Exploring Podcasting for E-Learning (and new podcast episode released)

I'm exploring the medium of podcasting at the moment. I've previously discussed podcasting in general here, but in my view there can (and should) be more to the medium than the well-trodden 'single voice-over discusses topic' - what I call the 'fireside chat' - podcast format. To undertake this successfully demands a theoretical understanding and competency in a number of domains.

I will outline the technical aspects of creating, recording, producing, and distributing podcasts at a later time, but for now, I want to investigate some aspects of audio delivered via podcast as a learning channel.

The greatest advantage of the sound medium lies in its direct appeal to the imagination. There is a (probably apocryphal) story told that a child once said they liked radio better than TV 'because there are better pictures on the radio'. The sound 'pictures' are better because they are built in the mind and imagination of the user. If done correctly, ideas and meaning can be conjured up in sound as easily as a software simulation demonstrates the steps involved in formatting a spreadsheet...

...well, perhaps not quite so easily. Sound demands a greater contribution from the learner than visually presented material. To compel this involvement - and to deserve it - the material emerging from a loudspeaker must maintain a high level of interest throughout. If it drops for one moment, the imagination is turned off like a light and all real communication is lost. However, there are many ways to stimulate the imagination: to some extent, they depend on form, and to some extent they depend on studio and recording technique. Apart from this, what is done is a matter for individual judgment and intuition.

In the analysis of any podcast, we should probably take interest as our starting point, because the one factor that all successful podcasts have in common is their ability to engage and retain the audience's interest. Gauging interest depends on our previous life experiences: we know what we like; what we're not motivated to care about leaves us relatively indifferent - very few people are interested in subjects that cannot be explained in terms of concepts that are already understood.

In this context, a podcast presents a learning stimulus, guides knowledge acquisition or learning through example, and elicits understanding. As such a podcast is a practical example of Bruner’s concept of instructional scaffolding - the learner's current level of knowledge can be described as an edifice that represents their cognitive abilities. Mayes and de Freitas (2005) describe the scaffolding as “a means of exploiting the ZPD” (p.19). The cognitive scaffold surrounds what is already known and can be done. The new is built on top of the known as the learner develops, and over time the supports can be removed as the learner can independently actualize the knowledge, behavior or skill. Each new learned knowledge or asset becomes a level in the learner’s constructed schema and this becomes the foundation for extending the learner’s ongoing development.

When we listen to somebody talking, we soon forget such relatively superficial qualities as accent and voice timbre (unless we are forcibly reminded of them at any point); we do not listen closely to the actual words, but go straight to the meaning - we forget the words almost as soon as they are spoken, the meaning we may retain. This meaning, together with its associations in the audience's mind (through visual, memory association or other means) forms an image that may be concrete, abstract, or a mixture of the two. If it is possible to present a subject in such terms, a considerable amount has been achieved in enabling the audience to learn for the podcast.

With that in mind, here is the latest episode from my 'Other' Podcast Transatlantic: the Flying Boats of Foynes ('New and Notable' according to the iTunes Podcast Store). If you choose to listen to the podcast, you'll notice that the piece is not merely a narrator telling a story: along with narration, there's dramatization, eye-witness accounts, and incidental and background music. Other sound elements included in the series of podcasts include archive recordings, wild track, and (in Part 5) a very cool sound collage to set the scene for the outbreak of World War 2 in September 1939.

The observant among you will notice that the piece isn't about e-learning. That's OK - the point of e-learning is to provide training professionals with a means of creating and distributing content that enables people to acquire information, knowledge, skills, and expertise on a diverse range of subjects: as e-learning practitioners, it's our job to facilitate this process.

In Part 3 of Transatlantic: The Flying Boats of Foynes:

On the 4th of July 1937, the Pan American flying boat Yankee Clipper inaugurated the west-east part of the transatlantic air route with Foynes as the fulcrum of the New York - Lisbon flight.

Chief Operator of Morse Code & Semaphore Frank Buckley describes the sight of Pan American Captain Harold Gray's Boeing B-314 Clipper arriving for the first time in Foynes, Ireland.

