Educational Technology Learning Theory

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Educational TechnologyLearning Theory

• Kim Peacock, M.Ed.

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Learning Theory

• Social theory
• Communication theory
• Media studies
• Technology theories
• Neuroscience
• Etc

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Epistimology (aka How Can We Know)

• Empiricism (experience)
• Knowledge comes from sensory input experiences
  that get meshed together into complex
  associations.
• Empirical truths (things are proven to be true).
• Learning comes in controlling the environment

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Epistimology (aka How Can We Know)

• Rationalism (reason)
• Knowledge is already in the mind. Learning and
  comes from reflection on what learners know
  combined what they observe (aka reasoning).
• A priori truths (things are just true based on
  reason)
• Learning comes in making connections with prior
  knowledge.

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Three Main Theoretical Perspectives

• Behaviourism
• Cognitivism
• Cognitive Load Theory
• Constructivism

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A Fourth Perspective ???

• Connectivism ???
• Others...

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Behaviourism

• Key theorists Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike, Skinner
• The mind is a black box.
• Learning is an expected response to a given
  stimulus we cant see what goes on in the black
  box.

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The Motto of the Behaviourist

• Practice Makes Perfect!

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Behaviourism Key Ideas

• Stimulus-response (repetition)
• Operant conditioning (reinforcement)
• Punishment
• Consequences
• Modelling
• Shaping
• Cuing
• Drill and practice

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Behaviourism Instructivism

• Aka Direct instruction
• Aka - Teacher-directed
• Primary mode Lecture

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Behaviourist Educational Practices

• Learning objectives / curriculum
• Direct instruction
• Behaviour analysis
• Classroom management techniques
• Choice
• Rewards

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Behaviourist Technologies

• Math Blaster

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Behaviourist Technologies

• iClickers

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Behaviourist Technologies

• Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)
• Computer AssistedAssessment (CAA)

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Behaviourist Technologies

• Online Tutorials

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Behaviourist Technologies

• TED Talks / YouTube

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Behaviourist Technologies

• Brainpop

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Behaviourist Technologies

• Foursquare, Huffingtonpost

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Behaviourist Technologies

• Microquest games (e.g., Robinson)

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Behaviourist Technologies

• The Future? http//www.youtube.com/watch?vI3ih-sm
  6hxA

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Criticisms of Behaviourism

• Grossly oversimplifies learning
• Learning is not always tied to behaviours
• Learning does not require rewards or punishments
• The mind is not a black box
• People adapt

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Drill Time!

• Tweet me another behaviourist technology and tell
  me why you feel it is behaviourist. Dont forget
  edit202!

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Cognitivism

• Emerged in the 1900s as a response to
  behaviourism got big in the 50s/60s.
• Key theorists Piaget, Gagne, Vygotsky, Bruner
• Beyond behaviour and into the black box
• Memory systems are active, organized processors
  of information
• Prior knowledge is key in learning

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Cognitivist Motto

• The mind is a computer.

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Cognitivism - Key Ideas

• Schema/scaffolding
• Atkinson-Shiffrin Memory Model (Sensory/ST/LT
  Memory)
• Working memory
• Meaningful effect
• Motivation
• Seriality

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Cognitivism - Key Ideas

• Practice for retention
• Organization
• Mneumonic devices
• Metaphor / Symbolism
• Memory palace
• Mental maps
• Advance organizers

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Cognitive Load Theory

• Processing information can over or under load
  working memory.
• Things must run smoothly in order for meaningful
  learning to occur.
• Key Theorists Miller, Sweller
• Example High falutin mumbo jumbo
• Example Learning in another language
• Example Overstimulation

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Cognitive Load Key Ideas

• Chunking
• Learning structures
• Instructional design
• Means-ends analysis (inching closer)
• Intrinsic load (difficulty)
• Extraneous load (simplicity)
• Germane load (schemas/connections)
• Error / Fundamental Attribution Error

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Working Memory

• Working memory is the system which actively holds
  multiple pieces of transitory information in the
  mind when needed for verbal and nonverbal tasks
  such as reasoning and comprehension, and to make
  them available for further information
  processing.
• Becker Morris (1999)
• It has replaced Atkinson Shiffrins STM

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Cognitive Load Implications for EdTech

• What things look like matter
• User Interface
• HCI
• General Aesthetic
• How things are organized matter
• Navigational structures
• Layout of information

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Cognitivist Technologies

• Scratch

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Cognitivist Technologies

• Digital Concept Mapping

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Cognitivist Technologies

• Prezi

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Cognitivist Technologies

• Databases

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Cognitivist Technologies

• Artificial Intelligence
• Learning theorists and computer scientists
  often work together in this area.

