Implementing
The practice of implementing tools for specific learners
Reflecting on Constructivism, Epistemology, and Authenticity in Learning I completed this project in the course Constructivist Strategies for E-Learning (ETEC 530). By far this course was the most challenging of my MET journey, however, without a doubt, the concepts I learned in this course impacted the rest of my MET journey greatly. Through studying epistemology, knowledge building, and constructivism I have become a more mindful educator, as I now recognize that knowledge is difficult to define and too often we have a difficult time defining what "true belief" versus what "knowledge" is. I am more mindful now, as I consider my own bias before designing and implementing learning solutions, and I also take the time to consider the individuality of each learner I may encounter. Through circumstances "true beliefs" can be justified to be perceived as knowledge, even though this experience can differ for each person. This leads to a seemingly impossible task in determining what an ultimate perception or truth may be, because "the problem is that the ways things look isn't always the way things are; appearances can be deceptive" (Pritchard, 2014, p. 69). This understanding of knowledge helped me to better understand, and appreciate, constructivist learning as it is very likely that people experience the world differently from one another (Von Glaserfeld, 2005, p. 23). Constructivism considers individuality in building and scaffolding knowledge. And when you recognize how difficult it is to define knowledge, you recognize the importance of active, reflective, and authentic learning, as one person's truth may not be the truth for everyone. And as I concluded in that course, "constructivism bridges the gap between preconceptions, learning, and knowledge as it opens the doors of possibility" (Handford, 2017). About this project artifact: This project was essentially an exercise in applying epistemology and the study of constructivism into a useable lesson plan. I chose to create a professional development workshop for adult learning instructors, because while I was in this course, I was working in post secondary in a continuing education department - so, I designed this project with my work in mind. I wanted to create a tool that could help new instructors teach to adult learners, while implementing aspects of constructivism to encourage active engagement. The focus of this project was on authentic instruction, which is an important aspect of constructivism, as "knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used" (Brown et al., 2989, p. 32). So, essentially, the greatest potential for learning occurs in authentic contexts. As educators, it is important we seek out people, places, and activities that encourage authentic understanding. Brown et al. (1989) used a metaphor of a machine to describe the concept of authenticity: "...you need the machine to understand the manual as much as the manual to understand the machine" (p. 36). Simply learning about a concept, without being able to apply it to reflect on its value, removes part of the meaningful experience for learners. Some of the concepts I covered in this project include:
This project helped me to apply my knowledge of epistemology and constructivism to a real-life scenario and to consider how to implement constructivist strategies into professional development, even within a short, 60 minute workshop. Providing a basic understanding of knowledge building and constructivism can help encourage instructors to be creative and to allow adequate time for peer to peer discourse while building long-lasting understanding.
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ImplementingThe practice of implementing tools and strategies for specific users is an important skill of educational technologists. And being mindful of users is an important part of the PCK of TPCK as "PCK is concerned with the representation and formulation of concepts, pedagogical techniques, knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn, knowledge of students' prior knowledge, and theories of epistemology" (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1027). Click here for Page References
Brown, J. S., Collins, A. & Duguid, S. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18, 32-42. Cox, K., Franklin, M., Hagen, S., Handford, A., & Mauro, S. (2017). ETEC 500: Research Methodology in Education, research proposal assignment submission [Written PDF document]. Glasersfeld, E. Von. (2005). Introduction: Aspects of constructivism. Constructivism: Theory, perspectives, and practice. (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers’ College Press, 21-25. Glasersfeld, E. Von. (2008). Learning as a Constructive Activity. AntiMatters, 2(3), 33-49. Handford, A. (2017). ETEC 530: Constructivist Strategies for E-Learning, assignment 1 submission [Written PDF document]. John-Steiner, V. & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and development: A Vygotskian framework, Educational Psychologist, 31, 191-206. Kraemer, E. W., Lombardo, S. V., & Lepkowski, F. J. (2007). The librarian, the machine, or a little of both: A comparative study of three information literacy pedagogies at Oakland University. College & Research Libraries, 68(4), 330-342. Orey, M. (2002). Information Processing. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Pritchard, D. (2014). What is this thing called knowledge?. Routledge. Wang, Y., Han, X., & Yang, J. (2015). Revisiting the blended learning literature: Using a complex adaptive systems framework. Journal of Educational Technology & Society,18(2), 380-393. Categories
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