We get a sense of the glamour and the whiff of danger for passengers undertaking the still-difficult journey from one side of the Atlantic Ocean to the other.

We tell the story of the invention of Irish Coffee.

Click here to listen.

As one of the contributors in the podcast has quite a noticeable regional accent, I've included a transcript for the podcast - indeed, some people may find using their visual as well as their audio register is a more satisfying experience. Click here to view the transcript of this podcast (PDF, 30K).

Does this format work for podcasting in your view? Have I managed to elicit interest in the subject matter. As a listener, are you motivated to find out more, by retrieving Episodes 1 & 2 or by subscribing to the series? Let me know what you think.
___________

References:

Bates, A. W. (1984). Broadcasting in education: an evaluation. London: Croom Helm

Bates, A. W. (2005). Technology, e-learning and distance education. Oxford: Routledge Falmer

de Freitas, S. & Mayes, T. (2005). JISC e-Learning Models Desk Study Stage 2: Review of e learning theories, frameworks and models. [Online] London, JISC. Available from: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Stage%202%20Learning%20Models%20(Version%201).pdf [Accessed 15th January 2007]

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Teaching organizations how to learn. Part 2 – Conditions for learning

As discussed in a previous post, Driscoll (1994) outlines five conditions for learning (p.382-3). Very much like the multiple approaches and interpretations that exist in constructivism, a number of conditions must be met for the approach to be implemented. The conditions are:

1. Providing complex learning environments that incorporate authentic activity. Constructivists argue that learners should learn to solve the types of complex problem they will face in real life. Learning how to do this is difficult unless complex and authentic learning environments are available to the learners.
2. Providing for social negotiation as an integral part of learning. Bruner (1986) explains that learning is a cultural interchange between group members. Collaboration creates an opportunity for learners to share their understandings with others and to have others do the same with them. This provides multiple perspectives to each learner, and this negotiation process between peers should lead to enhanced understanding.
3. Support multiple perspectives and the use of multiple modes of representation. Because learning skills, behaviors and knowledge can be diverse and complex, constructivists believe that to achieve complete understanding the learner must examine the material from multiple perspectives. If they are not supported in this endeavor, the learner will achieve only a partial understanding of the material. Multiple modes of representation allow the learner to view the same content through different sensory modes.
4. Nurture reflexivity. Duffy and Cunningham (1996) characterize reflexivity as “the ability of students to be aware of their own role in the knowledge construction process.” (p.172). It could also be described as the learner taking ownership of their own thinking and learning processes. Driscoll (1994) assets that reflexivity and by extension critical thinking are central attributes in the constructivist methodology, as it enables learners to understand how and why cognition creates meaning. This enables learners to attain goals such as reasoning, understanding multiple perspectives, and expressing and defending their own beliefs.
5. The last condition Driscoll describes is to “emphasize student-centred instruction.” Bruner (1966) calls this “discovery learning”. By obtaining knowledge by themselves, learners select and transform information, construct knowledge, and make decisions in the context of a cognitive structure that provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to “go beyond the information given”. Students are actively engaged in determining what and how they will study or gain understanding.

These principles and conditions position the constructivist approach to learning as an appropriate orientation for learning sans frontiers; using technologies like the Internet, websites and virtual learning environments, applying collaborative learning, problem-based learning and goal-based mechanisms, making Open Source Software and Course- and Content Management Systems accessible to learners, and using e-learning applications like online conferencing and collaboration tools could be the foundation for these multiple constructivist conditions for learning. (Duffy & Cunningham 1996, Driscoll 1994, Schank 1994)

These characteristics provide an appropriate framework for knowledge workers to learn (and for the learning intervention), given that their ongoing development is based in the context of already-established cognitive schemata (from the learners’ perspective), the knowledge and skills are applied to solve real-world problems, and their expertise (behaviors) are typically used in collaboration with their peers to enhance the performance of organizations.

___________

References:

Bruner, J. S. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston, MA. Allyn & Bacon.

Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J. (1996) Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen D. H. (Ed) Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp.170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.

