Constructivism as a Best Practice in Distance Education

Information that was given on some of the most effective practices in distance education stated that effective distance education practices are based on constructivism and social constructivism. Purdue University’s website states that good distance education courses “make use of all the technology available whether that is audio, video or printed material” (Purdue, 2012).

Constructivism as a paradigm or worldview posits that learning is an active, constructive process (Learning Theories, 2012). I also have a constructivist approach to teaching and learning.  I agree that learning is an active process where the learner must participate. Students take the information that they already have and add to it with new information. A misunderstanding of the Constructivist learning theory is that teachers should never “tell” their students what to do. However, if students are left to themselves, they can get frustrated. Instructors should act as a guide to help their students learn more. They should not give all of the answers to their students. Yet, the students should not be left alone to “figure out” how to do new assignments. For example, students can get frustrated when taking a virtual field trip (Hara, et el, 1999) or doing anything else online. Hara, et el (1999) describe some of the students' frustrations about an online course. As an online student, I understand that their can be frustrations while being enrolled in an online course. 

On the other hand, distance education teachers can consider the different learning theories and learning styles that students have and try their best to help design their course(s) in such a way that it will be able to effectively help the most students and cater to any students who may need some differentiated instruction. LeFever (2004) says that if teachers do not understand the different learning styles, the teacher(s) could miss out of an opportunity to reach out to students in which God has assigned those teachers to reach. Some students [even adult learners] may learn certain information better than other information and teachers can help “construct” activities that help these students to learn the most, in the most effective way for them. I agree that God has given us [educators] an opportunity to teach/reach students and help them become the best students that they can be. Further, I think that the Constructivist approach can help “construct” great learning environments [tradition brick and mortar or online] that help facilitate learning for all students, regardless of the teachers teaching style or the students’ learning style(s).

Learning Theories (2012) Retrieved on May 08, 2012 from:

http://www.learning-theories.com/constructivism.html/

LeFever, M.D., (2004). Learning styles: reaching everyone God gave you to reach.

David C. Cook. Colorado Springs , CO.

Hara, Noriko, AND Kling, Rob. "Students' frustrations with a Web-based distance

education course" First Monday [Online], Volume 4 Number 12 (6 December

1999).

Purdue (2012). Retrieved on May 08, 2012 from:

http://www.pnc.edu/distance/bestprac.html/.