Constructivism Discussion Forum
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Please post your thoughts on the readings and respond to someone's else thoughts as well. Or, you could post 2 responses instead. Please make thoughtful contributions to the discussion. Refer to the readings or to other references to back up your opinions.
This week we are revisiting (for some) constructivism in more depth, which contrasts with traditional, direct instruction which was the focus in your first instructional design course last semester.
For this week's discussion (before Thursday, February 3rd) please discuss your reactions to the readings. You can choose any one of the optional readings, plus there is one required reading that shows a table comparing constructivist design with traditional objectivist design.
Some possible topics for discussion:
- How do you compare constructivism with the approaches you learned last semester (ADDIE, ISD)?
- What are some constructivist techniques you have heard about or read about that you think might be useful to other folks working on their design projects this semester?
- In traditional instruction, the focus is on the instruction. In constructivism the focus is more on the learning environment. Do you have any thoughts on this with respect to your current or future instructional design jobs? Drawbacks, advantages of either approach, etc., given the constraints (time, budget) of the work environment.
- Of course it''s not an either/or decision between direct instruction and constructivist approaches. We''ll learn later about sequencing and combining the two. Do you have any thoughts on bridging these two approaches to instructional design?
- Moodle (what you are using now), is designed from a social constructivist point of view ( http://docs.moodle.org/en/Philosophy). Some examples are having social discussions in forums, collaboratively building wikis and glossaries, blogging, etc. You've only just started to use Moodle, but do you have any initial impressions or thoughts on Moodle vs. Blackboard for example from a learning designer/specialist''s point of view? What changes would you make to either?