Educational Technology in

the Constructivist Learning

Environment
Lesson 3

Prepared by: Sr. Janice Tupig

 Learning Outcomes

★ Demonstrate the ability to apply principles and theories

of constructivism to develop educational technology, such
as models and manipulative devices, in teaching; and

★ Demonstrate the ability to apply the insights gained on

best practices of using educational technology in the
constructivist perspective to enhance teaching and
learning.
 The Constructivist Learning Environment
❖ Constructivism says that students construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world by experiencing things
and reflecting on those experiences.
❖ Nowadays, constructivism and educational technology work hand-
in-hand to produce a better understanding of the subject matter.
❖ Students should be able to identify direction and orientation,
and have a clear perception of object relation.
❖ Constructivism and educational technology allow for
manipulatives or other materials to show a step-by-step
construction of objects, or understand the concept by simply
doing it. This gives the students a better perspective of the
item which they cannot hold in their hand.
❖ In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can
point toward a number of different teaching practices. This
usually means encouraging students to use active techniques
( experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more
knowledge and then reflect on and talk about what they are
doing and how their understanding is changing.
❖ The teacher makes sure she understands the students’ pre
existing conceptions, and guides them in the activity that
builds on this.
❖ Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly
assess how the activity is helping them learn. By questioning
themselves and reflecting on the strategies, students in a
constructivist classroom should ideally become “expert
learners”.
 A Brief History of Constructivism

The concept of constructivism has roots in classical

antiquity, going back to Socrates dialogues with his
followers, where he asked directed questions that led
his students to realize for themselves the weaknesses
in their thinking.
★ The Socratic dialogue is still an important tool in the way
constructivist educators assess their students’ learning
and plan new learning experiences.

Jean Piaget and John Dewey developed theories of childhood

development and education that led to the evolution of
constructivism.

★ Piaget believed that humans learn through the construction

of one logical structure after another. He concluded that
the logic of children and their modes of thinking are
entirely different from those of adults. The implications
of this theory and how he applied them have shaped the
foundation for constructivist education.
★ Dewey called for education to be grounded in real
experience. He wrote, “If you have doubts about how
learning happens, engage in sustained inquiry: study,
ponder, consider alternative possibilities and arrive at
your belief grounded in evidence.” Inquiry is a key part of
constructivist learning.

★ Lev Vygotsky introduced the social aspect of learning into

constructivism. He define the “zone of proximal learning,”
according to which students solve problems beyond their
actual developmental level (but within their level of
potential development) under adult guidance or in
collaboration with more capable peers.
★ Jerome Bruner initiated curriculum change based on the
notion that learning is an active. Social process in
which students construct new ideas or concepts based on
their current knowledge.

★ Seymour Papert’s groundbreaking work in using computers

to teach children has led to the widespread use of
computer and information technology in constructivist
environments.
 Key Constructivist and Their Differences
Proponent Teachers Role Defining Characteristics

Jean Piaget Awareness of learners’ Identified key developmental stages

(Developmental Theory) developmental stage when that may affect learning; children either
presenting content; help learner assimilate or accommodate based on
construct schemas existing schemas.

Robert Gagne (Bridge Create systematic design to Controlled, external. Sequential

Theories between address student needs, instructional events with eight
Behaviorism and individualized instructional events conditions for learning determined be
Cognitivism) developmental stage of learner and by
subject matter

Lev Vygotsky (Social Arrange for tutoring by skilled and Zone of proximal development
Learning Theory) learned adults as a means of recognizes student’s readiness to bond
students enculturation; zone of with the community; speech and
proximal development theory language are keys to intelligence
 Proponent Teacher’s Role Defining
Characteristics

Alberto Bandura Outcome expectancies motivate Concern with the way people
(Social Learning Theory) students to imitate the behavior, acquire socially appropriate
“modelling” behavior; build on Skinner to form
social learning theory; agrees with
Gagne that subject matter is central
to learning stages.

Seymour Papert Provide opportunities for children Technology should help children
(Mathematics and to develop constructs through experience knowledge and
Educational Technology) experience; use technology to construct meanings; developed
support experiences Logo and constructivist software
based on this perspective
 Guiding Principles of Constructivism
These principles provide a framework of constructivism and
its relevance to instruction:

1. Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore , learning

must start with the issues that students are actively
trying to construct meaning from.
2. Students bring unique prior knowledge and beliefs to the
classroom.
3. Knowledge is constructed uniquely and individually, in a
number of different ways, through a variety of tools,
resources, and contexts.
4. Learning is both an active and reflective process.
5. Learning is developmental. Students make sense of the
world by assimilating, accommodating, or rejecting new
information.

6. Social interaction is helpful for students to see

different perspective on learning.

7. Learning is internally controlled and mediated by the

learner.

8. Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts.

And parts must be understood in the context of wholes.
Therefore, the learning process focuses on primary concepts,
not isolated facts.
9. To teach well, we must understand the mental models that
students use to perceive the world and the assumptions they
make to support these models.

10. The purpose of learning is for individuals to construct

their own meaning, not just memorize the “right” answers and
regurgitate someone else’s. Since education is inherently
interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning
is to make the assessment part of the learning process,
ensuring it provides students with information on the
quality of their learning.
 Benefits of Constructivism
1. Children learn more. They also enjoy learning better when
they are actively involved rather than being passive
listeners.
2. Educators works best when it concentrates on thinking and
understanding than on rote memorization. Constructivism
concentrates on learning how to think and understand.
3. Constructivist learning is transferable.
In constructivist classrooms, students create organizing
principles that they can take with them to other learning
settings.
4. Constructivism gives students ownership of what they learn,
since learning is based on their questions and explorations.

