I believe that individuals should actively interact with their environment and with other people to construct their knowledge. Learning occurs when there is social interaction or individual effort to understand a concept. In other words, each person creates their own knowledge in a social context. Because of this, my learning theory is social constructivism, which is an expansion of Vygotsky’s theory of social learning (1978).
Social media or Web 2.0 provides a variety of technology-enhanced learning environments to students and teachers. For example, Flipgrid is a website enabling discussions between people with videos. A teacher can create a classroom on Flipgrip and post a question or content via text or video. In this way, students and teachers can experience a social environment similar to an in-person classroom atmosphere and interact with each other to develop their ideas. Each student can create content or remix them, one of the affordances of Web 2.0 (Greenhow et al., 2009) to express their opinions/answers. In fact, everyone in the class can comment on videos with text or video. Thus, knowledge construction among students can continue collaboratively. Interactivity, another affordance of Web 2.0 (Greenhow et al., 2009) is accomplished by user-friendly features of Flipgrid without a need for expertise and age limit (even preschool children can use it).
Flipgrid is just one example of video-sharing sites that enable the social construction of knowledge among people. I think it is a good alternative especially during these times for providing asynchronous discussion forums to students with creativity and flexibility.
Hi Betul,
I appreciated your argument that Flipgrid is a social media that is synergistic with social constructivism. Perhaps we should try this out for one of our asynchronous discussion weeks? What do you think: do you see an BENEFITS or CHALLENGES to using Flipgrid over a text-based discussion forum? I look forward to your thoughts!
Chris
I appreciate your agreement with the constructivist theory of learning, one that matches mine too. And as someone who has only recently started working with Flipgrid, I see your fascination with the tool. What brings to my mind is the introvert student in the class, who probably shies away from sharing what they want to say, but can use this platform to put forth their ideas without having to be self-conscious in front of their classmates.
Yes, we might try to use it. In my opinion, Fligrid is especially beneficial for younger age groups because text-based discussion is still one of the options instead of being the only option. In fact, teachers can specify the duration of a video rather than word count in a text. I think this can be both a pro and con depending on writing and speaking skills of students. However, students who are shy to speak in the classroom can express themselves easier and more actively via videos, and discussions can be more lively compared to text-based ones. I see that Suha also mentioned this point. Additionally, another advantage of this kind of platforms is creating a classroom archive where students can visit whenever they want. On the other hand, the necessity of technological equipment is the main challenge in using online platforms.
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