Student-Centered Learning Theories And Tools
Introduction
??????????Learning is a complex process of acquiring an information or a skill, as well as building understanding about concepts, topics and the individual's surrounding. The act of learning has been, and it is still highly important for humanity since learning is the main pillar that carries and solidifies human improvement and development. Furthermore, learning, for many people, is the essence of human existence, and life loses its meaning without persistent learning. Throughout the course of human history learning has been evolving based on many factors: political, social, scientific, historical and economical motives. Nevertheless, the major shift that education went through is the shift that began with the rise of the industrial revolution and continued to improve till the modern days' era. This major shift brought about drastic changes in educational theories and tools as the old theories were no more compatible with the requirements of the new era. Moreover, the large-scale technological development? ensued the emergence of numerous new tools which have highly contributed to changing how the act of learning is done. However, the major changes that these new theories and tools caused was the shift from a strict teacher-centered approach to a more active student-centered approach. This significant shift has occurred as a natural result to the changes that the world is going through, but more importantly this shift came thanks to the new understanding of education and learning which was noticeable in the new theories and tools that made an appearance during the 20 and the 21st centuries. Stemming from what has been previously mentioned, it is important to build a holistic awareness pertaining to the major modern learning theories and digital learning tools that are related to the students-centered approach concept.
1.1 Constructivism?????????????
?????Thanks to his extensive research in the field, John Piaget developed the theory of constructivism. According to this theory, people construct their own knowledge based on their previous knowledge and experiences. Moreover, the effectiveness of learning depends on the compatibility of the new learned knowledge with the already existing one. To illustrate, if someone is learning history, then his understanding and his interpretation of the historical events along with their causes and consequences will depend on the students prior-knowledge about history. Lastly, constructivism argues that people learn how to learn while they learn. To simplify, the student who was learning history did not only develop awareness about historical facts, but he also developed his searching skills and his own methods to understand and memorize historical facts and events. All in all, constructionism is considered to be one of the main learning theories that are still in practice up until now.
???????The constructivism theory has tremendous benefits. First and foremost, constructivism urges students to be active learners as they are required to construct their own knowledge instead of being mere receptacles that passively receives knowledge. Furthermore, constructivism theory promotes 21st century skills, specifically information literacy and critical thinking. For example, in order to construct knowledge, students will have to find information, analyze and evaluate it which ultimately sharpens their skills. Lastly, constructivism meets students' needs since it can be adapted to keep up with their pace, and it also adapts to their own way of learning and the information they need to learn. In brief, the constructivism learning theory is considered to be one of the most beneficial learning theories.??
?????However, the constructivism theory, as all other theories, has its own limitations. For example, constructivism puts an overemphasized on individual learning while neglecting the significant role of collective learning. Moreover, this theory can lead to misconceptions as it is based on the individuals' pre-knowledge and experience to interpret content. Thus, students can misunderstand due to their lack of sufficient prior-knowledge to accommodate a new one. Overall, constructivism is one of the main theories in the field of education thanks to its immense benefits; nonetheless, it is important to consider its limitations while being applied.
1.2 Sociocultural?????
??????????Vygotsky introduced one of the major learning theories that reshaped the learning sphere. First of all, sociocultural theory connects individuals' mental functions and structures and their historical cultural and social context. Additionally, individuals' mental structures and processes are highly influenced by interaction with others within a specific social and cultural context. Furthermore, learning happens through interaction and collaboration with others. Finally, students' social and cultural context pays a significant contribution to their learning. For instance, foreign language students who learn vocabulary about holidays and celebrations can achieve better outcomes if the vocabulary was related to their cultural context. All in all, Vygotsky’s theory stressed the importance of interaction both with others and with the one’s surrounding in order to learn.
???????Sociocultural theory is highly regarded in the educational domain owing to its positive implications. Sociocultural theory asserts the importance of collaboration. Thus, it transcends many theories that regarded learning as a, totally, individualistic process, constructivism as an example. Moreover, its dependence on students' social and cultural context makes learning more relevant to students, therefore, more significant to them. It is also worth mentioning that Vygotsky, through his concept of "zone of proximal development", encourages mutual help among learners and instructors in order to build firmly strong foundations of knowledge. In short, sociocultural theory is an important theory that entails lots of benefits.??