Schank, R. (1994) Active Learning Through Multimedia, IEEE Multimedia, 1(1), pp.69-78.

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Teaching organizations how to learn. Part 1

Chris Argyris, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School, has made significant contributions to the development of organizational learning theory and experiential learning.

Any company that aspires to succeed in the tougher business environment ...must first resolve a basic dilemma: success in the marketplace increasingly depends on learning, yet most people don’t know how to learn. What’s more, those members of the organization that many assume to be the best at learning are, in fact, not very good at it.

(Argyris, C. 1991)

Over the next couple of weeks (taking digressions where appropriate) I will examine the significance of his work (focusing in particular on single-loop and double-loop learning) on organizational learning systems.

Today however, I will begin by reminding you of the basis for Chris Argyris’ work: Constructivism.

In her comprehensive reference text Psychology of learning for instruction, Marcy Driscoll describes constructivism as having

…multiple roots in psychology and philosophy, among which are the cognitive and developmental perspectives of Piaget, the interactional and cultural emphases of Vygotsky and Bruner, the contextual nature of learning, the active learning of Dewey, the epistemological discussions of von Glasersfeld and the paradigm and scientific revolutions of Thomas Kuhn.

(1994, p.375)

Constructivism is an approach to learning based on the premise that cognition, or learning, is the result of mental construction: it is an active process in which learners construct new ideas, skills and behaviors based upon their prior and current knowledge, behavior and skill assets. The learner transforms information, constructs knowledge, and makes decisions based upon extant cognitive structures or mental models. These cognitive structures - what Roger Schank calls “scripts” in his Dynamic Memory Model (1982) - provide meaning and organization to experiences and allow the individual to go “beyond the information given” (Bruner, 1974). Even though there are numerous interpretations of constructivism, several central concepts inhabit all constructivist theories. Cunningham and Duffy (1996) identified two major similarities that are the foundation of all constructivist thought. They are that “learning is an active process of constructing rather than acquiring knowledge” and “instruction is a process of supporting that construction rather that communicating knowledge” (1996, p.172).

Bruner’s 1966 text Toward a Theory of Instruction described the key principles of constructivism (p.225):

Table 1 Principles of constructivism

Principle		Definition
Readiness		Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn
Spiral organization	Structure.	The content must be structured so that it can be grasped by the learner.
	Sequence.	Material must be presented in the most effective sequences.
Generation		“Going beyond the information given” - Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps

Extending from these basic constructivist principles as well as from the work of other key figures in the constructivist school, Driscoll (1994) outlines five conditions for learning (p.382-3). Very much like the multiple approaches and interpretations that exist in constructivism, a number of conditions must be met for the approach to be implemented. It is useful to elaborate briefly on these conditions, as they are relevant to the learning approach discussed in the rest of this series of posts.

…and I will do this tomorrow.

____________________

References:

Argyris, C. (1991) Teaching Smart People How to Learn. Harvard Business Review Reflections 4(2). [Internet]. Available from: http://www.velinperformance.com/downloads/chris_argyris_learning.pdf [Accessed 12 November 2008]

Bruner, J. S. (1974) Going Beyond the Information Given. New York: Norton.

Cunningham, D. J. & Duffy, T. M. (1996) Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen. D. H. (Ed.), Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.

Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston, MA. Allyn & Bacon.

Schank, R. (1982) Dynamic Memory: A Theory of Reminding and Learning in Computers and People. Cambridge University Press.

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A Year in E-Learning: One Blog’s Progress

Welcome to my blog, The E-Learning Curve.

So began my first post to the E-Learning Curve Blog on this day in 2007. Upon reflection, I don’t think that I really had any idea about what I was letting myself in for, in terms of the discipline and commitment, not to mention the sheer effort required to create and maintain a high-quality blog about Electronic Learning & Development.

I don’t think that I had any real knowledge about how the blog would unfold either; I guess that for me, that was part of what attracted me to the idea of keeping a blog in the first place: I wanted to see what would emerge over time.

In that sense I was lucky: in it’s first year the E-Learning Curve Blog transitioned from a world with a stable economic climate, to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis, through the tipping point of the Credit Crunch, and now, the Great DepRecession* of Aught Eight.

