Constructivism in EFL – Learning technologies

Back in 2003, I wrote my thesis to pursue a masters degree in Instructional Technology and Media. I would like to share part of my work by presenting you with key concepts that inform the design and use or delivery of meaningful learning experiences for students in any given field.

ABOUT HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERFACE DESIGN

GULF OF EXECUTION – D. Norman

• This can be defined as the difference between intentions and the allowable actions to operate between a system / machine and the user / individual. The longer and more complex is the process a user needs to follow in order to execute an action, the bigger is this gulf of execution. Norman states that ‘humans do make mistakes, but with proper design, the incidence of error and its effects can be minimized’ (Norman, 1988).

MAPPING – D. Norman

• Mapping is understood as the relationship between two things, in this case between controls and their movements and the results in the world.(Norman, 1988) Norman suggests that mapping enables users for immediate understanding. Furthermore, he states that ‘when things are visible, they tend to be easier’ (Norman, 1988). This criterion of visibility relates to the transparency for the user to realize what actions are available by exploiting natural mappings and noticeable controls.

DIVERSITY – Shneiderman

• This means making web design sensitive to all novice, intermediate and advanced users. Catering for diversity comprises striving for consistency, providing users with informative feedback, designing dialogs with closure, designing ways to prevent and handle error, allowing reversal of actions, supporting internal locus of control, and reducing short memory load.

ABOUT LEARNING PRINCIPLES WHEN USING TECHNOLOGY

Duffy and Jonassen introduce the book Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction by referring to a shift in today’s education from a strong focus on content domain where behaviorist and cognitive approaches have played a major- to a focus on understanding and using information in order to solve real world problems. In light of this shift the following principles need to be considered.

learning environment

• A learning environment rooted in our life experiences as adult learners and oriented to the performance of actions to resolve problems in English as native speakers do in their every day lives.

communities of learners

• Communities of learners work together in projects and learning agendas, supporting and learning from one another, as well as from the environment. (Wilson, 1996)

knowledge as mental models

• Individuals form a variety of representations in their mind out of their experience, exploration and interaction with the environment. As learners engage in the construction of these mental models, they continuously accommodate and redefine these models as a result of further interaction with the environment. Black (CCT Report 92-4) refers to these mental models as classified into four types: factual knowledge as that of ‘knowing that something is the case’, procedural knowledge as that of ‘knowing how to do something’, imagery knowledge as that of ‘knowing what something looks like’, and finally mechanism knowledge as that of ‘knowing why something works’.

diverse representations of knowledge

• We – as educators- need to make sure we provide as many instances as possible for our students to represent what they’re learning in multiple formats. We also need to make sure we’re catering for our students’ diverse learning styles.  Narrations can happen in video format, textually, through the use of  databases, visual representations or animations. Learners must be allowed to work on online and/ or with desktop presentations such as MS PowerPoint, Inspiration, and MS Excel. Paper, musical, kinesthetic representations, they should all be encouraged and welcomed according to the resources we do have available in our school.

relevance of background knowledge

• As posed by Jarvis (Merriam, 1999) all learning begins with experiences that somehow present a discrepancy with the learner’s biography, that is, their previous knowledge, beliefs and assumptions.

Communication and collaboration

• The exchange and distribution of our interpretations becomes essential to gain a deeper understanding of our world. Chilean researcher Fernando Flores (1986) puts forward the importance of language as a primary tool of communication and knowledge. Learners can experience language and communication as empowering instances to voice their own mental models. Freire (1970) suggests that language can not only represent but also create a new reality.

richer learning experiences- computers as mind tools

• Computers allow learners to access information,interpret it, organize it and represent their own personal knowledge as these computer-based tools, Mindtools, have been adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher order learning.(Jonassen, 1996) Mindtool is not any piece of software nor any kind of computer; instead, it is a concept, an approach to computers in order to represent, manipulate and reflect on what we know.

a re-definition of teachers’ and students’ roles and attributes

• Both audiences are encouraged to become actively involved in the process of studying, making meaning, building knowledge, developing skills, and participating within a local as well as an online community working towards the realization and completion of products as an individual as well as a social experience. In this sense, learners are largely encouraged to work cooperatively as mentors in their own personal and social discovery and generation of knowledge.

learners as designers

• Learners as designers construct, explore, do, converse and reflect as they use computers as tools or intellectual partners, in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher order learning (Jonassen, 1996).

self directedness

• Learners become responsible of their own learning, generating their own questions and making answers that trigger collaboration and change in the community where they belong. Self direction also seems to have a significant impact in the ultimate transfer of problem solving skills.

Life long learners

• LLLs have the capacity to transfer skills and knowledge and engage in learning activities anytime, anywhere without necessarily being in a formal educational context.

Multiple and continuous assessment

• According to Schwartz (Lajoie Ch 10, p 274 – 275),  ‘dynamic assessments can elicit information about learning preparedness or learning potential and also about instructional resources particularly effective for an individual. ‘  Dynamic assessment provides guidance for initial and further implementation of resources in the system and feedback for the learner on the process of learning as immersed in an authentic context. It is also the teachers’ task to provide formative and summative feedback to the students on their work progress and upon projects completion.

Risky business- bells and whistles

• Desktop videoconferencing and web-based resources currently are among the most popular. However, equally important to the technologies are the techniques, designs, and methods used to take full advantage of these powerful, evolving resources. (Roblyer et. al., 2000). Using offline applications such as the notepad in your computer can be sometimes the best option. Students from Language 8 will understand this.

So, what about EFL and Constructivism – my personal reflection
Jan 2003 / Miraglia page 48

The field of foreign language instruction evolved from the former grammar -translation and audio-lingual approaches into a focus on speech acts and language functions up until the late 70s when a model known as the ‘communicative approach’ emerged and became the predominant theory to develop EFL curriculum in the classrooms all over the world.

Up to this date, no pedagogical approach based on constructivism has been formally developed and as a matter of fact, both behaviorist and cognitive traditions still have a major impact in language instruction. Much of today’s standardized foreign language testing and computer based instruction still reinforce these traditions.

As a result, the complexity of the real-world context and purposes in which language is used can go largely unnoticed in their instruction process. By the same token, teachers may find little room for experimenting with the students on real-life problem solving and various forms of learning due to time constrains and the pressures imposed by a test preparation content description that overwhelms their agenda and makes both teachers and students to a great extent focus solely on obtaining better scores and getting the language rules right.

So the question remains, how do we involve our students in meaningful learning in a way that they can take home LANGUAGE COMPETENCIES TO PERFORM REAL TASKS IN THE REAL WORLD ?