CONSTRUCTIONISMA THEORY OF CONSTRUCTED LEARNING WITH TECHNOLOGY

GERALD ARDITO

DCS 891D

OCTOBER 9, 2008

JEAN PIAGET SEYMOUR PAPERT

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LEARNING BY DOING

LEARNING BY TINKERINGWITH TECHNOLOGY

CONSTRUCTIONISM

ONE ("BRICOLAGE") TAKES ITS STARTING POINT IN STRATEGIES

FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF WORK: THE PAINTER-PROGRAMMER IS GUIDED BY THE

WORK AS IT PROCEEDS RATHER THAN STAYING WITH A PRE-

ESTABLISHED PLAN.

THE OTHER TAKES OFF FROM A MORE SUBTLE IDEA WHICH WE CALL

"CLOSENESS TO OBJECTS"--THAT IS, SOME PEOPLE PREFER WAYS OF THINKING THAT KEEP

THEM CLOSE TO PHYSICAL THINGS, WHILE OTHERS USE ABSTRACT AND FORMAL MEANS TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FORM CONCRETE

MATERIAL.

TWO IMAGES OF CONSTRUCTIONISM

FROM PAPERT, 1991

“V” WORD VERSUS “N” WORD

“V” WORD - CONSTRUCTIVISM --

“THE V-WORD REFERS TO A THEORY ABOUT HOW MATH AND SCIENCE AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS LEARNED AND

A PROPOSAL ABOUT HOW THEY SHOULD BE TAUGHT. CHOOSING

CONSTRUCTIVISM AS A BASIS FOR TEACHING TRADITIONAL SUBJECTS IS

A MATTER FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS TO DECIDE.”

“N” WORD - CONSTRUCTIONISM --

“THIS IS NOT A DECISION ABOUT PEDAGOGIC THEORY BUT A DECISION ABOUT

WHAT CITIZENS OF THE FUTURE NEED TO KNOW.

SO THIS IS THE CHOICE WE MUST MAKE FOR OURSELVES, FOR OUR CHILDREN, FOR OUR

COUNTRIES AND FOR OUR PLANET: ACQUIRE THE SKILLS NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE WITH

UNDERSTANDING IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHAT IS NEW OR BE RESIGNED TO A LIFE OF

DEPENDENCY. ‘GETTING IT TO HAPPEN’ IS MUCH MORE THAN AN ‘EDUCATIONAL’ OR

‘PEDAGOGIC’ PRINCIPLE. IT IS BETTER DESCRIBED AS REFLECTING A ‘PHILOSOPHY

OF LIFE’ THAN A ‘PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION.’”

FROM PAPERT, 1999

XO LAPTOP (ONE LAPTOP

PER CHILD LAPTOP)

CONSTRUCTIONISMTODAY

“THE XO LAPTOP WAS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THE MOST ENGAGING WIRELESS NETWORK POSSIBLE. THE CHILDREN CAN CONNECT, CHAT, SHARE INFORMATION ON THE WEB, GATHER BY VIDEOCONFERENCE,

MAKE MUSIC TOGETHER, EDIT TEXTS, READ E-BOOKS, AND ENJOY THE USE OF COLLABORATIVE GAMES ONLINE.”

(FROM HTTP://LAPTOPGIVING.ORG/EN/SOCIAL-SHARING.PHP)

REFERENCES

PAPERT, S. H., I. (1991). SITUATING CONSTRUCTIONISM. IN CONSTRUCTIONISM. NORWOOD, NJ: ABLEX PUBLISHING

PAPERT, S. (1993). THE CHILDREN'S MACHINE: RETHINKING SCHOOL IN THE AGE OF THE COMPUTER: BASIC BOOKS, INC. NEW YORK, NY, USA.

PAPERT, S. (1999) "WHAT IS LOGO? AND WHO NEEDS IT?" INTRODUCTION TO A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON LOGO EXPERIENCES IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES BY LCSI.

HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/CONSTRUCTIONIST_LEARNING

HTTP://OCW.MIT.EDU/OCWWEB/MEDIA-ARTS-AND-SCIENCES/MAS-962SPRING-2003/READINGS/INDEX.HTM

PHOTO CREDITSHTTP://FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/QUIZZ/

HTTP://FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/M-LOUIS/

HTTP://WIKI.LAPTOP.ORG