Social constructivism considers that knowledge is socially constructed. Students socially build, share, and agree upon knowledge. By exchanging and sharing with others, ideas are formed and learning occurs. Learning is dialog. Dialog is learning. The basic priniciples of social constructivism include:
· Social interaction plays a central role in human development.
· Tool mediates between social and dividual functioning.
· Internal activities (internalisation) and external activities(externalisation) mutually transform one another.
Social constructivism emphasizes that learning is an active process mediated by social interaction. Conceptual growth comes from the sharing of multiple perspectives and negotiation of those perspectives through individual and collective experiences.
Lev Vygotsky thought that human development occurs on two planes. First it appears on social plane, and then on individual plane. Social interaction is the cornerstone in human development. In knowledge construction, social and individual processes are intertwined and interdependent. “Individual consciousness is built from the outside through relations with others” (Kozulin, 1986, p. xxiii-xxiv).
Internal activity (internalisation) and external activity (externalisation) are mutually transformed. The dual concept of internalization and externalization is used to explain the mutual transformation between the social world and the personal world. Human mind functions as both a social and a personal system.
Piaget insisted that development concepts should not be taught to children until children reach the appropriate development stage. Opposite of Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky believed that children can do more with the help of an adult or of capable peers than they can do by themselves (Zone of Proximal Development). Piaget believed that the most important source of cognition is located within the children themselves. Vygotsky argued that the social environment plays an essential role in the child's cognitive development.
All of you have experiences in online discussions. Online discussions provide a social environment for knowledge negotiation. You are exposed to multiple perspectives on an issue.
In the process of discussions, there is constant mutual transformation between individual cognition (internalization) to social cognition (externalization) and back to individual cognition (internalization). You think through the issue and externalize your thoughts. Through negotiation, the group reaches the consensus (social cognition). You then engage in individual reflection of the knowledge transacted and internalize the knowledge.
Discussions move you closer and closer to social cognition – the negotiated knowledge. Remember the story Six Men and the Elephant? Each of the men constructs his own knowledge. However, their knowledge representation is not complete. Without meaningful negotiation, intellectual chaos occurs.
Online discussion forums are the tool that mediates your discussions. Online discussion differs from fleeting oral discussions. In face to face discussions, logics and mistakes tend to get away and escape the notice. There is no record left about the discussion for anybody to study and examine.
Text-based discussions leave a permanent record about what one has written. You have time to read, think, compose, examine and reflect upon what one has said. Does the online discussion tool alter your flow of thinking? It is the question that you should be able to answer now.