?????????Nevertheless, this theory has many limitations that diminish its usability. To start with, cultural and socially diverse classrooms constitute a large challenge when it comes to applying this theory. For example, teaching holiday and celebration vocabulary can be hard in the Moroccan cultural context, as an example, because of the remarkable cultural differences between Arabs and Amazigh (Berbers). Another limitation is related to the fact that the sociocultural theory severely neglects individual potentials and strictly connects learning to society. The last point is related to cultural and social changes that societies experience, or that individuals go through when moving from a country to another. For example, in the case of exchange students, a large number of them perform well in totally different cultural and social environments from their original one's. To summarize, sociocultural theory has its own limits that restricts its effectiveness.
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1.3 Inquiry-based learning
????????Inquiry-based learning is a learning theory based on students-centered concept.? As a start, inquiry-based learning urges students to seek information and knowledge by their own or with help of an instructor. In this theory, students ask questions and attempt to look for answers leveraging from the magnificent potentials and resources provided in the digital world. Inquiry-based learning aims to put students in charge of their own learning, and to move from a passive teacher-centered learning environment, to a more active student-centered approach. To wrap up, Inquiry-based learning is learning theory that emerged as a response to the swift changes that happened in the world which required new modern teaching/learning approaches.??
???????The advent of Inquiry-based learning ensued many benefits that made this approach one of the most preferable teaching/learning approaches. First of all, this theory is compatible with today's rapidly changing society. Inquiry-based learning takes advantage of the plethora of information available in the online world. Furthermore, it enhances students' 21st century skills such as information and digital literacy, critical thinking and problem-solving which are crucial skills for successful 21st century students and employers. Besides that, this theory makes students more active and engaging as well as it is more suitable for the differences between students in terms of Abilities and needs. To sum up, Inquiry-based learning provides an abundance of benefits which makes it a more suitable choice for modern day's learning context.??
??????Despite having an enormous amount of benefits, inquiry-based theory has many limitations. On one hand, this theory is based on conducting research which can be time-consuming, especially for students who lack adequate reaching skills or when researching a complex topic. On the other hand, this theory can, also, lead to misconceptions or distorted understanding in case of lack of monitoring or correct pre-knowledge about the topic. This issue has become even more dangerous in the digital era where students confront an overflow of information. Even more, a major problem that makes the Inquiry-based method ineffective is the "digital divide". This phenomenon of "digital divide" leads to inequality and injustice in learning. To conclude, Inquiry-based learning still faces many obstacles and limitations, particularly those related to technological and technical issues.
1.4 Connectivism?
????????The advent of connectivism came as a reaction to the major shift in education, thus, this relatively new approach brought about new ideas and principles. First of all, connectivism suggests that ideas, information and knowledge are nodes that should be connected by the students in order to learn and construct a collective and solid understanding of the knowledge based on multiple foundations connected together. Moreover, connectivism suggests that connecting students to each other is an important way of learning as it promotes diversity of ideas and points of view. Therefore, students compile more information and experiences that help them further develop their learning. Last but not least, connectivism argues that learning happens outside of the individuals. This idea means that students do not have to accumulate a large amount of knowledge within themselves. Instead, students need to make connection with the knowledge whenever it is needed. In other words, students do not need to acquire lots of information but rather they need to be able to access it when they need it. This theory suggests that knowledge is distributed, as Downes (2006) expressed: 'knowledge is distributed across a network of connections.’ All in all, connectivism is a modern theory that came in order to keep up with the large evolution that education is going through.
???????The theory of connectivism has a lot of ups. One of which is that connectivism is more convenient for students in terms of time, place, tempo and manner of learning since it heavily depends on technology and online-based instruction. Furthermore, connectivism encourages active learning and collaboration along with many other crucial 21st century skills. For instance, connectivism calls for digital and information literacy in order to find information. Then it calls for critical thinking and collaboration to make connection between it and other pieces of information. Another advantage is the availability of information in the online world and the simplicity of obtaining access to it. To end, connectivism has many advantages that are essential in today's learning context.??
