1.1. Connectivism is often associated with and proposes a perspective similar to Vygotsky's 'zone of proximal development' (ZPD, an idea later transposed into Engeström's Activity theory.
1.2. Basic Principles: Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. Learning is more critical than knowing. Maintaining and nurturing connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
1.3. A theory of learning which emphasizes the role of the social and cultural context opposed to a more essentialist notion which foregrounds the individual.
2. Construcivism
2.1. A theory to explain how knowledge is constructed in the human being when information comes into contact with existing knowledge that had been developed by experiences.
2.2. It has its roots in cognitive psychology and biology and an approach to education that lays emphasis on the ways knowledge is created in order to adapt to the world. Constructs are the different types of filters we choose to place over our realities to change our reality from chaos to order. Von Glasersfeld describes constructivism as “a theory of knowledge with roots in philosophy, psychology, and cybernetics”. Constructivism has implications for the theory of instruction.
2.3. Basic Principles: Establistment of a cooperative, sociomoral atmosphere. Teach in terms of the kind of knowledge involved. Choosing challenging content that promotes reasoning skills. Link ongoing documentation and assessment with curricular activities.
3. TPACK
3.1. Basic Principles: (i) Content Knowledge (CK), (ii) Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), (iii) Technology Knowledge (TK), (iv) Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), (v) Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), (vi) Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), and (vii) Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). All of these knowledge areas are considered within a particular contextual framework.
3.2. The TPACK framework argues that effective technology integration for teaching specific content or subject matter requires understanding and negotiating the relationships between these three components: Technology, Pedagogy, and Content. A teacher capable of negotiating these relationships represents a form of expertise different from, and (perhaps) broader than, the knowledge of a disciplinary expert (say a scientist or a musician or sociologist), a technology expert (a computer engineer) or an expert at teaching/pedagogy (an experienced educator).
3.3. A framework to understand and describe the kinds of knowledge needed by a teacher for effective pedagogical practice in a technology enhanced learning environment.
4. Philosophy of Teaching
4.1. Your statement of teaching philosophy is a short, one- to two-page document that should function both as a stand-alone essay that describes your personal approach to teaching, and as a central component of the teaching dossier. Your statement should not simply describe your experiences and initiatives in teaching but should provide “a systematic and critical rationale that focuses on the important components defining effective teaching and learning in a particular discipline and/or institutional context”.
5. Cognitive Load
5.1. Used in cognitive psychology to illustrate the load related to the executive control of working memory.
5.2. Theories contend that during complex learning activities the amount of information and interactions that must be processed simultaneously can either under-load, or overload the finite amount of working memory one possesses. All elements must be processed before meaningful learning can continue.
5.3. Basic Principles: That short-term memory (working memory) is limited in capacity to about seven informational units. Long-term memory is unlimited in capacity and is where all information and knowledge is stored. Knowledge is stored in long-term memory as schemas or schemata. Schemas, no matter how large or how complex, are treated as a single entity in working memory. Schemas can become automated.
6. Media Ecology
6.1. Media ecology theory centers on the principles that technology not only profoundly influences society, it also controls virtually all walks of life. It is a study of how media and communication processes affect human perception and understanding.
6.2. It is the media of the epoch that defines the essence of the society by presenting four epochs, inclusive of Tribal Era, Literate Era, Print Era and Electronic Era, which corresponds to the dominant mode of communication of the time respectively.
6.3. Basic Principles: Media infuse every act and action in society. Media fix our perceptions and organize our experiences. Media tie the world together.
7. Social Construction of Technology (SCOT)
7.1. Is a constructivist theory of technological innovation inspired by the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK). SCOT holds that successful innovations cannot be explained by assuming that they "work" better than failed innovations; the analyst must undercover the social context that promotes (or fails to promote) a given innovation.
7.2. SCOT pioneered a new way to examine the social context of technological innovation. In contrast to the linear model of technological innovation, which imagines a mythical, linear succession of basic science, applied science, development, and commercialization, SCOT sees a variety of relevant social groups competing to control a design, which at this point is far from preordained (the phase of interpretive flexibility). Each group has its own idea of the problem that the new artefact is supposed to solve and, in consequence, favors a distinctive technological design, including components and operational principles that may not be favored by competing groups.
7.3. Basic Principles: Interpretive flexibility. The Principle of Symmetry. Relevant Social Groups. Stabilizations.