This has given me the opportunity to discuss e-learning in society-at-large, and in the workplace in particular. What better opportunity is there for learning professionals to introduce the benefits of education than now? From my own experience over the last year, I have seen attitudes to e-learning change - for the better – as individuals and organizations I have worked with have finally begun to let go of the idea that e-learning today is not about “Webified” instructor-led courseware, or worse, dull and boring Authorware-style page-turners, but is an effective means to deliver knowledge and information across many channels, and takes a range of technologies under its aegis.

The emergence of the Read / Write Web into the broader consciousness has demonstrated that learning online can be as immersive an experience as a face-to-face training experience.

What better time, then, for individuals and organizations to look at educational strategy and learning technologies than in a period of profound change – these are the times that test the mettle of ideas and concepts and where they prove their value; if the reality lives up to the perception, if the potential can be realized.

What have I learned?

In a response to a recent Learning Circuits Blog Big Question, I once described myself as a 'learnivore' - a bit of a naff term, but accurate. Writing and maintaining a blog is one of the best motivators I know to continue developing my professional knowledge - to discuss the kind of topics I like to cover requires a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the subject of e-learning and all that understanding e-learning entails.

As a constructivist, I would assert that the practise of blogging is a excellent example of Bruner's Learning Spiral: the act of writing a blog post transforms information and enables the construction of knowledge, based upon my extant cognitive structures or mental models. These cognitive structures - what Roger Schank calls “scripts” in his Dynamic Memory Model (1982) - provide meaning and organisation to experiences and allow the individual to go “beyond the information given” (Bruner, 1974).

My view is that the e-learning blogosphere is inhabited by a population of knowledgeable, dedicated, and critical (in the positive sense) contributors, and if you want to be in that company, you have to know your stuff; of the blogs I read - see the nav panel to the right - the bar is set pretty high.

Top Ten

On a more practical note, here’s a list of the top ten topics according to the readers of The E-learning Curve Blog, courtesy of the fantastic blog analysis tools available on Statcounter – not just cool because they’re Irish.

1. Definition of E-learning
2. Economic downturn and the challenge to e-learning
3. The principles of constructivism
4. Non-formal learning in the workplace
5. Evaluating Non-formal Learning
6. Open Source E-Learning
7. E-learning & Knowledge Management
8. Using Kirkpatrick's Four-level model
9. Applying the e-learning curve in the corporate environment
10. E-Learning and the Economic Downturn: A Salutary Lesson

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* DepRecession: A portmanteau word to describe the current Recession and / or Depression. Also has the benefit of being an homonym for “Deep Recession”

FOGRA: Googling “elearning blog” about a week ago, this happened:

Certainly an unexpected (but rewarding) first anniversary present!

Thanks to all who’ve read, contributed to, and debated the topics covered over the last twelve months, and I hope you'll continue to engage with me in the times to come.

_________________

References:

Bruner, J. S. (1974) Going Beyond the Information Given. New York: Norton.

Schank, R. (1982) Dynamic Memory: A Theory of Reminding and Learning in Computers and People. Cambridge University Press.

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An Open Environment for E-Learning Course Development: Project Lifecycle 2

Phase One: Using a Constructivist Theoretical Approach

Bruner’s 1966 text Toward a Theory of Instruction described the key principles of constructivism (p.225):

Table 1 Principles of constructivism

Principle		Definition
Readiness		Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn
Spiral organisation	Structure.	The content must be structured so that it can be grasped by the learner.
	Sequence.	Material must be presented in the most effective sequences.
Generation		“Going beyond the information given” - Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps

Extending from these basic constructivist principles as well as from the work of other key figures in the constructivist school, Driscoll (1994) outlines five conditions for learning (p.382-3). Very much like the multiple approaches and interpretations that exist in constructivism, a number of conditions must be met for the approach to be implemented. It is useful to elaborate briefly on these conditions, as they are relevant to the learning approach discussed in the rest of this part of the blog.