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Criticisms of Cognitivism

• Ignores the affective and psychomotor
• Too focused on knowledge difficult to measure
  understanding and HOTS
• The brain is not a computer

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Drill Time!

• Tweet me an example of a web tool or site that
  has high extraneous load. Label it edit202 AND
  extraneousload

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Constructivsm

• Emerged in the early 1930s
• Key Theorists Dewey, Kolb, Montessori, Piaget,
  Bruner, Jonassen
• The mind is a rhizome (network)
• Teacher as facilitator

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Constructivism

• Learning is building connections by actively
  interacting with the environment
• begin with complex problems and teach basic
  skills while solving these problems
• learning involves constructing one's own
  knowledge from one's own experiences

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Jonassons Definition

• Learners construct their own reality or at least
  interpret it based upon their perceptions of
  experiences, so an individual's knowledge is a
  function of one's prior experiences, mental
  structures, and beliefs that are used to
  interpret objects and events.... What someone
  knows is grounded in perception of the physical
  and social experiences which are comprehended by
  the mind."
• Jonasson, 1991

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David Jonasson

• Constructivism and Technology
• Computers in the Classroom Mindtools for
  Critical Thinking (1996)
• http//web.missouri.edu/jonassend/

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Constructivism Key Ideas

• Problem-based learning
• Project-based learning
• Authentic tasks
• Discovery learning
• Case-based learning
• Collaborative learning
• Active learning (responsibility on learners)
• Vygotskys Zone of proximal development

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Seymour Papert

• Constructionism
• Learning is most effective when learners create
  tangible, real-world objects.
• Learning by making
• Mindstorms Children, Computers, and Powerful
  Ideas (1980)
• Father of Lego Robotics
• http//www.papert.org/

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Merrills Assumptions of Constructivism

• Knowledge is constructed from experience
• Learning is a personal interpretation of the
  world
• Learning is an active process in which meaning is
  developed on the basis of experience

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Merrills Assumptions of Constructivism

• Conceptual growth comes from the negotiation of
  meaning, the sharing of multiple perspectives and
  the changing of our internal representations
  through collaborative learning
• Learning should be situated in realistic
  settings testing should be integrated with the
  task and not a separate activity(Merrill, 1991,
  in Smorgansbord, 1997)

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Constructivist Technologies

• Many video games

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Constructivist Technologies

• Lego Robotics (Constructionist)

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Constructivist Technologies

• Technology as tool A means to an end
• Google Sites
• Wikispaces
• PB Works
• Blogger
• Wordpress
• Etc...

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Constructivist Tech Strategy

• WebquestsBernie Dodgewebquest.org

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Aside Constructivist Schools

• Quest 2 Learnhttp//q2l.org/
• High Tech Highhttp//www.hightechhigh.org/
• New Tech Highhttp//newtechhigh.org/
• Edutopia Schools That Work
• http//www.edutopia.org/schools-that-work

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Criticisms of Constructivism

• Time consuming
• Subjective learning
• Mature learners required
• Difficult assessment
• Impractical without prior knowledge
• Lack of research / empirical evidence

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An Important Note

• Constructivism is COMPLEX!
• You can take entire courses on it.
• This is a very, very simplified version...

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Drill Time!

• Tweet me an example of a good constructivist
  learning activity you can do in your major/minor
  area. Tag it edit202 AND constructivism

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Connectivism

• Theory that has emerged since 2006
• Learning is the process of creating connections
  and developing a network
• Key theorists George Siemens (http//www.connecti
  vism.ca) and Stephen Downes
• Key work http//www.elearnspace.org/Articles/conn
  ectivism.htm

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Connectivism Motto

• A learning theory for the digital age.

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What is Connectivism?

• What is Learning to Me?http//www.youtube.com/wat
  ch?vbVwxDzCTEa8

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What is Connectivism?

• At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that
  knowledge is distributed across a network of
  connections, and therefore that learning consists
  of the ability to construct and traverse those
  networks

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What is Connectivism?

