One of my publications is:
Taber, K. S., & Li, X. (2021). The vicarious and the virtual: A Vygotskian perspective on digital learning resources as tools for scaffolding conceptual development. In A. M. Columbus (Ed.), Advances in Psychology Research (Vol. 143, pp. 1-72). New York: Nova.
Visit the publisher's website
Download the chapter by clicking this link
Abstract:
Digital learning resources are commonly employed to support formal and informal learning, sometimes as a complement to the teacher, but sometimes as an alternative. ‘Flipped learning’ is increasingly being adopted as a progressive pedagogy, such that students are expected to learn new ideas and principles from course material (often using digital platforms) before coming to class to apply this learning. During a time of pandemic, schools may be closed and teachers asked to teach virtually as students remain at home. During such a public health emergency, more responsibility for directing teaching may pass to parents or to the learners themselves, who may seek out virtual learning resources as the basis for home study. This chapter considers the characteristics of digital teaching resources capable of facilitating independent learning of a kind that can support the development of new capacities. It draws upon Vygotsky’s ideas of how higher-level intellectual skills are developed, and his distinction between learning in general and more substantive intellectual development. Vygotsky’s theories about teaching and learning offer a solution to the classical learning paradox (that without knowing what it is we do not yet know, we cannot recognise it and so come to knowledge) as in this perspective learning is not understood as coming to some ideal absolute knowledge, but rather sharing in aspects of culture that have already been acquired by others (such as a teacher or more experienced peer). One key idea is that the learner initially experiences new competences vicariously, through participation with the more advanced other. That is, teaching that is merely a matter of an expert telling a novice what to do is insufficient to support development. Rather, development requires the learner to actually experience success in an area of activity that is currently outside their competence – through what is termed ‘scaffolding’. Culture (including academic concepts and intellectual skills) is therefore ‘transmitted’ through social interactions where those with expertise (such as teachers) allow novices to vicariously experience their successful actions. This raises the question of the essential characteristics of a digital learning tool that can go beyond supporting the exercising of existing capabilities, to act as a virtual tutor and provide learning experiences that can scaffold substantive development without needing the concurrent direction of a teacher.
Keywords:
- digital learning resources
- flipped learning
- metacognition
- scaffolding learning
- zone of proximal development
- self-directed learning
- PhET interactive simulations
Content
- Introduction
- A programme for the chapter
- Two types of learning?
- Digital learning and digital teaching
- The challenges of utilising the affordances of digital tools
- Vygotsky, learning and development
- Learning in the zone
- Scaffolding and fading
- Vygotsky and development
- Overcoming the learning paradox
- A hypothetical learning challenge
- When does the learning paradox apply?
- Optimally guided instruction
- Digital tools to guide learning
- The role of metacognition
- The paradox of flipped learning
- The Khan Academy and the flipped classroom
- Why is flipped learning becoming more popular in higher education?
- Limitations of the lecture as a mode lf teaching
- Effective teaching
- Video contributions to blended learning
- Implications for digital lectures
- What makes a (real or virtual) teacher
- Implications for digital resources
- Tools for self-directed science learning in school-age students
- Hardware
- eReaders and digital paper
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Desktop and laptop computers
- Software
- Curriculum supporting resources
- Personal development tools
- Artificial intelligence
- Educational games
- Administrative and organisational tools
- Online meeting tools
- eTextbooks
- Discussion
- Characteristics of learning scaffolds
- Scaffolding learning as akin to enzymatic catalysis
- An example of a tool offering explicit scaffolding
- An example of a tool offering implicit scaffolding
- Conclusion
