Reflection on running a constructivist learning experience for teachers

Hi Classroom 2.0'rs -
This summer I had the opportunity to be on the faculty of a unique learning experience for educators called Constructing Modern Knowledge. It was a place where educators could come for an immersive experience using creative software and technology.

I've written a reflective post about the experience of planning and implementing this experience. Even though a lot of people believe that constructivist education (both for teachers and students) is the right thing to do, the "how" part is not always apparent.
Constructing Modern Knowledge 2008

This experience really taught me a lot about the process. Love your thoughts.

Tags: conference, constructivist, creativity, pedagogy, professionaldevelopment, software

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Permalink Reply by Terry Smith on August 17, 2008 at 9:07pm

Sylvia - my thoughts are parallel to the happenings you described on your blog. Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to work in a creative session where Gary was running the "event." It was a lego-robotics-problem-solving circus. We had no real directions, but were given an assignment and a box of stuff. Our assignment was to build a fax machine. Other teams built musical devices, catapults, etc all run by sensors of some sort and controlled by a software program. Here's what emerged from the participants: a little expertise here, some thoughtfulness there, imaginations, head scratching, sketching, creativity, humor, playfulness and some incredible machines at the end of the day! So what does the "how" part look like? I guess we know - it doesn't look much like worksheets and memorization for the sake of evaluation, but like social situations with challenges and opportunities to interact with interested peers. A place where people want to be.