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1.a)What I found interesting about the article was in how there was an emphasis on placing learning activities within a context which is meaningful to learners. The notion of contextualization is removed from the general current practices within education, for example in middle school or high school, where contextualization serves as an aid in developing understanding but not as the main means of engaging and motivating students to learn on their own. 1.b)I didn't find anything not interesting, but was interested in reading about any further changes or improvements to the framework since the article was published. 2) Too often, the role of technology in education and work is simply to provide new ways of executing old ideas or to provide "gift-wrapping" for old frameworks and paradigms. This article argues that, within the context of learning, work, and education, technology must not be viewed as an end in itself but as a means of enabling new paradigms. Skinner/Taylor's model of learning, work, and education as separate, clearly delineated tasks or phases is reflected in current educational and work practices. Design is a collaborative argumentative process, not a linear process where all domain knowledge and resulting solutions can be precisely defined. Real-world problems are generally wicked and design needs to involve the end-user as participant and not just as a passive consumer. Learning needs to be contextualized where the learners engage in solving problems which are meaningful to them. The mere sugar-coating of technology does not allow for the true potential of technology as an enabler of lifelong learning to be realized. 3)When the word in blue is clicked, a page with the glossary of words is opened and the user is taken to that word's definition in this glossary. 3.1)This feature adds an interesting dimension to the process of reading the paper, as it allows you to see the broader definition of concepts discussed in the paper. In that sense, it is useful. 3.2)Other than L3D course websites, I cannot remember where else I may have encountered this feature. 4) 4.1) I had heard the name Vygotsky in another class but there was not much elaboration on his role in education. I chose to look up information regarding Vygotsky. 4.2.2) Vygostky's social theory of cognition took into account the central roles of culture and language in learning and identified the concept of "zone of proximal development". Language is one of the central means through which information in a child's culture is conveyed to the child by adults and peers. The learning process is not completely independent but much learning takes place through interaction and collaboration between the child and adults and peers. The Zone of Proximal Development refers to the difference between the actual developmental level determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential determined through problem solving with help or guidance from peers or adults. Teachers can use this zone of proximal development standard to assess what children can achieve with the help of a mediator and then help the child attain that level of achievement by themselves. Vygotsky also emphasized the role of play in children's learning, where play allows children to employ their imagination and eventually achieve an "elementary mastery of abstract thought". Teachers are thus encouraged to encourage the use of play as part of a child's development. References: http://www.funderstanding.com/vygotsky.cfm http://facultyweb.cortland.edu/andersmd/VYG/VYG.HTML 5)http://www.funderstanding.com This site explains cognition and learning theories in layman's terms, and covers learning theories by looking at how people learn, how learning should be designed, how to assess whether learning is taking place, and how schools should be designed. |
