On this diagram we see the differences between the two schools of thought of constructivism. I chose this topic because I have been reading about these two psychologists for quite some time now and I had a hard time understanding ZPD and scaffolding. When I read Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing tools for an effective classroom I was able to recall the different contributions by each theorist and to understand the concepts mentioned above.
In my current experience with distance education I see how both, social and cognitive constructivism influence distance education.
Online learners come to contact with the content isolated from the rest of the classmates and the teacher. Piaget stated that each individual constructs their own knowledge. Secondly, when the students come together in the conference area is when there’s a social interaction between students. Each person reflects on the reading, analyzes different pieces of information and everything comes together topic by topic. Also, Piaget mentions the modification of schemas, each student in a online course has a different background therefore their schemas will not be the same. Every student highlights on the information that was interesting to that particular person and the rest are able to read and to learn from all students. Lastly, critical thinking is a must in distance learning. As a student one has to read, understand and synthesize the studied content. That’s one of the greatest advantages of online learning, that most the students participate and come together to learn the content.
Powell, K., & Kalina, C. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: developing tools for an effective classroom. Project Innovation, 130(2), 241-250.
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