Pedagogical Theory
& Social Computing
Overview
Learning theory could be looked at as a continuum running from behaviourist through cognitive/social to constructivist. Paralleling this continuum is what could be termed teaching theory. In the context of these parallel continua, it is always easier to demonstrate that teaching has occurred than that learning has occurred.
From the behaviorist perspective, learners can demonstrate that teaching has occurred empirically by manifesting enduring change in observable behaviour. These behavioral changes themselves are the objectives of the teaching exercise, and remain reactive in this pedagogical model. Interactivity is an impediment to the monodirectional nature of the behaviorist model and this fact tends to limit the utility of social computing in the behaviorist model.
We move along the continuum to the understanding that the cognitive processes of the learner are indeed important, that these processes although unobservable are real and can precede, influence and modify behaviour. Moreover, humans are gregarious and social beings who are not isolated in their cognition, who also learn by observation and mimeticism and who may also learn without demonstrating that “teaching/learning has occurred”. Social computing affords opportunity for social interaction and can facilitate the organization of cognition. Social computing brings many perspectives into range, and allows for exploration and interchange of ideas and knowledge. The interactive aspect of social computing is no longer an impediment but a useful learning tool.
The constructivist perspective allows for the creation of meaning and the naming of the world. Learners are not restricted or channeled by mythologies and hierarchical prerequisites. Humans are theorizing and shaping their perspective continuously in an interactive process which includes the possibility of critical thought and challenge. Within this model social computing can come to the fore. The thrust has gone past the reactive through the interactive and into the proactive. If you are constructing your meaning and naming your world, you will create tools as you need them for this construction. We are observing the development of this interactive social computing process. For example look below at Clay Shirky’s description below of how conceptualization and practice are constructing change in social computing.
“The user's mental model of a word processor is of limited importance -- if a word processor supports multiple columns, users can create multiple columns; if not, then not. The users' mental model of social software, on the other hand, matters enormously. For example, 'personal home pages' and weblogs are very similar technically -- both involve local editing and global hosting. The difference between them was mainly in the user's conception of the activity. The pattern of weblogging appeared before the name weblog was invented, and the name appeared before any of the current weblogging tools were designed. Here the shift was in the user's mental model of publishing, and the tools followed the change in social practice” http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_user.html
Learning is an enduring change in observable behavior that occurs as a result of experience. Focus is on stimuli and responses that can be readily observed. Learning is influenced by behavioral consequences. Positive reinforcement will increase a behavior while negative reinforcement will decrease a behavior. Punishment will decrease a behavior, like wise, removal of something can be a punishment and decrease a behavior.
http://www.harding.edu/USER/dlee/WWW/behaviorallearningtheory_files/frame.htm
General Educational
Implications of Behaviorism
Emphasis
on behavior:
students should be active respondents; people are most likely to learn when they
actually have a chance to behave. Also, student learning must be evaluated; only
measurable behavior changes can confirm that learning has taken
place.
Drill and practice: repetition of stimulus-response habits strengthens those habits.
Rewards: many theorists emphasize the importance of rewards or reinforcement for learning.
http://suedstudent.syr.edu/~ebarrett/ide621/behavior.htm
Criticism and
Limitations
Learners are passive. Cannot adequately explain higher-order functions such as language. Much of what we do is not learned through reinforcement of small, specific, decontextualized items of information. Teachers seldom control some of the most powerful factors of student behavior and peer approval/rejection. Most instructional problems do not involve reinforcement schedules but bringing about responses in the first place. Ignores causes of misbehavior.
http://www.harding.edu/USER/dlee/WWW/behaviorallearningtheory_files/frame.htm
The connection between social computing and Behavioral Learning Theory relates to the behaviors of interacting online and the stimulus the person receives. The extent to which social computing is an observable behavior and the effect of the stimulus on the subsequent behavior is what interests behaviorists. One extreme example could involve a person who becomes absorbed and spends more and more time in a social computing environment. A behavioralist would want to determine what stimulus resulted in the increase in behavior.
