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Confucius- 551-479 BCE
Focused a teaching technique on a modeling approach. Very different from a constructivist classroom.
Confucius was founder of the Ru School. Focused on teaching men how to live, interact with others, and forms of government. Thought a "good teacher" was someone older and familiar with past studies. Confucius believed in a real understanding of a concept, not intuition. -
Socrates- 469-399 BCE
Socrates focused on critical thinking. Early constructivism which encouraged others to think for themselves. Critical thinkers would form essential questions and would become self-learners. A Socratic Questioner is someone who keeps a focused discussion, ask questions to foster discussion, draw students to a discussion.
In conclusion, when you are a self-learner you can transfer infomation to other learners. -
Early Schools and Pedagogy- 10th Century
By the start of the first schools, Socrates teaching styles were beginning to fade. The focus was no longer on critical thinking. Method of instruction was strictly lecture. Teachers would share information with students. This method because known as Pedagogy- leader of children. The classroom format was teacher driven, with the teacher in total control of learning. -
Distance Learning and Correspondence Schools- 1881-1883
The idea of distance education dates back to the 1880's with the Chautauqua Correspondence School. The International Correspondence School (ICS) appealed to an audience of miners, railroad workers, and iron workers. Method of instruction was delivered by snail mail organized by a well-known school and it was a learn at your own pace program, an early equivilant to our current distance education. -
Dr. J.L. Moreno- Role Playing- 1910
Organized by Dr. J.L. Moreno, Role playing was introduced in 1910 but didn't catch on until the 1930's. Role playing is a learning process to actively engage a learner through participation, in which the end result is receiving feedback from peers and hopefully gaining a better understanding of a concept. Role playing allows you to practice real-life situations. -
Ivan Pavlov- Stimulus/Response-1927
Introduced in 1927. Known as classical conditioning or stimulus-response theory of behavior. Behaviorist theory was very influential in the area of child psychology. Your behavior can be manipulated. -
Constructivism
During the 1930's and 40's, constructivism was the leading perspective among public school educators in the United States. This theory emphasizes the student rather than the teacher, who is viewed as a facilitator who helps students construct their own solutions to problems.
There are two schools of thought within the constructivist theory, social constructivism, developed by Lev Vygotsky, and cognitive constructivism, developed by Jean Piaget. -
Andragogy
In the 1950's, European educators began using the term "andragogy", which comes from the Greek word 'anere' which means adult, and 'agogus' which is the art and science of helping students learn. -
Benjamin Bloom
Benjamin Bloom and his fellow colleagues published the 'Taxonomy of Educational Objectives', which proved to be very helpful in the specification and analysis of instructional outcomes, and the design of instruction to reach those outcomes. -
Robert Gagne
Gagne published 'Military Training and Principles of Learning' which demonstrated a concern for the various levels of learning. His explanation of psychomotor skills, verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, and attitudes is a close companion to Bloom's Taxonomy. His nine instructional events help to specify the conditions that are essential in order for learning to occur and are still widely used today. -
Malcolm Knowles
Knowles began to reintroduce the word andragogy in the 70's by promoting the adult learning theory. This theory consists of a set of ideas that characterize adult learners. He felt that most students are dependent upon their instructor and take a more passive role in classroom activities. His belief was that adult education should focus on the following six attributes: need to know, self-concept, experience, readiness, orientation, and motivation. -
Formal & Informal Learning
Malcolm Knowles is thought to be the creator of the term "informal learning" with his book published in 1970, 'Informal Adult Education: A Guide for Administrators, Leaders, and Teachers.'
In a formal learning setting, the training or learning unit sets the objectives. In an informal learning setting, the learner sets the objectives. -
Performance Improvement
Tom Gilbert publishes: Human Competence: Engineering worthy performance. In this report, he attempted to quantify the differences between excellent employees and their less worthy colleagues. By specifying the requirements, we could best train all employees, which is, he maintains, the best way to improve performance. -
David Kolb 1984
David Kolb writes the book, "Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of Learning and Development." He believed that there were four learning styles that made up a learning cycle.
1. Diverging: This is the innovative way of doing things.
2. Assimilating: Inductive reasoning, experiments.
3. Converging: Decision making, problem solving.
4. Accomodating: Trial and Error. -
ADDIE 1995
Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. Designed at the Center for Educational Technology at Florida State University for the Armed Forces. The first four phases are linear, but the fifth is continuous and confluent with the other phases. -
Blended Learning: 1999
Blended learning as we know it was started because elearning did not turn out to be the golden child it was thought to be. Blended learning is a mix of classroom and elearning. Since this time, the term has expanded to other types of learning as well. -
The Future: 2000 and beyond
Only time will tell what the future holds. All signs point to learner centered classrooms, highly trained facilitators, and blended learning. -
elearning 2004
Elearning was coined by Jay Cross in 2004. Victor Jeurrisen defines elearning as, "Victor Jeurissen, a global practice leader for IBM Management Development Solutions: the use of innovative technologies and learning models to transform the way individuals and organizations acquire new skills and access knowledge."
