Collaboration, constructivism and constructionism.

 We had a play with the coding programme 'Scratch' and a 'Makey Makey' to create a magical music machine at The Mind Lab this week. After completing this task we were asked to reflect on what constructivism, constructionism and collaborative learning looked like in this task. 

Constructivism

Constructivism is learning by doing a task. The knowledge doesn’t come from the teacher, but knowledge is constructed as the task is worked on (Cashman et al, 2005). Constructivism fits with the theory of Vygotsky, he brought us "ZPD" (the zone of proximal development). He believed that a more knowledgeable other could support us in our learning. In the 21st century learning this 'more knowledgeable other' could be technology. 

We learnt by ourselves how to make a drum kit using Scratch and a Makey Makey.

We only got a simple brief of what we needed to achieve “A magical music machine”. 

None of us were experts in using Scratch or a Makey Makey but as we worked out through trial and error we shared our learning with each other as we went along. 

Constructionism

Papert & Harel (1991) state that constructionism is the idea of learning-by-making and that these activities display qualities of "learning-richness": 

During this activity we “constructed” a drum kit.

The drum kit was the product of the hands-on learning that we did around the Scratch coding program. 

Through having the goal of creating a “musical machine” we were able to figure out the different steps we, as a group, needed to take to create our drum kit. 

Collaboration and Cooperation

Dillenbourg (1999) identifies the difference between collaboration and cooperation as defined by a degree in the division of labour. In cooperation, partners split the work, solve sub-tasks individually and then assemble the partial results into the final output. In collaboration, partners do the work 'together' (Dillenbourg, 1999). 

During the task, we utilised both styles - although we ‘worked together’ in collaboration, we also ‘divided the labour’ during the process. 

For instance, one member of the group completed the coding task via Scratch, whilst the other two created the physical ‘Drum Kit’. 

These features were then combined at the end to create the finished product.

These educational theories will feed into my digital assignment #1. 

Cashman et al. (2005). Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom (4th Ed.) Cambridge: Course Technology.

Dillenbourg, P. (1999). What do you mean by collaborative learning? In P. Dillenbourg (Ed.). Collaborative-learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches. Oxford: Elsevier

Papert, S. & Harel, I. (1991). Constructionism. Alex Publishing