"To construct or not to construct… that is the question… whether it is nobler in the mind to wait for others to model or lacking the patience thereof to venture forth and discover for one’s self…"

That ignoble introduction aside, any discussion on the use of constructivist pedagogy in an IT environment requires at the outset: (a) a clear understanding of what is meant by a constructivist pedagogy, (b) an awareness of the unique opportunities available within one’s institutional IT environment—or what Jonassen (Doolittle, 1999) characterised as “the constructivist e-learning environment”, and (c) practical strategies which reflect/model the discovery approach to learning.

Constructivist Pedagogy

What than are the features of this pedagogy in an IT environment? To answer, it must first be noted that whatever one’s constructivist orientation (i.e. Social, Cognitive, or Radical), there is an now a general theoretical and practical consensus as to what factors must hold if learning as discovery is to take place (Doolittle, 1999). Constructivist pedagogy then requires the following:

1. presentation of an authentic and real-world environment
2. provisions for social negotiation and mediation
3. content and skills that appear to be relevant
4. prior knowledge of the learner fitting within the new content and skills to be acquired
5. formative assessment that serves to direct future learning
6. encouragement of the learner to self-regulate, self-meditate and be self-aware
7. adoption by teachers of a ‘guide on the side’ role and image as opposed to ‘the sage on stage’
8. prevalence of multiple perspectives and representations of content in every activity

The Constructivist Learning Environment (CLE)

Having assessed the extent to which one’s constructivist pedagogy reflects the above factors, one must also determine to what degree one’s institutional online learning environment supports constructivist meaning making. Several models have been advanced and reviewed, notably Perkins and Jonassen, to guide such assessment and are worth reading for their theoretical perspective (Seng & Heng, 2002). With respect to practical strategies and their application, however, this paper makes several assumptions with respect to current platforms1 and their ability to support a constructivist pedagogy. Namely, does your platform:

1. allow for the uploading of support materials like cases, projects, problems and scenarios that can be used to facilitate and direct student inquiry;
2. support information resources like access to web resources, library resources and Knowledge Management databases that assist students to research, understand, respond to and solve problems;
3. provide conversation and collaboration tools like chats, forums and virtual classrooms to assist students in the sharing, exploring and refining of their understanding of content;
4. enable the formation of groups with their own access privileges, communication and presentation tools?

CLE Strategies

Given that the above conditions have been satisfied, and consistent with good classroom pedagogy, creating an online constructivist environment begins with establishing an online climate which (a) engages the learner, (b) provides a context for the type of learning that is to take place, (c) provides real world situations, and (d) outlines the support structures available to the learner throughout the his/her explorations. The examples which follow2 are some suggested approaches towards utilising one’s own CLE.

1. Ice-breakers

   Forums can be created in which members of the class or those assigned to groups introduce themselves and provide a brief overview of their special interests in taking the course. Built into the course module could be follow-ups at mid-term and at the end of term. These new threads would require responses to guided inquiry (be it on the part of the teacher or an assigned student/s) with respect to problems encountered, new issues raised, solutions found, suggestions for further research, etc.

2. Supporting Chapters in Textbooks

   This strategy involves building upon materials within assigned course textbook chapters. Here, students can be asked to submit a report on one to three content-related websites—previously researched by the instructor. Depending upon one’s constructivist orientation, students can also be directed to find other sites related to upcoming chapters. Guidance for these activities could be structured as a series of questions that require them to describe and evaluate sites. For example:

   • How does each site enhance understanding of the assigned chapter content?
   • How might each site be improved?
   • Explain why the site contributes (or does not) to the development of the assigned topic and or the discipline in general.

3. Using Case Studies

   Cases, which are best conceived as short compelling descriptions related to a specific situation or set of facts, are created and placed in an online module. Students, either individually or in groups, can be asked to generate their own questions on a specific case or respond to questions by the instructor. The questions and answers can then be featured in the synchronous or asynchronous tools (i.e. a forum, a chat room or a virtual classroom) available within the online learning environment.

4. Role-playing and Simulations

   While this type of activity lends itself more readily to subject areas like human resources, business, international relations economics, history and foreign languages, creative applications can also be generated in the hard sciences. This type of activity requires careful thinking on the part of the teacher to ensure that the roles are realistic and relevant. Role-playing can be as simple as interviewer and interviewee, to as complex as responding to a country’s water (or economic-political) strategy by various levels of government officials.

5. Scenarios and Asynchronous Activities

   Scenarios are a means of presenting real situations and are best used in activities that require the planning of processes and procedures. Such scenarios can be used to stimulate analysis and support imaginative responses on the part of students as to how they would respond given a similar situation. Responses can be made within asynchronous discussion threads or synchronous forums like the chat room or the virtual classroom.

To conclude, a constructivist practitioner in an online environment will face many challenges, many of which ironically, will require the same characteristics of self-regulation, self-mediation and self-awareness demanded of the online learner. Perhaps most challenging of all is to remember that “technology is better used as a tool and intellectual partner that can expand the ways that learners think—not just [a means] to cram his/her head with more information” (Jonassen, 2001).

References

Doolittle, P. (1999, October). Constructivism and Online Education. Fort Wayne, IN: Online Conference on Teaching Online in Higher Education.

Ko, S. & Rossen, S. (2001). Teaching Online: A Practical Guide. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Johanssen, D.H. (2001, 31 January). ‘Interview with elearningpost’. [Electronic Citation]. http://elearningpost.com/elthemes/jonassen.asp. (Accessed: 11/Nov/2002).

Seng, C.T. & Heng, D. (2002). ‘Beyond Information Pumping: Creating a Constructivist E-Learning Environment’. Educational Technology, Sept-Oct, 43–62.