Vygotsky in Twenty-First-Century research

At the 2008 Ed-Media conference, a list of most often cited papers in Ed-Media 2004-2008 was revealed (Ochoa, Mendez & Duval, 2009). Vygotsky’s theoretical work, originally published in Russia in the 1930s, came top of the list by a large margin. This paper examines why, and how this theory still can be relevant to twenty-first-century research. It is argued that an effective use of modern educational technologies calls for the use of advanced pedagogies. Vygotsky’s theory provides a profound understanding of teaching and learning that reflect the complexity of social and cultural contexts in the modern learner. The most frequently used concepts of Vygotsky’s theory are re-visited in relation to the research into new educational technologies. Additionally, the potential of some lesser known aspects of his theory, particularly in relation to educational technology, is explored. The inextricable connections between the Vygotskian approach and activity theory is discussed

Serious Games: The Importance of Play in Network Centric Organizations

The psychology of play recognises that there are benefits of incorporating play and games at work. In this paper we report the results of an investigation into the use of gaming to develop the cooperative human aspects of team behaviour in organisations that want to increase their social network-centric capability. We show how online team gaming sessions can enhance people’s awareness and mastery of collective processes underlying teamwork and cooperation in the context of the workplace. The conduct of such a session is described and the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data is presented. Lessons were learnt from use of this engaging but ‘serious’ game for building cooperation in modern network-centric organisations through play. This contributes not only to our understanding of the use of play and gaming in the workplace but also to the methods for practice and research on this important topic

Scaffolding numeracy: pre-service teachers\u27 perspective

Scaffolding has become increasingly popular as it provides teachers with an appealing alternative to traditional classroom techniques of teaching. Recent research identified a number of different ways that scaffolding can be used in the classroom to improve students’ numeracy levels in primary schools. However, despite the importance of scaffolding, pre-service teachers experience difficulties in understanding the complex techniques of scaffolding and often fail to make connections between theoretical explanations and their practical use. This paper examines current perceptions of scaffolding by a cohort of pre-service teachers, both in its conceptual framework and its practical implications to teaching in the classroom, and to teaching numeracy in particular. The results indicated that the participants appreciated the importance of scaffolding as an alternative to the traditional forms of educational instruction. However, they continue to demonstrate a limited appreciation of the more complex and theoretical aspects of scaffolding

Electronic Military History: A User-Centred Approach to a Web-Based Information System

This paper describes the design and implementation of a web-based information system relating to military history. The data is “non-traditional” in nature being chronologically based and relates the participants in World War 1 to their locations. Its purpose is to allow interrogation by a wide cross section of the community who seek to find the location of particular servicemen who took part in the Great War. The interface uses time dependent maps to enable inquirers to follow the progress of individual participants in the conflict. Activity Theory is used as a means of relating the system to the users by its focus on the computer as a tool which meshes into the users real life activity

Understanding Scaffolding and the ZPD in Educational Research

Marcia (pseudonyms have been used for the students and teachers mentioned in this paper), a third year early childhood student, was undertaking her teaching practice in a Kindergarten classroom. At the Faculty of Education reflection day Marcia approached me in tears. The reflection day is held half way though the practicum in order to give students an opportunity to share their classroom experiences with peers and lecturers. She was not happy with her supervising teacher, Annette, who would not allow her to scaffold the pupils reading comprehension in her classroom. Annette demanded of Marcia that books be read to the children without comments or questions. The teacher\u27s concern was that Marcia would impose her own understanding of the story on her students which might suppress their spontaneity and freedom in interpreting the text and take away their ability to think for themselves. Mostly, Annette was concerned with Marcia\u27s questions on story prediction . She didn\u27t think that asking specific questions such as, Do you think the Duck will come back? was appropriate. To support her claim, Annette, an educator of the older generation, referred to the theory of Piaget which she studied in her undergraduate degree. Marcia was very disappointed with her supervising teacher, as she believed in scaffolding as one of the most advanced teaching technique to date. She also felt that to her, scaffolding was a natural way of sharing reading with young children. As an educator, she felt somewhat constrained and restricted by not being able to talk to children and ask questions while reading to the

‘Digital play’ is here to stay … but don’t let go of real Lego yet

Playing with building blocks such as Lego has been an established part of early childhood education for many years. Educators and theorists agree that building blocks or constructive play provide a wide range of avenues for enhancing learning and development in the early years, but the increased availability and accessibility of mobile digital technologies has seen children more frequently engage in virtual or “digital” play, often leaving behind traditional forms of play with physical objects in physical spaces. So what might children lose – or gain – during this transition from physical to digital play? Lego, the best known producer of building block toys, recently announced Lego Fusion, a range of specially designed digital products that will allow to incorporate physical build blocks into digital games on iOS and Android devices. It isn’t Lego’s first foray into the digital realm – its videogame series has been highly successful commercially over the globe. But this is the first range of Lego products to require both physical and digital components to operate, and shows the ongoing move away from physical toys and towards digital

Vygotsky\u27s Socio-Cultural Theory and the Zone of Proximal Development

Vygotsky\u27s life goal was to create a psychology adequate for the investigation of consciousness. He stated that consciousness is constructed through a subject’s interactions with the world. Consciousness is neither reducible to behaviour nor separate from it, but instead is an attribute of the organisation of practical activity. It is the process that organises behaviour. Vygotsky introduced the idea of externally mediated activity that involves the use of external means to reach a goal. This led to the idea that mental processes could only be understood if we understand the tools and signs that mediate them. Wertsch believed that it was with this concept of mediation that Vygotsky made his most important and unique contribution (Wertsch, 1985)

From theory to practice: What does the metaphor of scaffolding mean to educators today?

The current emphasis on rising educational standards in Australian society (eg A Commonwealth Government Quality Teacher Initiative, 2000) has stimulated a growing interest in Vygotsky\u27s socio-cultural theory widely renowned for its profound understanding of teaching and learning. The metaphor of scaffolding commonly viewed as underpinned by socio-cultural theory and the zone of proximal development in particular, has become increasingly popular among educators in Australia (Hammond, 2002). Teachers find the metaphor appealing as it offers what is lacking in much literature on education - an effective conceptual metaphor for the quality of teacher intervention in learning (Hammond, 2002, p.2). However, there is no consensus of opinion among educators on the specific characteristics that constitute successful scaffolding. On the contrary, the current interpretation of scaffolding seems to have been drifting away from the Vygotskian view of teaching and learning and appears to have become an umbrella term for any kind of teacher support (Jacobs, 2001) and therefore, cannot serve the purpose of justifying the quality of teacher intervention. Furthermore, when taken out of its theoretical context, scaffolding tends to be interpreted as a form of direct instruction (Donovan & Smolkin, 2002), which invalidates the Vygotskian idea of teaching as co-construction of knowledge within student-centred activities. Such an interpretation of the metaphor of scaffolding is an unfortunate step back to a traditional, pre-Piagetian way of teaching which is adult-driven in nature and often results in the imposition of a structure on the student (Searle, 1984, in Stone, 1998, p. 349). In spite of a number of limitations of the metaphor, that have been discussed by socio-cultural theorists (e. g., Stone, 2001), it remains highly popular among educators. To fulfil teachers\u27 expectations of scaffolding as being an effective teaching tool, it needs to be understood within the framework of its underlying theory. This project aims to analyse understanding of the concept of scaffolding by educational researchers and practitioners in its connection to the Vygotskian view of the role of instruction in nurturing children as active learners