Lev Vygosky

Maria Eugenia Perez

Table of contents

• Overview of Lev Vygotsky

• Overview of the Theory of Social Development

• How Theory of Social Development supports online learning

• Strengths and weaknesses as it applies to online pedagogy

• The future

• References

Who is Lev Vygotsky?

Lev Vygosky (1896-1934)

• Russian psychologist, linguist, and philosopher

• Born to a middle class Jewish family

• Discriminated for being Jew

• Marxist philosophy greatly influenced his work – importance of society

• Developed theory of social development

http://jaylordlosabia.blogspot.com/2010/07/lev-vygotskys-sociocultural-theory.html

Overview of the Theory of Social Development

• Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition.

Overview of the Theory of Social Development

Student as apprentice

Teacher as mentor

Student working with teacher to develop cognitively

Overview of the Theory of Social Development

• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

http://sciencedehearty.blogspot.com/2011/01/vygotsky-social-development-theory.html

Theory supports online teaching and learning

• Online environment supports the apprentice – mentor relationship

– Course design (by mentor)

– Course sequence ( by mentor)

– Resources available (by mentor)

– Online tools (DB, Blogs, Live Classroom)

Theory supports online teaching and learning

• The challenge is to develop online instruction that support learners development capabilities so that they learn to do without assistance things that they could do only with assistance (Borthick, Jones, & Wakai, 2003)

• Peer interaction as crucial to resolve conflicts of interpretation (Borthick, Jones, & Wakai, 2003) – Supporting this peer interaction.

Theory supports online teaching and learning

Theory supports online teaching and learning

• The discussion board, live meeting places, blogs, wikis, serve as mediators to build this relationship between mentor and apprentice

• Learning curve of the use of the technological devices can slow down the learning process

Current status

• Has lost traction ???

– Articles found from the 1990’s and the latest was 2003

– The development of online tools foster the application of the theory.

References

Boettcher, J.V. & Conrad, R.M. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Borthick, A. F., Jones, D. R., & Wakai, S. (2003). Designing learning experiences within learners’ zones of proximal development (ZPDs): Enabling collaborative learning on-site and online. Journal of Information Systems, 17(1), 107-134. Huang, H. M. (2002). Toward constructivism for adult learners in online learning environments. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(1), 27-37. Watson, M. Theories of Human Development. Great Courses Series: Teaching Company.