The topic of this week’s class built constructionism on top of the constructivism theory in a rather interesting manner. While the topics are familiar and only a few new concepts were introduced, the strategies and technical support provided in the chapter were extremely intriguing. I expected to read about a few project designs similar to items I and/or my students have already done. This is because constructionism focuses on the exploration and creation of a presentable model of information. However, Pitler et al. (2007) provided examples that involved a great deal of experience founded inquiry in the project based methods. My personal favorite was the detailing of historically based computer simulations located at http://making-history.com/ which involves students making decisions for countries set in various times. The strategy games can be used by teachers to introduce information while allowing students to manipulate their game pieces to achieve a final project with a desired outcome.
Constructionism does not need to rely on projects built from scratch. Using data programs allows for a wider application and skill development. Educational technology provides students with the opportunity to design tasks that are inquiry based while still working towards a final product. Exploring possible outcomes of wars or making mathematical correlations help to create the experience skills in analyzing data and ideas for future lessons that require similar technological interactions mixed with educated foresight.
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I think you've shown how easy this can be to incorporate into classrooms when you stated that, "constructionism does not need to rely on projects built from scratch." Getting our coworkers on board with improving the use of educational technology in their classroom is often a challenge, but showing teachers that these projects can be a continuation of another or a brief tangent on a strong lesson would be useful and powerful for them to know.
ReplyDeleteMiss Mellor,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement "constructionism does not need to rely on projects built from scratch." There are many great project ideas available in books, magazines, and on the Internet. Today's teachers are fortunate to have the Internet available in our classrooms. We are lucky too that so many great teachers are willing to share things they have tried and created with us.
One of the things that I am enjoying in this class is the Internet resources.
Coleen