The eminent Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, believed that we are hardwired to be social animals. From this viewpoint, knowledge — and therefore learning — originates in the social community.
Vygotsky developed social constructivism in the 1970s, as an extension of cognitive constructivism, which I examined last week.
According to Vygotsky’s view, learning is collaborative — not just a simple assimilation and accommodation of new knowledge by isolated learners, but a process by which they are integrated into what he called a ‘knowledge community’.
While it’s true Vygotsky used cognitive constructivism as his starting point, his theory rejected the idea that learning can be separated from the learners’ social context — such as had been posited by Piaget, Perry and others.
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
The Zone of Proximal Development is perhaps Vygotsky’s most famous idea.
Vygotsky distinguished between this and the level of actual development, which comes before it. The level of actual development is that which the learner has already reached; it is the level at which they are capable of solving problems independently, without help.
The zone of proximal development (also called the level of potential development) is the level of development that the learner is capable of reaching only under the guidance of teachers or in collaboration with peers.
Vygotsky argued that we are motivated both extrinsically and intrinsically: we are partially motivated by rewards provided by the knowledge community (extrinsic), but the learner must also have an internal drive to understand and promote the learning process (intrinsic).
Personally, I find this stance to be far more convincing than the views of both behaviourists (that only extrinsic motivation matters) and cognitive constructivists (only intrinsic motivation matters). In my experience, people are indeed motivated by a number of factors, some of which are extrinsic (e.g. remuneration, recognition), and some of which are intrinsic (e.g. satisfaction, self-efficacy).
How is this all relevant to digital learning?
There are many ways in which social constructivism helps in the creation of high quality digital learning resources.
Firstly, we should try and understand the knowledge community that our learner group is a part of. We can ask questions like:
What is their culture?
How are they recognised and rewarded, and what are the challenges and expectations placed upon them within their role?
And, perhaps most importantly, how will this learning help the learner?
Answering these questions will enable us to develop a tone of voice and method of delivery that chimes with their experience in the workplace.
Linked into this is a consideration of what learners’ existing level of expertise is, in relation to the zone of proximal development discussed above.
Knowledge that is identified as within learners’ current ability (their level of actual development) provide good opportunites for a test-teach methodology, in which they might be presented with formative questions prior to receiving information.
Second, are there any opportunities to enhance learning with social interaction among learners?
A module that I worked on last year provides a good example of this.
The subject was leadership and communication styles. I began by scripting a number of animations explaining the key concepts around these areas, and this formed the digital learning part of the solution. To further enhance learning opportunities, I then developed a series of exercise sheets which learners completed at their workplace as part of their professional development.
One of these, for instance, first enabled learners identify one another’s communication and influence style, then guided them in developing better ways to work together based on these styles.
Not only did this provide an opportunity to enhance learning through engagement with the content in several different ways, but — through interaction with their peers — it also facilitated greater integration of the learning as part of the learners’ knowledge community.
For me, another insight sparked by a consideration social constructivism is the value of scenarios within learning modules.
Scenarios, when done well (i.e. with a good understanding of the particular workplace experiences of the learners) can provide excellent opportunities for learners to make connections between the learning module and their day to day role as part of their knowledge community.
Social constructivism: a comprehensive theory
A consideration of social constructivism can enhance our design of learning resources in a number of ways.
It sparks a consideration of the social community of which our learners are a part, and pushes us to ask whether the resources we are designing are a good match for our learners’ current level of development.
Thinking of learners as social animals is also helpful in designing learning that utilises social interaction between learners, and taps into the power of scenario-based learning.
For me, social constructivism also has the most realistic view of motivation (a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic) of all the theories I have explored so far.
Next week I want to take a slightly different tack, and talk about gamification — an exciting, much talked about and often misunderstood concept that has for several years been disrupting approaches in professional and learning settings.