The Computer as the Teacher’s Tool

• It can in fact support that the Constructivist and Social constructivist paradigms of constructivist learning.

• Constructivism was introduced by Piaget (1981) and Bruner (1990).

• They gave stress to knowledge discovery of new meaning/concepts/principles in the learning process.

• Students engaged in gathering unorganized information.

• Students are asked to apply discovered

knowledge to new situations.

• Social Constructivism is an effort to show that the construction of knowledge is governed by social, historical and cultural contexts.

• The psychologist Vygotsky stressed that learning is affected by social influences. He therefore suggested the interactive process in learning.

• For Dewey , he sees language as a medium for social coordination and adaptation.

. Learning Framework Constructivism

Social Constructivism

AssumptionKnowledge is

constructed by the individual

Knowledge is constructed within a social content

Definition of learning

Students build their own learning

Students build knowledge influenced by the social context

Learning strategies

General orientation

Gather unorganized information to

create new concept/principle

Personal discovery of knowledge

Exchange and share form ideas, stimulates

thinking

Students discuss and discover meanings

The Computer’s Capabilities• The computer can provide access to

information, foster creative social knowledge-building, and enhance the communication of the achieved project package.

• Without the computer, today’s learners may still be assuming the tedious tasks of low-level information gathering, building and new knowledge packaging.

Based on the two learning theories, the teacher can employ the computer as a/an:

An information tool

A communication tool

A constructive toolAs co-constrcuctive toolA situating tool

Information Technology in Support of Student-Centered Learning

•John Dewey one of the educational educators argued for a high active and individualized pedagogical methods which place the student at the center of the teaching-learning process.

•In this lesson, we shall see how the teacher can expand his options to make himself more effective and relevant in the 21st millennium information age.

Suggestions shall be made on how a Student-Centered Learning (SCL) can be supported

by Information Technology (IT):

•The traditional classroom - necessitated by the need to maintain classroom discipline

and also allow the teacher to control classroom activities through lecture presentation

and teacher –led discussions.

• The SCL classroom – John Dewey described learningas a process in which the teacher pours information

to student.

Direct instruction – based on the long accepted belief that the teacher must perform his role of teaching so that learning can occur.

Information and Communication Technologies – desiring to gain effectiveness, efficiency and economy in administration and instruction.

The students have now become active not passive learners.

Who can interact with other learners

Demonstrating independence and self-awareness in the learning process.

In general:new school classroom environment is characterized by students individually/ groups.

• performing computer word processing for the text or graphs presentation

•Preparing power-point

• searching information from the internet

• brainstorming ideas, problems and project plans as neededteacher facilitating instruction, gives individualized instruction, to serve individual needs.

Given this new trend in teaching-and-learningthe option has now been opened for modernteacher to shift gears to student-centered learning.