☞The Computer as the Teacher's Tool ☜

✎Constructivist

• Constructivism as a paradigm or worldview posits that learning is an active, constructive process. The learner is an information constructor. People actively construct or create their own subjective representations of objective reality. New information is linked to to prior knowledge, thus mental representations are subjective.

✎Social Constructivism

• Social Constructivism (Vygotsky) - The perspective that learning and development is a social, collaborative activity. 
• Social Constructivism emphasizes the importance of culture and context in understanding what occurs in society and constructing knowledge based on this understanding (Derry, 1999;McMahon, 1997). This perspective is closely associated with many contemporary theories, most notably the developmental theories of Vygotsky and Bruner, and Bandura's social cognitive theory (Shunk, 2000). 

Learning Framework	Constructivism	Social Constructivism
Assumption	Knowledge is constructed by the individual.	Knowledge is constructed within a social context.
Definition of Learning	Students build their own learning.	Students build knowledge influenced by the social context.
Learning Strategies	Gather unorganized information to create new concept/principle	Exchange and share from ideas, stimulates thinking.
General Orientation	Personal discovery of knowledge.	Students discuss and discover meanings
Example	8*5-8+8+8+8+8	Two alternative job offers option 1-8 hrs/day for 6days/week Option 2-9 hrs/day for 5 days/week

✎The Computer’s Capabilities

Given its present-day speed, flexibility and sophistication, the computer can provide access to information, foster creative social knowledge building, and enhance the communication of the achieved project package.

Based on the two learning theories, the teacher can employ the computer as a/an:

• As an information tool
• A communication tool
• A constructive tool
• As co-constructive tool
• A situating tool

Informative tool

The computer can provide vast amounts of information in various forms, such as text, graphics, sound and video. Even multimedia encyclopedias are today available on the internet.

Constructive Tool

The computer itself can be used for manipulating information, visualizing one’s understanding and building new knowledge. The Microsoft Word computer program itself is a desktop publishing software that allows uses to organize and present their ideas in attractive formats.

Co-constructive Tools

Students can use constructive tools to work cooperatively and construct a shared understanding of new knowledge. On ways of co-constructive is the use of the electronic whiteboard where students may post notices to a shared document/whiteboard. Students may also co-edit the same document from their homes.

Situating Tool

By means of virtual reality (RS) extension systems, the computer can create 3-D images on display to give the user the feeling that are situated in a virtual environment. A flight simulation program is an example of situating tool which places the user in a simulated flying environment.

✎Reflection:

• Constructivist & Social Constructivism are really important in teaching. We need to be more creative and active teacher so that our students will gain their knowledge through their own experience and by applying their skills. 
• Using the Computer's Capabilities, we can make our topic interesting and lively. Students can use their HOTS in the activity that we prepared. We can also developed their skills by let them engage to the active learning situation.
• As we can observed students are more focused on the new technology now a days, chalk & board was boring for them, but when you used a tools like power point presentation they will be interested. But then we need to secure that the tools that we are using is appropriate and related to the topic. 
• The Educational Technology is really helpful to the teachers as well as to our learner.