Constructionism? That sounds constructive!
Students go to school to learn, not simply to be taught or given constant instructions. It is important that both teaching ad instruction be highly effective to education, yet we must remember that it’s constructionism that is really going to help students learn. It’s not simply a coincidence that most students are crying out for more group work or activity based tasks instead of just reading from the text. No, apparently this also helps students to give their learning meaning, and quite simply, well that’s how they learn.
Constructionism is about getting the student to actually do a task, hence technology has a large role to play. For example, technology lets students make or construct something, something that they can often apply to a real life situation. It’s so important to be able to relate to a concept and build upon its meaning. If we must compare technology vs textbooks, this is one instance where technology wins hands down.
Source: Papert, S. (1980). Constructionism vs. Instructionism. Retrieved 27th October 2008 from, http://www.papert.org/articles/const_inst/const_inst1.html
