How constructivism pastes aerearning
We all took courses that seemed technically great, but either confused what we learned or didn’t remember. The challenge for eLearning teachers and education designers is to make sure they actually stick to it, rather than delivering content. So, what should you do? As an expert, you need to focus on understanding not only what they are learning, but how people learn. This is exactly how e-learning constructivism is everything.
Constructivism changes traditional approaches to learning. Instead of receiving information passively, learners build or construct their own understanding through experience, exploration, and reflection. This is particularly relevant in e-learning environments. why? Because digital learning is all about flexibility and personalization. Therefore, online courses can be designed to include activities that allow learners to think, make decisions and reflect. Let’s explore this concept in detail below and show how it can be incorporated into e-learning design.
What is constructivism?
Constructivism is essentially a part of learning. Instead of being memorized and told about what they think, learners actively build ways of understanding concepts by engaging in eLearning content, asking questions, and relating to what they already know. Think of the constructivist approach as a puzzle. Each learner must put together the pieces in a way that makes sense to them.
Behind this idea is two psychologists, Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner. Piaget believed in building a “schema” that would help us all go through the phases of cognitive development and understand the world. [1] Meanwhile, Bruner introduced concepts like discovery learning. [2] This involves having learners find their own answers and scaffolding. [3] This is to gradually stop supporting learners as they grow more confidently with their content. At its core, constructivism focuses on learners and gives them an active role.
But how do people actually learn from constructivism? It is a more personal process as it depends on how each learner means the learning material. It often starts with a reflection. We take in new information, compare it with what we already know, and build understanding. This is why prior knowledge plays a major role here. Everyone brings their perspective, their context, and their way of understanding. Considering the above, let’s take a look at how constructivism can be used to build a more meaningful learning experience.
Design e-learning with a constructivist approach
Problem Solving Tasks
When implementing problem-solving tasks in eLearning, it provides learners with realistic challenges, think critically, explore possible solutions, and apply what they already know. This is much more convenient than passively absorbing information. Specifically, you want to design a scenario that reflects the actual work and life situations that learners may face. For example, ask a healthcare professional to give a virtual patient scenario and decide what procedures to determine. For business training, we challenge fictional companies to help resolve customer service problems. These types of activities feel relevant and increase both engagement and retention. While solving problems, learners construct meaning to go. They remember their prior knowledge, test their ideas, learn from mistakes, and therefore understand things better.
Exploratory learning
Exploratory learning is one of the most exciting strategies that can be brought to a constructivist e-learning environment. It is about giving learners the freedom to discover freedom rather than providing knowledge. The whole point is that they create connections, ask questions, and actively reveal meaning. In online lessons, exploratory learning means that learners need to interact with the content. For example, the history course adds clickable maps or drag-and-drop tools to reveal hidden facts. Similarly, VR can be incorporated to immerse learners in an environment where they discover things for themselves, such as finding the right equipment and tools to carry out chemistry experiments.
scaffold
In eLearning, scaffolding means giving sufficient guidance to help learners move forward, but not so much less challenged. It’s a balance of support and independence. So how do you step into the foothold in an online course? Start with clear instructions and helpful tips early on. For example, if you introduce complex concepts, they may be provided in the form of microlearning, infographics, or step-by-step tutorials. As learners are confident, start reducing help by perhaps asking more questions or presenting assignments without a step-by-step guide. You can also use checkpoints that allow learners to pause, reflect and check their level of understanding before they proceed. These are quizzes and short questions that will help you process what they have learned so far.
Real-world relevance
Learners quickly lose interest when they feel that the content is irrelevant. Therefore, it is necessary to design experiences that can be connected to what learners already know, or even better yet, quickly applied. Ideally, you should provide the activities and materials that will place them in realistic situations. For example, language learning involves listening to actual conversations between native speakers and using what you learn in role-play scenarios with peers.
Reflection
In traditional learning, learners may skip lessons or move on without quitting to think about what they have learned. However, in a constructivist approach, learners understand everything. This is called a reflection. But how do you apply reflexes to online courses? Even simple mid-lesson questions can be done with tricks, such as “How do you apply this to your own role?” It can also include discussion prompts or self-assessment quiz that encourage learners to pause and assess progress. When learners reflect, they not only remember the information, but also associate it with already knowing it on the spot, adding context to the study material.
Conclusion
E-learning and constructivism work well. In an online environment, learners can actively engage with content at their own pace, acquire knowledge, and solve problems in a way that suits their personality and learning methods. As a result, they control their learning journey and gain more confidence. The next time you design your eLearning experience, think about ways to give constructivism a chance and make your lessons more interactive, collaborative and practical.
References:
[1] Piaget’s Schema and Learning Theory: Three Attractive Experiments
[2] Discovery Learning – Bruner
[3] Jerome Brunner on the scaffolding of learning