1. Providing complex learning environments that incorporate authentic activity. Constructivists argue that learners should learn to solve the types of complex problem they will face in real life. Learning how to do this is difficult unless complex and authentic learning environments are available to the learners.
2. Providing for social negotiation as an integral part of learning. Bruner (1986) explains that learning is a cultural interchange between group members. Collaboration creates an opportunity for learners to share their understandings with others and to have others do the same with them. This provides multiple perspectives to each learner, and this negotiation process between peers should lead to enhanced understanding.
3. Support multiple perspectives and the use of multiple modes of representation. Because learning skills, behaviours and knowledge can be diverse and complex, constructivists believe that to achieve complete understanding the learner must examine the material from multiple perspectives. If they are not supported in this endeavour, the learner will achieve only a partial understanding of the material. Multiple modes of representation allow the learner to view the same content through different sensory modes.
4. Nurture reflexivity. Duffy and Cunningham (1996) characterise reflexivity as “the ability of students to be aware of their own role in the knowledge construction process.” (p.172). It could also be described as the learner taking ownership of their own thinking and learning processes. Driscoll (1994) assets that reflexivity and by extension critical thinking are central attributes in the constructivist methodology, as it enables learners to understand how and why cognition creates meaning. This enables learners to attain goals such as reasoning, understanding multiple perspectives, and expressing and defending their own beliefs.
5. The last condition Driscoll describes is to “emphasise student-centred instruction.” Bruner (1966) calls this “discovery learning”. By obtaining knowledge by themselves, learners select and transform information, construct knowledge, and make decisions in the context of a cognitive structure that provides meaning and organisation to experiences and allows the individual to “go beyond the information given”. Students are actively engaged in determining what and how they will study or gain understanding.

These principles and conditions position the constructivist approach to learning as an appropriate orientation for learning sans frontiers; using technologies like the Internet, websites and virtual learning environments, applying collaborative learning, problem-based learning and goal-based mechanisms, making Open Source Software and Course- and Content Management Systems accessible to learners, and using e-learning applications like online conferencing and collaboration tools could be the foundation for these multiple constructivist conditions for learning. (Duffy & Jonassen 1992, Driscoll 1994; Schank 1994)

These characteristics provide an appropriate framework for knowledge workers to learn (and for the learning intervention), given that their ongoing development is based in the context of already-established cognitive schemata (from the learners’ perspective), the knowledge and skills are applied to solve real-world problems, and their expertise (behaviours) are typically used in collaboration with their peers to enhance the performance of organisations.

___________________

References:

Bruner, J. S. (1966) Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston, MA. Allyn & Bacon.

Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J. (1996) Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen D. H. (Ed) Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp.170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.

Schank, R. (1994) Active Learning Through Multimedia, IEEE Multimedia, 1(1), pp.69-78.

Constructivism Pt.7: Social Learning cont'd

In terms of a learner’s cognitive development, Vygotsky's argues that learning precedes development. As developmental processes lag behind learning processes, less experienced or developed individuals can often carry out tasks with the help of others when they could not accomplish these tasks independently. The knowledge, behaviours and skills that learners demonstrate when assisted are actually in the process of becoming internalised in the learner’s schemata - the script is being written.

As in Kolb’s and Fry’s four-stage cycle, this is a recursive process: unlike the experiential model though, the dialectic “tension” is a social discourse between the learner and the MKO, rather than the modes described in the experiential model. Vygotsky (1978) maintains that cognitive development occurs in this area of the learning continuum in what he calls the “zone of proximal development” (ZPD). The ZPD is the gap between a learner's actual development level and the learner's potential level of development. Vygotsky described the ZPD as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers” (1978, p.86). This process of learning and encoding knowledge is analogous to some of Gagné’s Events of Learning (1985), where the MKO presents a learning stimulus, guides learning through example, elicits performance from the learner and provides feedback. Similarly, it provides a theoretical foundation for Bruner’s concept of instructional scaffolding - the learner current level of knowledge can an edifice that represents their cognitive abilities. Mayes and de Freitas (2005) describe the scaffolding as “a means of exploiting the ZPD” (p.19). The cognitive scaffold surrounds what is already known and can be done. The new is built on top of the known as the learner develops, and over time the supports can be removed as the learner can independently actualise the knowledge, behaviour or skill. Each new learned skill asset becomes a level in the learner’s constructed schema and this becomes the foundation for extending the learner’s ongoing development.

