Module #3 Post

Do you believe that humans have a basic instinct to “interact and work as a group,” as Rheingold proposed in his discussion of the evolution of Wikipedia as a collectively developed encyclopedia? How can technology facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist principles?

I believe humans have a basic instinct to live. The definition of “to live” has changed over the last ten thousand years. Ten thousands years ago humans were driven by their basic physical needs, hunger, thirst, and warmth. I believe man’s instinct to live drive them to work as a group to obtain these things. Some examples are man learned to hunt larger animals by hunting in groups, they learned ways to obtain water by working in groups, and they learned ways to provide warmth for themselves by working together to gather wood and build larger fires. Over time as man become more efficient in obtaining these things, man had more time and the ability to develop new things by working in a group. Now we have grown socially even now as our ways and means of communication has advanced to more effectively work as a group.
Technology can facilitate collaboration among learners based on constructivist’s principles through the use of Microworlds and hypermedia designs where students can work and interact with other members of the same interests. Also open software and course management tools such as Google docs can help facilitate collaboration among learners by allowing them to share documents needed to complete activities.

Module #2

Education has evolved drastically due to the rapid advancement of technology. Technology has allowed the teacher to deliver instruction in so many more ways and receive instruction. It has allowed the student to learn in many ways. I believe that is why these learning theory’s have evolved. I do believe in our public school system k-12 the overall goal of education: the student learning and the teacher teaching, has gotten lost at times with all of the outside demands placed on the classroom teachers and the age and experience of the classroom teachers. These –isms are great to use as a filter because they are able to center our focus back on the overall goal of education.

"Learning Theory" and "Cognitivism"

The two conversations linked below are examples of fascinating discussions in 2007 on cognitivism and behaviorism among three important thinkers: Bill Kerr, Stephen Downes, and Karl Kapp.

http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html
http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational.html

Module #1 Responses: Tiffany Wilkerson and Jane Dewitts Blog