• It shares with some other theories a core
  proposition, that knowledge is not acquired, as
  though it were a thing Knowledge is, on this
  theory, literally the set of connections formed
  by actions and experience.
• Stephen Downes

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Layperson Definition

• Fast forward to today and connectivism is all
  the rage. In this digital era, we recognise that
  theres simply too much knowledge to take in
  and it changes too quickly anyway. So forget
  about trying to know everything instead, build
  your network of knowledge sources, and access
  them whenever you need them.
• Ryan Traceyhttp//ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2009/
  03/17/instructivism-constructivism-or-connectivis
  m/

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The Need for Connectivism

• A central tenet of most learning theories is that
  learning occurs inside a person. Even social
  constructivist views, which hold that learning is
  a socially enacted process, promotes the
  principality of the individual (and her/his
  physical presence i.e. brain-based) in
  learning. These theories do not address learning
  that occurs outside of people (i.e. learning that
  is stored and manipulated by technology). They
  also fail to describe how learning happens within
  organizations
• George Siemenshttp//www.elearnspace.org/Articles
  /connectivism.htm

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Connectivism Key Principles

• Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of
  opinions.
• Learning is a process of connecting specialized
  nodes or information sources.
• Learning may reside in non-human appliances.
• Capacity to know more is more critical than what
  is currently known
• Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed
  to facilitate continual learning.
• Ability to see connections between fields, ideas,
  and concepts is a core skill.

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Connectivism Key Principles

• Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the
  intent of all connectivist learning activities.
• Decision-making is itself a learning process.
  Choosing what to learn and the meaning of
  incoming information is seen through the lens of
  a shifting reality. While there is a right answer
  now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations
  in the information climate affecting the
  decision.
• George Siemenshttp//www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/
  article01.htm

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Networks and Nodes

• Networks are a set of connected notes.
• Nodes are anything that can be connected to
  another node.
• Nodes can include people, information, data,
  feelings, images, etc...
• Learning can exist outside of people
• It is more important to know-where to find
  things in your network than to know-how or
  know-what

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The Network IS the Learning

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vrpbkdeyFxZw

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Practicing What They Preach

• MOOC!
• http//cck11.mooc.ca/index.html

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Connectivist Technologies

• Twitter

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Connectivist Technologies

• Social Networking

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Connectivist Technologies

• RSS Feeds and Newsreaders

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Connectivist Technologies

• Bookmarking Apps

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Connectivist Technologies

• Search Engines

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Connectivist Technologies

• Any communication tool
• Email
• Webcam
• Chat
• VC
• Discussion forums

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Connectivist Technologies

• Anywhere we can store data
• Databases
• Intranets
• Drives
• WWW
• Servers

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Criticisms of Connectivism

• Informal vs. formal learning
• Is it really a new theory?
• http//jennymackness.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/atta
  cks-on-connectivism/
• http//stranack.ca/2012/08/16/critical-review-of-c
  onnectivism-a-learning-theory-for-the-digital-age/
  

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Internal Criticism

• Downes Socialization should not be a goal of
  education.
• Siemens Groups are networks.

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Drill Time!

• Connectivism or Constructivism? Which one do you
  connect with more? Why? Tag it edit202 and cvsc

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Comparing The 4 Models

• http//ci484-learning-technologies.wikispaces.com/
  Behaviorism,Cognitivism,Constructivism26Conne
  ctivism

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BCCC 1

• Scenario Learning Pythagorean Theorem
• Behaviourist Practice, practice, practice
• Cognitivist Connect to prior knowledge. Show
  how it works.
• Constructivist Give real life application
  situations where the PT can be applied.
• Connectivist Here are 5 links that show how, why
  and applications of PT.

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BCCC 2

• Scenario Learning grammar rules
• Behaviourist Worksheets!
• Cognitivist Use mneumonics to remember rules.
  Practice in context.
• Constructivist Write stories, essays, etc... And
  correct grammar as you go.
• Connectivist Bookmark 5 good grammar sites and
  find a good grammar checking program.

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Drill Time

• BCCC3 Tweet me a scenario to discuss. Tag it
  edit202 AND bccc

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Blooms Taxonomy (Cognitive)
Lorin Anderson
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Blooms Digital Taxonomy
Andrew Churches
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Mike Fishers Interpretation
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Theories of Technology
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Media Ecology

• Technology influences society
• Key theorists Postman, McLuhan,
• We are currently in the digital era.
• The medium is the message.
• Hot (low involvement) and cool (high involvement)
  media

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What is Media Ecology?

• "the study of media environments, the idea that
  technology and techniques, modes of information
  and codes of communication play a leading role in
  human affairs.
• The Media Ecology Association

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SCOT

• Social Construction of Technology
• Society and human action influence technology
• Key theorists Bijker, Pinch
• Bicycle example
• Symmetry
• Closure