Personally, I am an advocate of constructionism. I think I’ll stick with my definition from my response to Chris’s post last asynchronous session and explain it as a social performance of learning or knowledge, a thing to be remodeled and tinkered with through the active investigations of learners. The social aspect of this theory of learning clearly has its correlations within social media and Web 2.0 in general. This is especially apparent in sites like Facebook, where content is created (performed) from one user and can be viewed and appreciated by others. From the readings, I felt an underlying feature of Web 2.0 is the adoption of the role of creator into a person’s identity. Maybe not necessarily in the sense that the person views themselves this way internally, but externally and performatively, that person generating the content within Web 2.0 undergoes processes similar to that of authoring (e.g., editing the information, making decisions on when to release the information, choosing to acknowledge audience, exploring the media as a way of familiarizing themselves with the technology, etc.). Not only do creators have to deal with these issues but also the other “characteristics of new media (persistence, searchability, replicability, audience invisibility)” (Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughe, 2009).
While constructionism can have a limited audience when it is practiced in a shop or at home, within classrooms and spaces like Facebook, a built-in, engaged audience is ready to participate. Constructionist activities within a makerspace and the underlying principle of social performance can be compared and contrasted within things like Facebook to synergize the shared authorship between Web 2.0 and constructionism in general. Conversations about the relevance of a post to Facebook can be compared to the conversations around releasing a piece of artwork in the commons or creating an instructional booklet on how to solder. In these ways, the importance and responsibility of responsible authorship can be expanded on through lessons learned from Web 2.0.
Hey Matt,
From my reading of your post it seems like you are suggesting that social media (like Facebook) offers the opportunity for sharing and social collaboration around constructionist activities that might otherwise be performed individually with limited social interaction. This is a great example of a synergistic relationship between social media and constructivist/constructionist philosophy as it might leverage both learner participation and creativity and online identity formation (Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009). Sharing created works on social media invites conversations and critiques which may my benefit the creator and lead to improved and more creative works in the future. Additionally, posting created works on social media may help individuals to craft their own unique and personal identity by showcasing their skills and talents in creative endeavors.
Hey Matthew,
Your comment made me think of a line from a weird episode of House M.D., “Whoever you are, whatever you love, you can connect with someone. If you want to recreate the Boston Tea Party while dressed as imperial storm troopers, you can find the ten other people in the world that have always wanted to do that.” The conectivity of the internet gives an audience to those who might have otherwise felt alone. That kind of empowerment leaves us with deep questions on what to do with such a tool. I look forward to the rest of this class to see how these theories can be leveraged toward an educational end.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for your post!
You’ve described constructionist learning as “social performance” where something (a Facebook post, a video, an artwork) is created and presumably “tinkered with” and “remodeled through the active investigations of learners”(i.e., the society or group) in a particular context.
You wrote: “Constructionist activities within a makerspace and the underlying principle of social performance can be compared and contrasted within things like Facebook…”
I am interested in your comparison. When you compare constructionist activities among learners in a Makerspace with constructionist activities among leaners within Facebook, for instance (or choose another specific social media space to compare), what are the PROS/benefits of situating this type of learning within the social media space? What are the CONS/drawbacks? Are there specific FEATURES of social media – that were mentioned in the readings – that seem particularly beneficial for bringing about constructionist learning?
I look forward to your reply online or off!
Chris
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