Oftentimes, students have a hand in designing the assessments as

well. Constructivist assessment engages the students’ initiatives
and personal investments in their journals, research reports,
physical models, and artistic representations. Engaging their
creative instincts develops students’ abilities to express
knowledge through a variety of ways. The students are also more
likely to retaining and transfer the new knowledge to real life.

5. By grounding learning activities in an authentic, real-world

context, constructivism stimulates and engages students. Students
in constructivist classrooms learn to question things and to
apply their natural curiosity to the world.
6. Constructivism promotes social and communication skills
by creating a classroom environment that emphasizes
collaboration and the exchange of ideas.

Students must learn how to articulate their ideas clearly,

as well as collaborate on tasks effectively by sharing
ideas within a group. Students must learn to “negotiate”
with others and to evaluate their contributions in a
socially acceptable manner. This is essential to succeed
in the real world, since they are always exposed to a
variety of experiences.
 A Closer Look at Cognitive Constructivism:
Learning as Structure Building

According to both the individually mediated and

socially mediated versions of cognitive constructivism,
learning is a process of structure building where a
learner builds coherent mental representations. The
process of structure building is guided by the
learner’s desire to make sense out of the material.
Processes involved in Constructivist Learning:
1. Selecting relevant information which includes relevant
visual and verbal models

Visual and auditory information, such as contained in

multimedia instructional messages, enter into the
cognitive system through the learner’s eyes and ears,
respectively. The first cognitive process required for
constructivist learning is determining what is important
in the incoming sensory information. This process is
called selecting.
This process is represented by the arrow from visual
information to images ( in the visual or pictorial
channel) and the arrow from auditory information to words
(in the auditory or verbal channel).
➢ These indicate that as learners pay attention to some of
the incoming sensory information, this information is
transferred to working memory where it can be processed
more deeply.

➢ Selecting is focusing conscious attention on relevant

pieces of information.

➢ In sum, the first component process in constructivist

learning is selecting or paying attention to relevant
information in the instructional message.

➢ An important implication is that students may need help in

learning how to guide their attention during instruction.
2. Organizing the incoming information into a coherent
structure including visual and verbal models
➢ Once relevant materials is stored in short-term memory, the next step
in the sense-making process is to organize the material into a coherent
structure. This process is called organizing, because the learner must
actively build systematic connections among the selected pieces of
information.

➢ Organizing occurs when the learner constructs a coherent structure that

incorporates the key pieces of presented information. This implies that
constructivist learning requires more than just paying attention to
relevant pieces of information; the learner may need help to actively
organize the pieces into a coherent structure.

➢ There should be guidance for the construction of internal connections.

3. Integrating various sources of incoming information with each other
and with existing knowledge
➢ Building connections between the visual and verbal representations of the
incoming material and with the existing knowledge is a process called
integration.

➢ For meaningful learning to occur, the learner must activate prior knowledge
and bring it into working memory, where it can be integrated with new
material.

➢ Integration involves activating prior knowledge and using that knowledge to

make sense out of the new material. This implies that for constructivist
learning to occur, students need to know how to activate and use
appropriate prior knowledge while they are learning new material, and they
need to make connections between corresponding visual and verbal
representations in working memory.
 Educational Technology to Foster Learning
Some insights about educational technology and how it fosters
learning based on a constructivist perspective:

1. Educational technology as a tool supports knowledge

construction. This is especially true for representing ideas,
understanding, and beliefs. These tools are used for
producing organized multimedia knowledge bases by learners.
2. Educational technology as information vehicles for exploring
knowledge to support learning by constructing. This is also
used for assessing the needed information and from comparing
perspectives, beliefs, and world views.
3. Educational technology as a context to support learning by doing.
This is for stimulating and representing meaningful real-world
problems, situations, and contexts.

4. Educational technology as a social medium to support learning by

conversing. This is to provide an avenue for collaboration with
others to discuss, argue, and build consensus among members of a
community. This is to support discourse among knowledge-building
communities.

5. Educational technology as a tool to support learning by

reflecting. This is to help learners articulate and represent what
they know by reflecting on what they have learned and how they come
to know it. This is for supporting the learner’s internal negotiation
and meaning-making skills, and for constructing personal
representation of meaning.
 SUMMARY
 In actual classroom situation, teachers with the constructivist view of
learning can move toward a number of different teaching practices. This usually
means encouraging students to use active techniques, like experiments, real-
world problem solving, and others, to create more knowledge, and then to
reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is
changing. As a teacher, you should make sure that you understand your learners’
preexisting conceptions, and at the same time build on them.

 Knowledge taught in a variety of contexts is more likely to support flexible

transfer than knowledge when taught in a single context. Information can become
context bound when taught with context-specific examples. When a material is
taught in multiple contexts, people are more likely to extract the relevant
features of the concepts and develop a more general and flexible representation
of knowledge. Students develop flexible understanding of when, where, why and
how to use their knowledge to solve new problems if they learn how so extract
underlying, themes and principles from their learning exercises.
 In the constructivist learning environment, students learn more, and they enjoy
learning better when they are actively involved, rather than being passive
listeners. This makes learners concentrate on thinking and understanding, rather
than on rote memorization.

 Students create organizing principles that they can take with them to other
learning settings, and their creative instincts help develop their abilities,
allowing them to express knowledge through a variety of ways.

 The students are also more likely to retain and transfer the new knowledge to
real life. By grounding learning activities in an authentic, real-world context,
a constructivist learning environment stimulates and engages students. Students
in constructivist classrooms learn to question things and apply their natural
curiosity to the world.

 The constructivist learning environment promotes social and communication skills

because it emphasizes collaboration and the exchange of ideas.

 Learners articulate their ideas clearly and collaborate on tasks effectively by

sharing in group projects and activities. Learners therefore exchange ideas and
learn to negotiate with others and to evaluate their contributions in a socially
acceptable manner.