Lesson 11

The Computer as a Teacher's Tool

In the previous lesson, we saw how the computer can act as a tutor, particularly a long a behaviorist and cognitive at approach to a learning. But we also saw how certain computer software programs have been developed to foster other thinking skills and creativity.

In the Lesson, we shall again look at the computer, but this time from another perspective the computer as the teacher’s handy tool. It can in fact support the constructivist and social constructivist paradigms if learning.

Constructivism was introduced by Piaget (1981) and Brunet (1990).They gave stress knowledge discovery of new meaning/concepts/principles in the learning process. Various strategies have been suggested to foster knowledge discovery, among these, is making students engaged in gathering unorganized information from which they can induce ideas and principles. Students are also asked to apply discovered knowledge to new situations, process for making their knowledge applicable to real life situations.

While knowledge is constructed by the individual learner in constructivism, knowledge can also be socially constructed. Social constructivism is an effort to show the construction of knowledge is governed by social, historical and cultural contexts. In effect, this is to say that the learner who interprets knowledge has predetermined point of view according to the social perspectives of the community or society he lives in.

The psychologist Vygotsky stressed that learning is affected by social influences. He therefore, suggested the interactive process in learning. The more capable adult (teacher or parent) or classmate can aid or complement what the learner sees in a given class project. In addition, Dewey sees language as a medium for school coordination and adaptation. For Dewey human learning is really human languishing in that occurs when students socially share, build and agree upon meanings and knowledge.