Figure 1 Zone of Proximal Development

The concepts of the ZPD and scaffolding are central to how individuals develop using e-learning: how these concepts can be implemented will be explored in a later blog entry.

References:

de Freitas, S. & Mayes, T. (2005). JISC e-Learning Models Desk Study Stage 2: Review of e-learning theories, frameworks and models. [Online] London, JISC. Available from: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/
Stage%202%20Learning%20Models%20(Version%201).pdf
[Accessed 15th January 2007]

Fry, R. & Kolb, D. A. (1975) Toward an Applied Theory of Experiential Learning. IN: Theory of Group Processes. (Cooper, C. ed). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc

Gagne, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning (4th ed). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in society. Edited by Cole, M. John-Steiner, V. Scribner, Souberman, E. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press

Constructivism Pt.3: The principles of constructivism

Bruner’s 1966 text Toward a Theory of Instruction described the key principles of constructivism (p.225):

Table 1 Principles of constructivism

Principle		Definition
Readiness		Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn
Spiral organisation	Structure.	The content must be structured so that it can be grasped by the learner.
	Sequence.	Material must be presented in the most effective sequences.
Generation		“Going beyond the information given” - Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps

Extending from these basic constructivist principles as well as from the work of other key figures in the constructivist school, Driscoll (1994) outlines five conditions for learning (p.382-3). Very much like the multiple approaches and interpretations that exist in constructivism, a number of conditions must be met for the approach to be implemented. It is useful to elaborate briefly on these conditions, as they are relevant to the learning approach discussed in the rest of this part of the blog.

1. Providing complex learning environments that incorporate authentic activity. Constructivists argue that learners should learn to solve the types of complex problem they will face in real life. Learning how to do this is difficult unless complex and authentic learning environments are available to the learners.
2. Providing for social negotiation as an integral part of learning. Bruner (1986) explains that learning is a cultural interchange between group members. Collaboration creates an opportunity for learners to share their understandings with others and to have others do the same with them. This provides multiple perspectives to each learner, and this negotiation process between peers should lead to enhanced understanding.
3. Support multiple perspectives and the use of multiple modes of representation. Because learning skills, behaviours and knowledge can be diverse and complex, constructivists believe that to achieve complete understanding the learner must examine the material from multiple perspectives. If they are not supported in this endeavour, the learner will achieve only a partial understanding of the material. Multiple modes of representation allow the learner to view the same content through different sensory modes.
4. Nurture reflexivity. Duffy and Cunningham (1996) characterise reflexivity as “the ability of students to be aware of their own role in the knowledge construction process.” (p.172). It could also be described as the learner taking ownership of their own thinking and learning processes. Driscoll (1994) assets that reflexivity and by extension critical thinking are central attributes in the constructivist methodology, as it enables learners to understand how and why cognition creates meaning. This enables learners to attain goals such as reasoning, understanding multiple perspectives, and expressing and defending their own beliefs.
5. The last condition Driscoll describes is to “emphasise student-centred instruction.” Bruner (1966) calls this “discovery learning”. By obtaining knowledge by themselves, learners select and transform information, construct knowledge, and make decisions in the context of a cognitive structure that provides meaning and organisation to experiences and allows the individual to “go beyond the information given”. Students are actively engaged in determining what and how they will study or gain understanding.

These principles and conditions position the constructivist approach to learning as an appropriate orientation for learning sans frontiers; using technologies like the Internet, websites and virtual learning environments, applying collaborative learning, problem-based learning and goal-based mechanisms, making Open Source Software and Course- and Content Management Systems accessible to learners, and using e-learning applications like online conferencing and collaboration tools could be the foundation for these multiple constructivist conditions for learning. (Duffy & Jonassen 1992, Driscoll 1994; Schank 1994)

These characteristics provide an appropriate framework for knowledge workers to learn (and for the learning intervention), given that their ongoing development is based in the context of already-established cognitive schemata (from the learners’ perspective), the knowledge and skills are applied to solve real-world problems, and their expertise (behaviours) are typically used in collaboration with their peers to enhance the performance of organisations.

