triggers expanded inquiry and plays a crucial role in knowledge creation; such mediation involves using CSCL technologies to create epistemic artifacts for crystallizing cognitive processes, re-mediating subsequent activity, and building an evolving body of knowledge. Productive integration of CSCL technologies as instruments of learning and instruction is a developmental process: it requires iterative efforts across extended periods of time. Going through such a process of instrumental genesis requires transforming a cognitive-cultural operating system of activity, thus 'reformatting' the brain and the mind. Because of the required profound personal and social transformations, one sees that innovative knowledge-building practices emerge, socially, through extended expansive-learning cycles.

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the socio-cultural foundations of technology-mediated collaborative learning. Toward that end, we discuss the role of artifacts in knowledge-creating inquiry, relying on the theoretical ideas of Carl Bereiter, Merlin Donald, Pierre Rabardel, Keith Sawyer and L. S. Vygotsky. We argue that epistemic mediation triggers expanded inquiry and plays a crucial role in knowledge-creating learning; such mediation involves using CSCL technologies to create epistemic artifacts for crystallizing cognitive processes, re-mediating subsequent activity, and building an evolving body of knowledge. Productive integration of CSCL technologies as instruments of learning and instruction is a developmental process: it requires iterative efforts across extended periods of time. Going through such a process of instrument genesis requires transforming a cognitive-cultural operating system of activity, thus ‘reformatting’ the brain and the mind. Because of the required profound personal and social transformations, one sees that innovative knowledge-building practices emerge, socially, through extended expansive learning cycles.

Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 2007

This research explores the idea of embedding and linking to existing content in learning object repositories and investigates teacher-designer use of learning objects within one high school mathematics course in an online school. This qualitative case study supports and extends the learning object literature, and brings forward context-specific examples of issues around repository design, autonomy and self-containment, technical support and granularity. Moreover, these findings have implications for building learning objects and repositories that could better support teachers in their instructional design and pedagogical decision-making. Résumé : La présente recherche étudie la possibilité d'effectuer un emboîtement et d'établir des liens avec le contenu existant dans les référentiels sur les objets d'apprentissage et explore l'utilisation par les enseignants-concepteurs des objets d'apprentissage au sein d'un cours de mathématique du secondaire donné dans une école en ligne. Cette étude de cas qualitative appuie et vise la littérature sur les objets d'apprentissage et met en avant plan des exemples de questions touchant la conception de référentiels, l'autonomie et l'indépendance, le soutien technique et la granularité propres au contexte. De plus, ces conclusions ont des répercussions sur l'élaboration d'objets et de référentiels d'apprentissage qui pourraient mieux appuyer les enseignants dans le cadre de leur conception pédagogique et de leur prise de décision touchant l'enseignement. • How does the repository design of these learning objects support or hinder innovative use? • How does embedding vs. linking affect student use/access of the learning object? In this qualitative case study, the researchers interviewed one high school teacher who designed a Mathematics course for online delivery in an urban Alberta school. Informal discussions and semi-structured interviews (both face-to-face and by telephone) were held with the teacher. In addition, student movement in the course was tracked as part of its regular management process. It was anticipated that this tracking would allow the researchers to understand the links that students followed as they moved through the topics and accessed the various learning objects. However, for reasons which will be discussed later, this aspect of the study became less important and the focus turned to teacher/designer use of the repository. Additional sources of data for this study included the results of analyses done on the learning objects and the course, focusing on the instructional design, the integration of local resources (textbook and accompanying CD-ROM), and use of the learning objects housed online and in a learning object repository. To date, little research has been done on the pedagogical consequences of the numerous international learning object initiatives and their impact on thinking, epistemological and ideological implications, and teaching and learning (Friesen, 2004). The present research is a step toward filling that gap. Literature Review A number of researchers note that the digital age has enhanced our ability to create and distribute resources to personalize and individualize learning (Hannafin, Hill, & McCarthy, 2002; Martinez, 2002). Learning objects are a step towards realizing these possibilities. However, it appears that there is confusion as to what a learning object is (McGreal, 2004). Wiley (2002) suggests "Learning objects are elements of a new type of computer-based instruction grounded in the object-oriented paradigm of computer science" (p. 4). While this sets the generic scene that learning objects are part of computer-based instruction, it does not help to describe what forms they might take or what role they serve in teaching, learning, and training. Definitions vary, including everything from people as resources to small units of digital content in the form of pictures. Some view learning objects as primarily digital in nature (Martinez, 2002; Merrill, 2002; Wiley, 2002) while others include non-digital resources as learning object elements (Hannafin, Hill, & McCarthy, 2002; IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee, 2005). According to some, learning objects are simply seen as "resources" (Hannafin, Hill, & McCarthy, 2002) while other researchers are more expansive, accepting elements such as environments, activities, processes, and software tools in their definitions (Bannan-Ritland,

2008

In the present article, a specified Pedagogical Infrastructure Framework, including technical, social, epistemological and cognitive components, is introduced as a conceptual tool for design-based research to examine the design of complex learning settings. The applicability of the framework was assessed by retrospectively exploring an evolving design effort in four, consecutive, undergraduate courses in cognitive psychology. The development of the course design was driven by the principles of the Progressive Inquiry model, such as grounding the inquiry process on students’ authentic knowledge problems, sustained engagement in the elaboration of explanations, the promotion of collaborative activity, or the use of appropriate technological tools to mediate collaborative knowledge creation. The Webbased software system that was utilized in the courses evolved in parallel with the pedagogical development. The results provide insights into the critical aspects of the pedagogical organiz...

The main objectives of this theoretical paper are to compare some constructivist-related learning theories and explore how they can be adequately used in educational technology and distance education. After a brief introduction, constructivism is defined as a general philosophy of education encompassing several different learning theories. The article then presents and discusses the following theories: situated cognition, activity theory, experiential learning, anchored instruction, and authentic learning. Connectivism or distributed learning is also presented as a new and important theory, including its pedagogical view and practice in massive open online courses (MOOCs). These theories are then organized in a coherent way, classified under the constructivist umbrella, pointing their common and distinctive features. Connectivism is positioned as a new philosophy of education for the digital age, making Vygotsky's concept of zone of proximal development (ZPD) more flexible and stretching it to include learning that lies outside the learner, in social networks and technological tools. The text finally proposes further work on how these theories can be properly combined and used as frameworks for constructivist projects and activities in the fields of educational technology and distance education. The article is based on the search and review of peer-reviewed articles on constructivism, connectivism, the other aforementioned theories, and education technology and distance education.