A general approach that views learning as an active mental process of acquiring, remembering, and using knowledge. Learning is evidenced by a change in knowledge which makes a change in behavior possible. Learning it self is not directly observable. Cognitive Learning Theory is in direct opposition to the Behavioralist view.
http://mse.byu.edu/ipt/ipt301/jordan/learnterm_c.html
General Assumptions of
Cognitive Theories
1. Some learning processes may be unique to human beings.
2. Cognitive processes are the focus of study.
3. Objective, systematic observations of people's behavior should be the focus of scientific inquiry, however, inferences about unobservable mental processes can often be drawn from such behavior.
4. Individuals are actively involved in the learning process.
5. Learning involves the formation of mental associations that are not necessarily reflected in overt behavior changes.
6. Knowledge is organized.
7. Learning is a process of relating new information to previously learned information.
General Educational
Implications of Cognitive Theories:
1. Cognitive processes influence learning.
2. As children grow, they become capable of increasingly more sophisticated thought.
3. People organize the things they learn.
4. New information is most easily acquired when people can associate it with things they have already learned.
5. People control their own learning.
http://suedstudent.syr.edu/~ebarrett/ide621/cognitive.htm
The value of social computing from a cognitive perspective would be in the learning and knowledge that could be acquired from interacting with others. Being exposed to multiple views about a topic and relating it to their own experience and prior knowledge is what Cognitivists would view as the advantages of social computing.
Social learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context. It considers that people learn from one another, including such concepts as observational learning, imitation, and modeling. (Social Learning Theory has elements of both the Behavioral and Cognitive Learning Theories).
http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/Social.html
1. People can learn by observing the behaviors of others and the outcomes of those behaviors.
2. Learning can occur without a change in behavior. Learning may or may not result in a behavior change.
3. Cognition plays a role in learning. Awareness and expectations of future reinforcements or punishments can have a major effect on the behaviors that people exhibit.
4. Social learning theory can be considered a bridge or a transition between behaviorist learning theories and cognitive learning theories.
http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/Social.html
Social computing and Social Learning Theory are related to the extent that social computing provides a social context for learning. Online interactions can provide both synchronous and asynchronous opportunities for social interactions.
Constructivism refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves---each learner individually (and socially) constructs meaning---as he or she learns. Constructing meaning is learning; there is no other kind. The dramatic consequences of this view are twofold;
1) We have to focus on the learner in thinking about learning (not on the subject/lesson to be taught):
2) There is no knowledge independent of the meaning attributed to experience (constructed) by the learner, or community of learners.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/constructivistlearning.html
2. People learn to learn as they learn: learning consists both of constructing meaning and constructing systems of meaning.
3. The crucial action of constructing meaning is mental: it happens in the mind. Physical actions, hands-on experience may be necessary for learning, especially for children, but it is not sufficient; we need to provide activities which engage the mind as well as the hands. (Dewey called this reflective activity.)
4. Learning involves language: the language we use influences learning.
5. Learning is a social activity: our learning is intimately associated with our connection with other human beings, our teachers, our peers, our family as well as casual acquaintances, including the people before us or next to us at the exhibit.
6. Learning is contextual: we do not learn isolated facts and theories in some abstract ethereal land of the mind separate from the rest of our lives: we learn in relationship to what else we know, what we believe, our prejudices and our fears.
7. One needs knowledge to learn: it is not possible to assimilate new knowledge without having some structure developed from previous knowledge to build on.
8. It takes time to learn: learning is not instantaneous. For significant learning we need to revisit ideas, ponder them try them out, play with them and use them.
9. Motivation is a key component in learning. Not only is it the case that motivation helps learning, it is essential for learning.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/constructivistlearning.html
Social computing and Constructivist Learning Theory have the most direct link. Constructivists believe learning is a social activity. They stress the need for social activity and contact with human beings to construct meaning. In a distance education environment, a course design based on Constructivist Learning Theory would have a strong social computing component.