Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Social constructivism can be used in the classroom by utilizing technology and 21st century skills. The theory of social constructivism focuses on students constructing meaning from the information provided. The interaction allows the students to acquire a indepth understanding of the material. WebQuest are a great example of a social constructivism assignment. The students are required to create a product after researching, analyzing various resources from the Web. The students can collaborate to play a multimedia educational game on the unit of study. Students can utilize their area of expertize to create a competitive strategy. I use this method of teaching in the classroom quite a bit. It is important to have concrete directions and rubrics or scoring guides for the students to follow, otherwise the the project or objective is never met. Working with other teachers to create collaborative projects helps to create successful lessons for the students.
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Cathy,
ReplyDeleteYou made a good connection between social constructivism and its relevance with 21st century skills. I agree this theory has important implications as we prepare our students to function effectively in the 21st century. I also agree with your statement about rubrics. They provide the structure and expectations for students.
Carolyn
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteLike you I have used webquests in the classroom before. I also completely agree that a sound rubric and directions are needed. I have experienced this even with older students who are in accelerated classes. It seems that even though something is apparent to us it may not be with our students.
Phil
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI like the way you provided a rubric for the webquest. I use Rubric creating software often. I find that if the students have it as a guideline the also know what work is expected.
Dierdre