Educational discoveries » constructionism

Shall we go on a quest?

victorialeighw — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:49:07 +0000

The use of technology in the classroom can often be isolated rather than integrated into all KLA areas. To assist with in the implementation of more meaningful e-learning experience in the classroom I have found a brilliant website! Quest Atlantis is an incredibly virtual world where students can be involved in KLA lessons without it feeling like school work! Based around an intergalactic planet called Atlantis, students need to enter virtual worlds and share their experience and knowledge of subjects such as water conservation and healthy living to help the people of Atlantis survive in their decaying planet. The virtual world also allows students to create their own avatar, and impact on there virtual world in a way that they may not be able to in the real world. The website not only integrates KLA’s but also provides teachers with the means to implement lessons in a constructionist manner. The website provides PDF units of work for teachers to use in their classrooms to facilitate this learning. This website was so exciting to explore!!!

Still debating…

victorialeighw — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:32:09 +0000

After writing the previous blog based on smartboards, I was interested to find out what my peers had discovered about the interactive whiteboards either through experience or research. Penny wrote an interesting piece based on her research through the article Interactive Whiteboards: Boon or Boondoggle? Her main conclusion was similar to what Loren discussed in her blog. The argument for smartboards is not actually whether they are useful technology, but rather if teachers are USING them effectively. I know personally that technology can be difficult to approach and I am a young student teacher who has grown up with more technological understanding than the majority of the current aging australian teaching workforce!! The provision of training and workshops can assist with the appropriate useage of smartboards in schools, but I think it would also require vigilance on the part of the teacher to constantly evolve in their use of the whiteboard so that it remains new and exciting for students and holds firmly with constructionism values.

Constructionism and blogs, vodcasts, podcasts and comics

victorialeighw — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 04:03:10 +0000

Seymour Papert discusses the difference between constructionism and instructionism in an extremely helpful way. This article was enlightening for me, giving me a better understanding of what constructionism is and how learning by doing is an important aspect of the e-learning subject. Skills already displayed in my blog such as the vodcast, podcast and comic strip can all be used within the classroom to carry this constructionist theme. Children can create and publish their own works, using existing knowledge and understandings to construct applications and further knowledge. Papert’s view that children learn best when they are active in the role of designer and constructor makes sense as you examine ther examples on his website. The examples provided by Papert are definitely exciting, a little intimidating, but exciting. Papert stresses that he doesn’t want teachers to just copy these examples but to create their own examples of constructionism specific to their own students. I will certainly be thinking this through more!