Reading about constructivism was a bit of an ah-ha moment for me. First, I like that there is no single constructivist theory of instruction (not easy to pin down, akin to gifted education). Secondly, this theory lends itself perfectly to the gifted education classroom, as this classroom is one where, as described by Marcy Driscoll, "learners test their own understandings against those of others, especially those of teachers or more advanced peers" (p.387). For those visual learners out there (which, when you think about it, is all of us online), check out this Prezi-tation from the UBC for a summary of the constructivist theory of learning. This post will deal with constructivism and the tools and toys to create in a digital world.
Driscoll lists the learning goals of constructivism as:
- problem solving
- reasoning
- critical thinking
- active and reflective use of knowledge
Furthermore, Driscoll states that constructivists focus on higher-order goals and supply required scaffolding if students need it (p. 391). Again, this aligns with the goals of gifted education.
Driscoll's conditions for learning (in a constructivist world) include (pp. 394-401):
Being the reflective practitioner that I am, I have thought about these conditions and how I tried to create them in a mainstream classroom. While I was successful in creating many of the above in years past, I did not incorporate all of the m at one time. The difference between the mainstream classroom and the gifted classroom allows for compacting curricula, and not employing the pedagogy of prescription and practice. As such, students in a gifted classroom can master tasks easily, and then go beyond to create and communicate in a multitude of ways.
Renee Hobbs lists the five essential dimensions of digital and media literacy (to be elaborated on in subsequent posts) as these five elements:
The tools and toys of the trade
(I know that this list is not complete, as there are probably three new pieces of software developed in the time that it took me to write this sentence- the wordiness and awkward nature might actually lead to four):
*http://www.tip.duke.edu/node/820
Hobbs, Renee (2011). Digital and Media Literacy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Driscoll, M.P. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (pp. 384-407; Ch. 11 – Constructivism). Toronto, ON: Pearson.Driscoll's conditions for learning (in a constructivist world) include (pp. 394-401):
- Embed learning in complex, realistic and relevant environments
- Provide social negotiation as an integral part of learning
- Support multiple perspectives and the use of multiple models of representations (including metaphors- which is how we want gifted students to be thinking)- see Cognitive Flexibility Theory
- Encourage ownership in learning
- Nurture self-awareness of the knowledge-construction process
Being the reflective practitioner that I am, I have thought about these conditions and how I tried to create them in a mainstream classroom. While I was successful in creating many of the above in years past, I did not incorporate all of the m at one time. The difference between the mainstream classroom and the gifted classroom allows for compacting curricula, and not employing the pedagogy of prescription and practice. As such, students in a gifted classroom can master tasks easily, and then go beyond to create and communicate in a multitude of ways.
Renee Hobbs lists the five essential dimensions of digital and media literacy (to be elaborated on in subsequent posts) as these five elements:
- Access
- Analyze
- Create
- Reflect
- Act
For this post I want to focus on Hobbs' definition of create: "Composing or generating content using creativity and confidence in self-expression, with awareness or purpose, audience, and composition techniques" (Digital Literacy and Media, p. 12). Hobbs goes on to describe communication as "the expressive dimension," whereby students create for meaningful purposes and authentic audiences instead of just to fulfill an assignment (p. 16). Now students do not only create presentations and videos for their class, they create videos that can be seen by everyone with the Internet.
The tools and toys of the trade
(I know that this list is not complete, as there are probably three new pieces of software developed in the time that it took me to write this sentence- the wordiness and awkward nature might actually lead to four):
- ComicLife (comic book creator)
- Creately (draw online diagrams and collaborate)
- Diigo (online collaboration tool)
- Edmodo (watch the video on this social learning network)
- Educreations (basically a mobile whiteboard)
- Glogster (poster creation)
- iMovie (create, edit, and share movies easily)
- iTunes (create and share podcasts easily)
- MovieMaker (create, edit, and share movies)
- PhotoStory (similar to MovieMaker)
- present.me (presentation software)
- Prezi (presentation software)
- Protagonize (collaborative writing space)
- Scratch (see Julian Screawn's blog for more)
- Storify (curate social stories)
- Visual.ly (great for creating infographics)
- Voicethread (collaborative network- watch this video for more)
- Wikispaces (collaborative network)
Wow, this should be enough to explore for now. Be sure to read my next post which will deal with creating in a transformative nature.
To close this post, I leave you with the words of gifted educator Sarah Boone, MA:
Nurturing creativity in children calls for resourceful, creative thinking from parents. Modeling a creative approach to problem solving and a commitment to original expression through any medium is sometimes the most effective means of fostering a creative spirit.*
Good advice for teachers, too.
Coming up next...creating on higher ground
*http://www.tip.duke.edu/node/820
Hobbs, Renee (2011). Digital and Media Literacy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Image of Portuguese guitar elements http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-1564309278
