Children are the future. Therefore if children are the future should we really be dictating to them as teachers or should we be allowing them the opportunity to take charge and explore the world around them? Social constructivism offers this alternative way of teaching in which teachers, as facilitators, provide the students with the opportunities to examine the world for themselves first hand. Of course like all forms of teaching there are limitations, students may not be aware of this approach and may find it daunting or confusing; the course foundations still need to be taught to a certain extent and yes for teachers it can be time consuming. However what social constructivism offers is a chance to develop further thinking & isn't that worth all the extra time in the world. A classroom where children initiate exploring individual ideas and students are their own people, instead of as Seymour Papert says "casting the child [into] the role of passive recipient of knowledge....[a] vessel to be filled...or as the receiver at the end of a transmission line" (Papert: 1993:14), social constructivist ways of teaching enable the individual a chance to learn.
Social constructivism when used correctly in a classroom can be an interesting way to teach, add technology and you've got yourself a winner. A classroom run by students minds. A classroom with the world available at the click of a mouse. Now that's a classroom that not only will engage children but also encourage them to think outside the walls they are too often confined in. So you ask, how can technology, web 2.0 specifically, be beneficial in the classroom? More importantly i think we need to start asking the question, how can web 2.0 NOT be beneficial in a classroom.
The ability to interact with students from across the globe, communicating on topics that are of interest to them universally enables collaborative thinking to the highest degree. Web 2.0 is a platform in which students have the opportunity to become interactive learners, to reach people they never could before but most importantly to reach their potential in the classroom and to enable and address learner diversity. Through the use of interactive mediums such as web casts, discussion boards, videos, podcasts, blogs...the list goes on, students are able to share their experiences in the classroom with whomever they desire. For example a blog in its most simplest form can enable students the opportunity of an online journal in which peers (not just in the immediate classroom, but from all over the world) are able to comment and discuss reflections & encourage deeper thinking. Or it can be even more collaborative, using a mutual area of interest in the classroom, generating movies, podcasts, voxpops, animated videos and posting them all on the same blog and together they can create an interactive online source of their topic for future students to use, their own webpage. I think an interesting use of web 2.0 is the below link, it's the perfect example of how web 2.0 can help, instead of hinder children's thinking:
If we stop looking at technology as a threat, and instead start thinking of it as the future, then the possibilities are endless.
You provide a really strong argument in favour of both a social constructivist pedagogical approach and the use of web 2.0 technology - and, as you quite rightly indicate, the two fit very neatly together.
ReplyDeleteCan you see any drawbacks to using web 2.0 technologies in the classroom, especially with younger children?
The initial drawbacks that come to mind with using web 2.0 technologies in the classroom, especially with younger children would be that people tend to view them as dangerous due to continual media coverage of negativities associated with online interaction. People also see web 2.0 and computers in general as too advanced and complicated for the younger years; when in actual fact we should be looking at them as easier and more accessible ways of learning. Introducing Web 2.0 to young primary children enables a platform to build on in successive years. The advances with web 2.0 offer teachers with an opportunity to use, for example, film, discussion boards via video, interactive whiteboards and other mediums in the classroom, which to young children especially is quite 'radical' and motivational in itself.
ReplyDeleteI think the key to introducing technology at any level is collaborative exploration. When undertaken correctly this implementation is the key to an ICT friendly classroom, and it also prevents leaving children vulnerable to dangers associated with technology that many people place an unnecessary emphasis on.
Yes, I think you're right. Technology supporters often use the swimming pool metaphor when discussing the dangers of the web. Although swimming pools are obviously dangerous for young children, we don't simply keep them away from swimming pools; rather, we introduce them to swimming pools under adult guidance, effectively mentoring children till they learn to take responsibility for themselves.
ReplyDeleteNice blog Rom. Love the video with the guy with the ponytail!
ReplyDelete