Traditionally knowledge has been defined as information or facts about a subject or area of study. Information and facts can be gained by reading a book, attending a lecture, listening to a video or taking a lesson. If you would have asked me this question five years ago my definition would have stopped there. However since beginning this program in education I have found that my definition is in a state of continual flux. Based on new information that I have gathered I believe that knowledge is not simply the acquisition of facts but rather the ability to use those facts in the real world. Therefore having knowledge in a discipline is being able to use the information that one acquires to solve problems that are relevant to life. In the field of nutrition for example one can acquire facts about what constitutes a healthy diet. One could demonstrate the ability to recite the facts but still not truly understand them until they are able to apply them to solve a problem. The facts about what constitutes a healthy diet become knowledge when they are effectively utilized to evaluate and improve one’s own diet or the diet of another individual.
Constructivist beliefs maintain that humans generate knowledge and meaning from their experiences. All learning occurs in the context of an individual’s prior experience or based on their world view. Learners learn best when information is relevant to their experience and can be applied to solve problems that are important to them. Therefore using constructivism in instructional design dictates that the design takes into consideration the past experiences of learners and the relevance of the learning to their life. Individuals make their own meaning out of information that is presented to them. In order for real learning to take place the learner must internalize the information rather than keeping it inert in the form of external facts.
Technology can potentially a role in the application of constructivism to instructional design at many levels. Taylor stated that technology has the ability to provide a wealth of information to the learner that is beyond what is available in their texts. The mere provision of information is not however consistent with constructivist beliefs. There is a danger that the information will continue to remain inert and not become true knowledge as described above.
Jonassen in his interview stated, “For technology to transform the learning process, the role that technology assumes in the process must change….technology is better used as a tool and intellectual partner that can expand the ways that learners think — not just try to cram his/her head with more information. This statement provides the essence as to how technology can be used in a constructivist manner. For example relating back to nutrition again technology can be used as a tool to allow the student to construct a healthy diet using information available on interactive websites. Technology can also be used to demonstrate real life scenarios that allow students to use information for problem solving. For example video technology can present patient case studies that require learners to apply information to design a patient care plan. It can be used to allow students to work together collaboratively with new information in order to enhance and further individual understanding. For example students could work together to design videos or PowerPoint presentations/games to demonstrate their understanding of information that they have acquired about a discipline.
lizberquist said,
November 11, 2009 at 11:44 am
Kathy– I selected the same qupte from Jonassen to use in my post–he certainly hits the nail on the head– but now, we are charged with the next steps! We have established the fact that we need to change the role of technology in learning process….now, how do we teach this? I think one answer is modeling…we need to model for our teachers (new and expereinced)….what does this look like in the classroom?
amymcginn said,
November 12, 2009 at 3:38 pm
“Based on new information that I have gathered I believe that knowledge is not simply the acquisition of facts but rather the ability to use those facts in the real world. Therefore having knowledge in a discipline is being able to use the information that one acquires to solve problems that are relevant to life.”
Kathy, I think that you said it perfectly here…just retaining knowledge doesn’t mean much if you aren’t able to apply that knowledge in real life. The readings in this class have really made me rethink my goals for my students and how I am helping my students reach those goals. The assessment piece is so important…why did I just give a vocabulary quiz that was mostly objective, uselss information? I need to be assessing my students in more authentic ways, and I already have some great ideas about how to do that!