One of the Edtech trends that helped students and teachers to get through the pandemic is certainly E-learning. I think constructivism learning theory fits with this particular Ed-tech trend, which I will explain it in below. With the prevelance of MOOC, and various types of educational videos such as Khan academy, Crash course, Whiteboard videos on Youtube, students were free from time and space, they could study whenever and whereever they like, and these videos are made by the professionals, if the students utilize these videos, they are really learning more than the textbooks could offer.
Why constructivism fits E-learning? According Weller : “Constructivism emphasizes the experience and role of the individual in developing concepts”; moreover: “Vygotsky (1978) developed this concept futher with the idea of social constructvism: the proposition that learning is not an individual exercise but is developed through social interaction and couched in language” （Weller, Chapter 4). In this sense, if we could expand our social network through technology and talking to various people, isn’t that enchance our learning?
Moreover, E-learning utlizes the constructivism theory because it could create a mental map for us (Bates, 2014). I really like watching White Board educational videos, I remember one time I watched a TED talk video by Kin Robinson who was talking about diversity and inclusion in education system, and then there’s another white broad video that was made to connect the ideas in Robinson’s video. By comparing the two videos of the same content, I really think the white broad one makes the whole talk more coherent and comprehensible. I think the reason for white broad video more comprehensible is because it utilizes the constructivism learning theory, when we hear a presentation or a lecture or a talk, we seldom have the time to layout the important points and make connections between these points, moreover, our attention were attracted by the presenter. Whereas in White broad video, we see links were made between dots, and a mental map was created that benefits learning.
See below for the videos:
References:
Bates, T. (2014). Learning Theories and Online Learning. [Blog post]. Retrieved from
https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/07/29/learning-theories-and-online-learning/
Weller, M. (2020). Chapter 4 – Constructivism. 25 Years of Edtech. AU Press. Retrieved from
https://read.aupress.ca/read/25-years-of-ed-tech/section/0442be0f-0347-40eb-9c19-de80b7e13d47#ch04
