Learning from and thoughts on the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (3rd edition): Part 2 — insights in complexity theory, situational theory, and several other hot topics

This paper elaborates on what the author has learned from the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (3rd edition) in four respects: complexity theory and the complex learning supported by technology, situational theory and the scenariobased teaching model and strategy, the first principles of instruction and the four-component instructional design model (4C/ID), and the debate regarding the future of educational technology as a result of the changes in the direction of technical research

On a Deeper Understanding of the Constructivist Learning Principles and Constructivist Instructional Design

Compiled by the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) in the US, the Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology has impacted the field of educational technology in many important ways, since the 1990s. The third edition, published in 2008, in particular, provides the reader with more innovative content due to the collected efforts of its co-editors and a large team of contributing scholars. This article will focus on the third edition of the handbook by first outlining its overall structure and contents, and directing the reader to those arguments that stimulate the field most. It will then concentrate on a more in-depth discussion of a re-appraisal of the following two issues: the constructivist learning principles and the relationship between constructivist and engineering instructional design. The former is considered, in the third edition, as one of the two most important research discoveries, while the later is deemed as one of the four important developments in educational communications and technology in the past five years