Social Learning Theories

This week I learned about social constructivism which is simply a theory of how students engage in a construction of knowledge that they create through interactions with others and their environment (Kim, 2001).  The information I read focused specifically on cooperative learning as an important instructional strategy of social learning.  In addition, I learned about the theory of connectivism which shifts the idea of how students learn socially due to technology-enhanced environments.

The central idea of cooperative learning (CL) is students working together in a way that enhances their learning (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).  I always thought that as long I had students placed into groups I was implementing CL, but I was far off.  Palmer, Peters, & Streetman (2003) explained that in CL students are working collaboratively to achieve a goal that they could not attain by themselves, and that although the group is assessed, individual students are also held accountable for their work.  My favorite form of CL is the jigsaw method.  This requires each student to learn the material and then teach it to a small group.  Dr. Michael Orey mentions how teaching others gives the learner a deeper understanding of the material and how the jigsaw method focuses on individual responsibility even though students are in groups (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009b).

In the book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, it discusses a few tools teachers can use to support cooperative learning in the classroom through technology.  I enjoyed learning about the website www.epals.com.  This tool encourages students to collaborate with students from around the world via e-mail.  I could see myself using this in the classroom to have my students learn about other cultures and to work on their communication skills.  I am curious how this will work with third graders who do not currently have their own e-mail accounts.  I am hoping that the program provides them with one. 

Another tool the book mentioned was WebQuests.  I have always thought of WebQuests as an individual activity supporting the constructionist theory; however, Pitler et al. (2007) mentions that students in the classroom or from far away can work together on the tasks.  I spent time viewing www.webquest.org and found some already created WebQuests that I can begin using immediately in my classroom.  This tool still requires that each student contribute, but it promotes social interaction and makes students active participants in learning the material (Palmer et al., 2003). 

A third tool I want to mention that I feel supports cooperative learning is a VoiceThread (see www.voicethread.com for more information).  There are many ways to employ this tool into the classroom, but I liked the idea that Kevin Jarrett suggested on letting students record a story with uploaded images instead of writing one (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009c).  Students will be more involved and other students will be more interested in viewing and hearing the story than if it was just read aloud.  After viewing the VoiceThread, students can post comments about the story.  What a great way to collaborate!

George Siemens has coined the term connectivism as a new type of social learning theory.  He explains that because of technology-rich environments and the abundant of information available learning has changed (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a).  Siemens explains that students can now network online and through these connections they can gather information and share ideas while at the same time choosing what information available is important to learn (Davis, Edmunds, & Kelly-Bateman, 2008).  I have not seen this much with my students as they are too young to be involved in social networking sites.  However, I do observe how easily they get involved in virtual games where they can chat with others, how they enjoyed participating in our class wiki last year, and how we can find anything they ask about within seconds online.  I feel connectivism is still in its infancy, but I do understand Siemens’ thoughts about how the learners’ environment has changed so that perhaps the way we teach should as well. 

I support social learning in the classroom.  I definitely plan to integrate, correctly, cooperative learning into to my classroom.  I also look forward to trying Voice Threads with my students and using WebQuests a bit more.  I will attempt at setting up virtual penpals through www.epals.com or a similar site, but I am not sure how well that will work with my students.  Yet no matter what specifically works for me or doesn’t, I believe all teachers should do better about incorporating social learning into their classroom.

References

Davis, C, Edmunds, E, & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from 

http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Kim, B. (2001). Social Constructivism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program number 9:  Connectivism as a learning theory [DVD]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program number 8:  Social learning theories [DVD]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program number 10:  Spotlight on technology: VoiceThread [DVD]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Palmer, G., Peters, R., & Streetman, R. (2003). Cooperative learning. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.