Pedagogical–methodological elements

Pedagogical–methodological elements in the use of science labs

As a very first step we need to be familiar with the main pedagogical theories, learning theories in order to use ICT effectively in education. This section introduces the science pedagogy and the problem-based learning method. The second half of the section describes a few useful basic ICT tools in STEM education, such as virtualisation, simulation, wiki, etc.

The need to express ourselves is in our human nature – for some more strongly than for others. It is a fact that we need to externalise our ideas and we can use the power of connecting to others to do that. The focus on connecting, interacting, collaborating, discussing is present in many learning theories.

Social constructivism sees as crucial both the context in which learning occurs and the social contexts that learners bring to their learning environment. In this theory the knowledge is constructed in groups, creating a culture of shared objects with shared meanings. The individual needs to be immersed into the culture to learn meaningfully. Learning is a self-directed, problem-based, and a collaborative process. In this section we will mostly build on the constructivist theories.

Connectivism is about understanding connections. Open learning (explained by George Siemens) is to be looked at in social context; it is fluid, variable and contextual. We learn constantly, mostly outside any course model, when we make sense of the world around us, we learn meaningfully.

Both main theories have been challenged by many, social constructivism primarily because of the ‘fit for all’ approach. Not all subjects support social, collaborative learning. Creating an e-learning environment, some guidance, instructional design is expected, but this theory focuses on learning, knowledge construction, always within its context rather than instruction. Social learning is new to the learners in formal education, so change in the culture is necessary to achieve success.