??????Nevertheless, the same way that it has advantages, connectivism has many drawbacks. Starting from the big requirements of this approach such as having high digital and information literacy skills as well as having digital means and tools. These requirements can limit the effectiveness of this theory, especially in poor areas. Besides that, this theory does not clarify how is learning done or how create this network between different aspects of knowledge and information. Moreover, the feasibility of accessing knowledge easily at any time can make students idle and sometimes passive which can cause a shortage in their understanding of knowledge. To sum up, connectivism has many disadvantages due to its ambiguous and virtual nature.
2.1? MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES (MOOCs)
Massive Open Online Courses are one of the main manifestations of learning in the digital era. MOOCs are online course that are open for a large number of worldwide users; some of these open courses are free and some are paid.?
????????MOOCs have made a significant contribution to improving the effectiveness of learning thanks to their benefits. First of all, MOOCs encourage lifelong learning since they are always open for learners, especially workers. Moreover, MOOCs provide access to more topics and fields which helps on developing skills that can help both in personal and professional aspects of the individuals’ life. Finally, Massive Open Online Courses encourage people to explore new fields of study and new spheres that can potentially became a future career for the learner. To sum up. Massive Open Online courses are one of many manifestations of learning in the modern day era.
2.2 Wikis
??????Wikis are information and knowledge sources that are massively open, free, dynamic and collaborative.
???????Wikis provide learners with many benefits that they can leverage from. For example, Wikis offer an easy and free access to knowledge for almost all learners regardless of their digital and information literacy skills since gaining access to them -to Wikis- is not challenging. Furthermore, Wikis allow for collaborative construction of knowledge which reduces the risks of using these massive open platforms to spread biased or miss-leading information. It is also worth to mention that Wikis allow individuals to actively create their own information and knowledge instead of being mere passive consumers of knowledge.
2.3 Virtual Online Classrooms
????????Virtual classrooms are platforms used to create a classroom in the digital world. Virtual classrooms are made to be either an alternative or a parallel version of the real-world classroom. In other words, they can substitute the real-world class, or they can be used as a reinforcement to the real-world classroom.
??????Virtual classrooms can be used to achieve a variety of goals. Firstly, online video classrooms such as "Zoom" can be used in order to address students weakness outside of the traditional classroom. For example, if students have problems understanding a lesson of grammar; their teacher can have the ability to arrange online classrooms and explain the lesson to his students in a more convenient way for them. Moreover, these classrooms can be used to provide students with further useful learning materials and exercises, a good example of those platforms is "Google Classroom". Lastly, these platforms can be used for multiple activities outside of the normal classroom such as presentations and debates between students. All in all, virtual classrooms are one of the most applicable and practical tools that can be used in different ways and for different aims.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, the major shift to students-centered education and learning has led to the creation of several new learning theories. Starting with constructivism which suggests that knowledge is constructed by the learners based on their previous knowledge. The sociocultural theory which relates learning to the learner’s social context and interactions with others. Then, the Inquiry-based learning in which students are required to look for the knowledge in order to answer questions that they asked beforehand. Connectivism theory argues that learning is networking process where nods are connected in order to achieve learning; These nods can be learners themselves or information and ideas. Moreover, the new shift to students-centered learning was followed by the invention of many digital learning tools such as Massive Open Online Courses, Wikis and online classrooms. Finally, the modern day education is characterized by engaging students more in the educational process as well as integrating technology more than ever before.
References
Information and communication technologies in teacher education (chapter 1), (25,26,27,28).
Constructivism learning theory: A Paradigm For Teaching And Learning (BADA, Steve Olusegum).
Sociocultural Theory (Sarah Scott, Annemaric Palinscar).
The Relevance And Implications Of Vigotsky's Sociocultural Theory In the Second Language Classroom (Mamour Choul Turk).
Places To Go: Connectivism & Connective knowledge (2008).
Pros And Cons Of Connectivism As A Learning Theory (Mehmit Sahin).
Connectivism: A Learning Theory For the Digital Age (George Siemens).
Phases Of Inquiry-Based Learning: Definitions And The Inquiry Cycle.
Wikis (Ke Zhang, Stacey DeLosse),(2009).
Massive Open Online Courses (Tharind Rekha Liyangunawardena),(2014).
Western Governors University.edu