Introduction
Over the past decade the internets ubiquitous nature has drastically altered the nature of learning. With the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies students have begun to manage their learning activities in new ways. Learning in this new paragigm can and does take place at anywhere and at anytime… “in the family, in hobbies, at work, in acommunity etc.” (Siemens & Tittenberger, 2009). Web 2.0 technologies have altered teacher and students manage their learning activities. The learning theory connectivism attempts to explaining learning in terms of connection, networks and interactions where the learners create, share and exchange their knowledge.
George Siemens in his 2004 article “Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” denounced traditional and current theoretical models of learning such as behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism. Siemens (2004) defined connectivism this way:
“Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories. Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements not entirely under the control of the individual. Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowledge.” (Siemens, 2004)
Connectivism considers the principles of networks in order to redefine the concepts of knowledge and learning. In the connectivist learning theory knowledge is distributed over network connections in an uncontrollable ways “thus relation patterns can be extracted, and therefore, learn...
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...e digital age. International
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Lev Vygotsky developed his theory of learning in the 1920’s but it was not until the late 1960’s that his ideas about learning became popular and were used to contribute to “Constructivism” as a method of teaching. (Krause [et al.] 2010 p. p81).
Constructivism theorists believe that learning is an ongoing collective application of knowledge where past knowledge and hands on experience meet. This theory also believes that students are naturally curious. If students are naturally curious, their curio...
Green, Tim, and Baynard Bailey. “Academic Uses Of Facebook: Endless Possibilities or Endless Perils?.” Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning 54.3 (2010): 20-22. Academic Search Elite. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.
Exposing students to the power of social media in the classroom is an important part of preparing them to be active and positive digital citizens in a 21st century world. In the last two years, my own students have rapidly been drawn to Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and many other social networking platforms. They upload, share, and connect with others often without any regard to how their digital footprints may reflect them as individuals. Having continuous conversations with students about the choices that they make can lead to positive results. Students don't realize how powerful social media platforms can be in terms of networking, researching, and engaging in academic conversations. It makes me laugh every time I hear them whisper about my colleague Heather's or my Twitter feed. First of all kids, I can hear you. Second of all, yes, social media can be an amazing way to give and exchanged knowledge.
The advantages of using the social network make it an excellent learning tool through dialogues and collaborations. Class Materials and online cooperation among students foster the creation of a class-room-like learning environments which has many potential benefits that they can acquire. The communication and interaction in learning is reinforced by adding the social networking to the school community; therefore, it results in the overall enhancement of the learning environment.
Constructivist theory and independent learning. The constructivistic learning approach involves educators building school curriculum around the experience of their students. Constructivists believe learner-centric instructional classroom methods will strengthen the commitment and involvement of self-motivated learners because of their high level of interaction. Today, there is a trend for incorporating technology into the classrooms to support instructional learning methods. Yet, recent studies have revealed technology is not effectively integrated with the concepts of constructivism
Social Media has become a very essential tool in the society; in addition, it has a huge impact on communication and learning process. Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social networking. “As of September 2013, seventy-one percent of online adult use Facebook, eighteen percent use Twitter and seventeen percent use Instagram, twenty-two percent use PInterest, and another twenty-two percent use LinkedIn. (PewReasearch, 2013). In addition, "Between February 2005 and August 2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet user ages eighteen and twenty-nine jumped from nine percent to forty-nine percent. The usage of social media had grown drastically.” On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more” (Socialnetworking.procon,2012). Social media has impacted everyone in several different ways. In this present time, majority of college student use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Social media has a bold impact college student's grades, social interactions, and the teaching and learning process.
Constructivism is a defined, when referring to the learner, as a "receptive act that involves construction of new meaning by learners within the context of their current knowledge, previous experience, and social environment" (Bloom; Perlmutter & Burrell, 1999). Also, real life experiences and previous knowledge are the stepping stones to a constructivism, learning atmosphere. (Spigner-Littles & Anderson, 1999). Constructivism involves the learner being responsible for learning the material and, not necessarily, the teacher (Ely; Foley; Freeman & Scheel, 1995). When learning occurs, the goals, values, and beliefs of the individuals need to be linked to the new data. Also, in constructivism, the person, who is taking in the knowledge, can somehow filter, amend, and reformat the information that he or she feels is important to the schema (Spigner-Littles & Anderson, 1999). A constructivist learner uses the creative approach to apply their own meaning to a topic using the social and cognitive circumstances around themselves (Bloom; Perlmutter & Burrell, 1999). A short and sweet summary of constructivism is "how one attains, develops, and uses cognitive processes" (Airasian & Walsh, 1997).
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.
In total the Internet has not only increased the amount of learning possibilities in the classroom but it has created infinite amounts of learning opportunities for students and teachers.
..., S. (2010). From VLEs to learning webs: the implications of Web 2.0 for learning and teaching. Interactive Learning Environments, 18(1), 1-10. doi: 10.1080/10494820802158983
“Social interaction and social presence are addressed by allowing users to collaborate and communicate with peers either using the system or external applications for online collaboration or communication.” (Kozuh) In other words in order for social interaction to occur Kozuh does a terrible job explaining that the subject or in this case college student has to present or interact with the system in order to have success on online collaboration. If students do not use the school sites then it is a waist of time and money for the school to have them. Social media like Twitter or Facebook is being used as a tool to connect students with their professor in a more modern and up to date. Every school campus offers student’s sites in which they are able to connect with other students and professors, but the sites that school offer are not very common. R. Junco, G. Heiberger and E. Loken, the authors of the article “The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades” discuss their semester long study on whether or not Twitter could be used to improve the learning of college students. The author’s main arguments is that by incorporating social media like Twitter into the curriculum would improve the ways that the students interact with their classes and professor, which would help them get the most out of their classes. By having students feel more comfortable and know
"The 10 Best and Worst Ways Social Media Impacts Education - Edudemic."Edudemic. Jeff Dunn, 11 July 2011. Web. 15 May 2014.
It is not just an avenue for socializing; kids and adolescents can be creative, interact, and learn (Chau, 2010). Social networking provides an alternative way to get students interested in learning through a new and previously unconventional medium (Rosen, 2011).... ... middle of paper ... ...