Stuck on Constructivism

Moving into the next set of discussions in class during this whole virtual experience, left me feeling more a-tuned to the constructivist perspective on learning.  I will come back to this shortly, however need to comment on the experience of participating in a class that does not hold Adult Education at the heart of its conception has been an entirely new learning experience for me in my masters degree journey at the University of Toronto.

Having spent the last ten years of my life focused on workplace learning in some fashion or another, its quite the change to indulge in the the perspectives of childhood education.  It has allowed me to reflect back on my own learning to various stages of my childhood and in particular, now look at the up and coming education of my own child (although only one), the discussions around theories presented by Piaget, Phillips, Gardner, Vygotsky, Bruner and others have left me with a thirst for more on pedagogy.  I especially am curious about the learning design for students in the public school system versus the private or montessori school system.

The online environment in which our collaborative learning occurs is something that I've had to adjust to as this is my first real online experience as an 'e-learner'.  In my professional practice, I have worked on  e-learning products for internal and external customers, understand key 'best practices' when it comes to creating a valuable experience, however aside from testing, this is my first opportunity as a formal student in this environment and get to judge for myself.  It has really helped me to understand some of the feelings and challenges experienced by e-learners, such as time, motivation, call to action, etc..  In this experience, I think our professor has set up the e-learning environment quite well, in terms of the use of mixed media (words, images, videos) and in-dept use of discussion area made rich by what is shared by almost 20 classmates who are quick to respond.

Back to constructivism.  I have learned that still lean towards the value of bringing prior experience into design of learning and customizing a students experience based on multiple intelligences is something that I prefer as a learning and as an instructor.  Much of my lesson plans for workplace learning programs focused on ensuring that various learning styles and intelligences are incorporated in the design and that learning activities allow for learners to engage based on their past experiences.  I see value in bringing culture into design as well, and so the social aspect of learning also plays an important role as discussed by theorists and classmates.

I look forward to being challenged by other sides to this story and will be sure to comment as things evolve.