References

Bruner, J. S. (1966) Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Bruner, J. S. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston, MA. Allyn & Bacon.

Duffy, T. M. & Cunningham, D. J. (1996) Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen D. H. (Ed) Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp.170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.

Schank, R. (1994) Active Learning Through Multimedia, IEEE Multimedia, 1(1), pp.69-78.

Constructivism Pt.2: The Cognitive Revolution

Jerome Bruner was an advocate of the so-called ‘Cognitive Revolution,’ an intellectual movement in the 1950s that began what are known collectively as the cognitive sciences – “an interdisciplinary study of the cognitive processes underlying the acquisition and use of knowledge” (“Cognitive Science”, 2007). Following on from the work of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget, he developed a number of cognitive & constructivist psychological approaches “not to ‘reform’ behaviourism, but to replace it” (1990, p.3). Bruner demonstrated that a learner’s actions are less constrained by immediate environmental stimuli, and that cognitive processes mediate the relationship between stimulus and response. He asserted that learning could occur without an observable manifest behaviour and that it was possible to undertake a task or acquire knowledge ‘mentally’ rather than through a purely positivist or behaviourist methodologies phenomenology. By emphasising the importance of teaching as a means of enhancing cognitive development, Bruner saw the role of the instructor as one who mediates the information to be learned, delivering it in a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding. The instructor was responsible for encouraging learners to discover principles by themselves, and both learners and instructors should engage in an active dialogue: “practice in discovering for oneself teaches one to acquire information in a way that makes that information more readily viable in problem solving” (Bruner, 1961, p.26). To enhance this process he maintained that learning and curricula should be organised in a learning spiral, where content is structured and distributed in a format that is appropriate for the learner’s current level of knowledge. The content must also be sequenced in such a fashion that the learner is appropriately challenged and stimulated by the content so that the information being mediated by the instructor continually builds upon what the learner has already assimilated (see Figure 1).




Figure 1. Bruner's Learning Spiral (adapted from Harvard Project Zero)

References:

Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review 31(1): 21–32

Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of Meaning. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press

Cognitive Science. (2007). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia. [Internet] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_Science [Accessed 1st May 2007]

Constructivism Pt.1

In her comprehensive reference text Psychology of learning for instruction, Marcy Driscoll describes constructivism as having

…multiple roots in psychology and philosophy, among which are the cognitive and developmental perspectives of Piaget, the interactional and cultural emphases of Vygotsky and Bruner, the contextual nature of learning, the active learning of Dewey, the epistemological discussions of von Glasersfeld and the paradigm and scientific revolutions of Thomas Kuhn.

(1994, p.375)

Constructivism is an approach to learning based on the premise that cognition, or learning, is the result of mental construction: it is an active process in which learners construct new ideas, skills and behaviours based upon their prior and current knowledge, behaviour and skill assets. The learner transforms information, constructs knowledge, and makes decisions based upon extant cognitive structures or mental models. These cognitive structures - what Roger Schank calls “scripts” in his Dynamic Memory Model (1982) - provide meaning and organisation to experiences and allow the individual to go “beyond the information given” (Bruner, 1974). Even though there are numerous interpretations of constructivism, several central concepts inhabit all constructivist theories. Cunningham and Duffy (1996) identified two major similarities that are the foundation of all constructivist thought. They are that “learning is an active process of constructing rather than acquiring knowledge” and “instruction is a process of supporting that construction rather that communicating knowledge” (1996, p.172).

References:

Bruner, J. S. (1974) Going Beyond the Information Given. New York: Norton.

Cunningham, D. J. & Duffy, T. M. (1996) Constructivism: Implications for the design and delivery of instruction. IN: Jonassen. D. H. (Ed.), Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 170- 198). New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan.

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