Educational theory

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Definition

One may differentiate between education and instruction (pedagogy). The latter is related to art, craft or science of teaching. The former is more global, i.e. is interested by the whole process within which learning happens.

See also: pedagogical theory (aliased from instructional theory

The role of educational theory in educational technology

Also see the discussion in the educational technology article.

History

In the mid-sixties that also gave birth to computer-based training, behavirorist instructivist approaches to learning design became popular.

Cognitivism and constructivism became the dominant learning theory paradigms in the eighties.

More recently Situated Learning or constructivist variants like socio-constructivism or social cognition became dominant, at least in the research communities.

References

• Issroff, K. & Scanlon, Eileen (2002), Educational Technology: The Influence of Theory, Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2002 (6). [1]

• Stahl, G. (2003) Building Collaborative Knowing: Elements Of A Social Theory Of CSCL, In J.W. Strijbos, P.Kirschner & R. Martins (ed.), What we know about CSCL in higher education, Amsterdam: Kluwer.