Key classroom principles: across and within subjects and key stages - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 129

Table 7.1 Theories and approaches to learning

Relevant learning
theories Key ideas Learning is conceptualized as:

1.1 Constructivism
Piaget (1963)

constructive - individual
focus
concerned with how
knowledge and skills are
internalized
cognitivist
developmental

learning is conceptualized as individuals
actively exploring the world and receiving
feedback.
constructivity - is the integration of new
concepts and skills into the learner's existing
conceptual/competency structures.
Pedagogical applications: knowledge building
requires interactive environments.
need activities to encourage experimentation
and discovery of principles.
need support for reflection and evaluation.

1.2 Social
Constructivism
Vygotsky (1978)

constructive - social focus
Zone of proximal
development
understand learner
and scaffolders roles in
collaborative activities

Individual learning is scaffolded by the social
environment.
Teachers/more knowledgeable peers have a
key role in dialogue and interaction with the
learner; how learners can progress beyond
their immediate capability by supportive others
scaffolding the learning experience.
Pedagogical applications: knowledge building
requires interactive environments.
need activities to encourage collaboration and
shared expression of ideas/dialogic approach.
need support for reflection, peer-review and
evaluation.

1.3 Communal
Constructivism
(leask and younie
2001)
holmes et al.
(2001)

social constructivism -
dialogic learning with
technology
situated learning and
distributed cognition,
using digital technologies
for social/professional
online networking for
knowledge management

social theories of learning (peer-to-peer
knowledge construction) and the affordances
of digital technologies (to create, share and
build new knowledge online together; with
and for each other)
learning is conceptualized as collaboratively
co-creating knowledge, through cooperative,
peer-to-peer, informal learning and interaction,
using digital technology.

1.4 Situated
Learning
lave and wenger
(1991)

communities of practice
situative cPd
work-based learning
situated learning

learning is conceptualized as participating in
communities of practice.
developing from novice to expert, focus on
situativity attends to the social context of
learning.
authenticity of the environment and support
for peer-to-peer learning are highlighted.

(Continued )