A social constructivist learning approach

Bradshaw's article had some interesting points about the link between the educational theory of social constructivism and ICT use in the classroom- but I felt that she did not provide enough concrete examples of this integration, and was slightly harsh on existing school and teaching structures. (example: "This contrasts greatly to the isolated, out of context educational practices in today’s schools." Oh, burn.)

Yes, many schools and educators do use relatively old-fashioned methods, and teachers who spend entire lessons talking while students listen (or, often, don't listen) are generally not as effective or motivating- but the elements of social constructivism can still be successfully applied in a classroom without an overwhelming amount of ICT use. But I'm starting to realise how anti-ICT I always sound (even though my posts are too long for anyone to actually bother with reading them to find this out)- if meaningful learning can occur through such things as "online collaborative learning projects", then props to the teachers who are savvy enough to integrate them into their programs.

"...the process of construction is dynamic in nature as hypertext allows for discovery of knowledge in a non-linear manner"- I actually had to look up a definition of 'hypertext' (Ah! I'm secretly an immigrant who snuck over the digital border only posing as a native), but, for those playing at home, I learnt she means text with links to other pages/sites, visuals, sounds etc. I agree that this can be really conducive to learning- having all this information at one's fingertips. But sometimes, it can be a bit of an overload, so a teacher has to be careful with the sites/projects they assign to students- there is such a thing as too much information and too many options.

I liked that she acknowledged that many teachers are quite in the dark in terms of IT related things, and offers some support programs they can use. also, that availability of resources is another big problem in many areas. But i agree with her when she says that, with all the pressure on teachers to have concrete, tangible learning to show, many avoid ICT learning experiences.

Essentially, though I think that such computer/internet-based projects are potentially useful and social-constructivey, surely the same objectives could be reached in other ways, not just by sittign at a computer screen? At least not in the early primary years- children shoudl learn how to live in the real world, how to interact and cooperate, as well as learning the curriculum. But, i suppose, many would argue that ICT IS the real world now, and list the various benefits of such a lot of computer time. But I'm still not totally sold.