Saturday, October 15, 2005

Constructivist Education and the Internet

I thought you guys might like to see the following article. It starts with this opening:

The Internet has been identified as an infrastructure that offers an opportunity to improve and possibly reshape education. To determine the potential for such change, it is instructive to review similar past circumstances
The topic that is discussed is how the theory can be applied to the classroom. I had never thought of this as a "bottom up approach". It is interesting to see all the information out there.

4 comments:

  1. Great article! To be honest, I had never thought of "educational television" as a method of teaching--it seems more about passively absorbing. I have to say that all of our discussions have made me much more cognizant of active versus passive learning. It's amazing how much more passion my students have when they are the ones asking the questions and performing the investigations. Letting my students explore their curiousity has also kept me in touch with their needs...it's fun to be reminded what it's like to read Of Mice and Men or The Crucible for the first time. Thanks for encouraging me to let go of the control a little!

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  2. Good find Brian. As I read, I kept thinking of my experienc at the National Archives last spring where they have changed their exhibits form a passive walk by and look approach to one of interaction and choices. Before I would spend my half hour with students and get out. Last time, I played for almost 5 hours. Isn't that what I hope my students want to do?

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  3. Interesting article brian. this reminded me of the class that i took last semester at cu denver about on-line learning. I think technology can really encourage curiosity for our students, as well as ourselves. I also at times fear that by bringing a lot of technology into the classroom, the valuable lessons that one can learn from face to face interaction can be lost. I think that its the teacher's responsibility to bring a balance.

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  4. This quote "Mastery must be based on a foundation of essential learning driven by the learner, not the curriculum" poses a real challenge for all of us, I think, as well as a systemic challenge. I keep coming back to "the curriculum" as the bad guy - which I think is unfair to "the curriculum," yet I think any true reform is going to radically alter "the curriculum."

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