Convergently, many of the educational policy initiatives promoting ICTs in schools and higher education are premised on new learner-centred and constructivist theories of learning which project the goal of more active and innovative learners harnessing the educational possibilities of ICTs. Constructivist models of learning (e.g. Jonassen et al, 2003; Weigel, 2003) are typically contrasted with models of teaching and learning which emphasise a hierarchical and linear “transmission” of content or skills from authoritative teacher to passive learner. Such influential concepts as ‘anchored instruction’ and ‘situated learning’ outlined how novice learners develop better applied understanding and generic skills in terms of specific examples, problems and authentic learning contexts – a framework for linking ICTs, problem-solving, and content-specific teaching or learning. In this way ‘knowledgeable’ teachers and/or experts should be able to better transmit their knowledge. Practical concepts such as problembased learning, collaborative learning, project work, authentic assessment and inquiry-based activities all represent alternatives to the linear and hierarchical assumptions of formal lesson-planning and course design. Such approaches emphasize how effective learning should rather be understood as a process, cycle and/or set of stages proceeding from initial skill or information acquisition
to more applied and reflective understanding, knowledge and even innovation. It may be argued that general notions of constructivist learning tend to mix up and sometimes confuse or oppose the alternate cognitive and social aspects of knowledge building. Whilst in one sense they do converge in ‘active’ modes of learning some of these models arguably either directly or indirectly privilege the social and critical thinking over individual and local contexts of practice as well as theory over practice.
Towards a convergent notion of the knowledge-building process Although ‘knowledge-building’ is a central concept in new ICT-focused learning theory it has been influentially defined as the process by which ‘expert groups’ construct knowledge as a social process of collaborative discussion and synthesis of ideas (Scardamalia and Bereiter, 1999). Such a definition exemplifies a common dilemmas of much new learning theory to remain inherently conceptual, top-down and elitist, and thus at odds with the grounded and potentially innovative practice and active learning of ‘every learner’. Just as As indicated above a common ‘communities of practice’ model informs various notions of digital
Figure 3: Towards a convergent framework of 21st Century Knowledge-Building
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learning and capacity-building for either institutional or community development. General organizational learning models such as articulated by Wenger (1998) have especially articulated with social constructivist models of digital learning. Weigel (2003) for instance directly connects various general notions of a ‘community of practice’ with specific learning ‘communities of inquiry’ in constructivist classrooms and related lifelong and virtual modes of learning. A ‘communities of practice’ model is indeed most helpful for engaging with the challenge of ICT integration in particular educational and social contexts. As McNabb & McCombs (2002) point out, professional learning communities (of practice) involve three levels of interaction – community, institutional and individual – which inform two key collaborative approaches to ICT professional development: (a) the collegial sharing of resources; and (b) particular ICT professional development projects. McNabb & McCombs article makes special mention of the e-learning facility of networked learning communities and e-learning professional development – extending from the collaborative use of intranets through to the use of learning management programmes. ICTs have made possible new modes of formal as well as informal ‘lifelong learning’ that are as applicable to communities and institutions as well as individual learners. Á bottom line is that the kind of active experimentation needed to build and transform any kind of personal knowledge can be initiated through partnerships and dialogue but ultimately requires self-organisation and self-learning. A convergent notion of 21st century knowledgebuilding which harnesses the learning possibilities of ICTs serves to overcome the paradox identified in the Knowledge Management literature as ‘if only we knew what we know’. May 2006 | www.digitalLearning.in