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- en traducción!  si quieres ayudar, bienvenid@, inglés en azul, español en gris

Family therapist Virginia Satir says there are five freedoms: 

 The freedom to see and hear what is;

 The freedom to say what you feel and think;

 The freedom to feel what you actually feel;

 The freedom to ask for what you want;

 The freedom to take risks on your own behalf.

Virginia Satir (terapeuta familiar) dice que hay 5 libertades: 

La libertad de ver y oír lo que es;

La libertad de decir lo que sientes y piensas;

La libertad de sentir lo que efectivamente sientes;

La libertad de pedir lo que deseas;

La libertad de tomar riesgos por tu propia cuenta.

Constructivism

This point of view maintains that people actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment.

Everything you read, see, hear, feel, and touch is tested against your prior knowledge and if it is viable within your mental world, may form new knowledge you carry with you. Knowledge is strengthened if you can use it successfully in your wider environment. You are not just a memory bank passively absorbing information, nor can knowledge be "transmitted" to you just by reading something or listening to someone.

This is not to say you can't learn anything from reading a web page or watching a lecture, obviously you can, it's just pointing out that there is more interpretation going on than a transfer of information from one brain to another.

Constructivismo 

Este punto de vista afirma que las personas activamente construyen nuevos conocimientos mientras interactúan con su entorno.

Todo lo que lees, vees, oyes, sientes y tocas se compara con tu conocimientos previos y si esto es viable con tu mundo mental, puede formar parte de nuevo conocimiento que llevas contigo.

El conocimiento es reforzado si tu puedes usarlo con éxito en tu entorno más amplio.   No eres solamente un banco de memoria passivamente absorbiendo información, ni se te puede "transmitir" conocimiento simplemente leyendo algo o escuchando a alguien.

Esto no signífica que no puedes aprender algo leyendo una página web o escuchando a una charla, obviemente puedes, pero hay mucha interpretación que occurre más que una transferencia de información de una mente a otra.

Constructionism 

Constructionism asserts that learning is particularly effective when constructing something for others to experience. This can be anything from a spoken sentence or an internet posting, to more complex artifacts like a painting, a house or a software package.

For example, you might read this page several times and still forget it by tomorrow - but if you were to try and explain these ideas to someone else in your own words, or produce a slideshow that explained these concepts, then I can guarantee you'd have a better understanding that is more integrated into your own ideas. This is why people take notes during lectures, even if they never read the notes again.

Constructionismo 

El Constructonismo afirma que el aprendizaje es particularmente efectivo cuando  se construye algo para  la experiencia de otros.  Esto puede ser cualquier cosa desde una frase hablada o  algo escrito en internet, a obras más complejas como un dibujo, una casa o un programa para ordenador.

Por ejemplo, podrías leer esta página varias veces y todavía olvidartela mañana - pero si tubieras que explicar estas ideas a otra persona en tus propias palabras, or crear una presentación que explica estos conceptos, entonces te puedo garantizar que lo entendarás mucho mejor y será más integrado en tus propias ideas.   Por esta razón que las personas toman notas durante charlas, incluso si no van a leer estas notas nunca más.

Social Constructivism 

This extends the above ideas into a social group constructing things for one another, collaboratively creating a small culture of shared artifacts with shared meanings. When one is immersed within a culture like this, one is learning all the time about how to be a part of that culture, on many levels.

A very simple example is an object like a cup. The object can be used for many things, but its shape does suggest some "knowledge" about carrying liquids. A more complex example is an online course - not only do the "shapes" of the software tools indicate certain things about the way online courses should work, but the activities and texts produced within the group as a whole will help shape how each person behaves within that group.

Constructivismo Social 

Esto expande sobre las ideas expuestas arriba en el grupo social que construye cosas los unos para los otros, colaborando en crear pequeñas culturas de  obras compartidas con significados en común.   Cuando alguien está inmerso en una cultura  como esta,  está aprendiendo todo el rato sobre como ser parte de esa cultura,  en muchos niveles.

Un ejemplo sencillo es un objeto como una taza.  El objeto puede ser usado para muchas cosas, pero su forma supone algún "conocimiento" sobre transportar líquidos.   Un ejemplo más complejo puede ser un curso a distancia - no solo las "formas" de las herramientas de programa  indican  algunas cosas sobre la forma que los cursos a distancia tendrían que funcionar, pero las actividades y textos producidos dentro del grupo en su totalidad ayudarán a dar forma a como cada persona se comporta en ese grupo.

Connected and Separate

This idea looks deeper into the motivations of individuals within a discussion. Separate behaviour is when someone tries to remain 'objective' and 'factual', and tends to defend their own ideas using logic to find holes in their opponent's ideas. Connected behaviour is a more empathic approach that accepts subjectivity, trying to listen and ask questions in an effort to understand the other point of view. Constructed behaviour is when a person is sensitive to both of these approaches and is able to choose either of them as appropriate to the current situation.

In general, a healthy amount of connected behaviour within a learning community is a very powerful stimulant for learning, not only bringing people closer together but promoting deeper reflection and re-examination of their existing beliefs.

Conclusion

Once you are thinking about all these issues, it helps you to focus on the experiences that would be best for learning from the learner's point of view, rather than just publishing and assessing the information you think they need to know. It can also help you realise how each participant in a course can be a teacher as well as a learner. Your job as a 'teacher' can change from being 'the source of knowledge' to being an influencer and role model of class culture, connecting with students in a personal way that addresses their own learning needs, and moderating discussions and activities in a way that collectively leads students towards the learning goals of the class.

Obviously Moodle doesn't force this style of behaviour, but this is what it is best at supporting. In future, as the technical infrastructure of Moodle stabilises, further improvements in pedagogical support will be a major direction for Moodle development.

Social Constructionism as a Referent

I have these five points on a slide which I use in every presentation I do. They are useful referents taken from research that apply to education in general, boiled down into a simple list that I carry around under the moniker of "social constructionism".

All of us are potential teachers as well as learners - in a true collaborative environment we are both.

(esto es un difícil concepto para la mayoría .. nunca han 'colaborado' de verdad y parece llegan con una 'gran sed' para chupar de un 'experto' que muchos de des-ilusionan hasta el desprecio cuando no lo encuentran .. especialmente cuando por fin algunos se atrevan enseñar, y ven que si pueden! .. es desasperante)

It's so important to recognise and remember this.

I think this perspective helps us retain some humility as teachers and fight the (very natural!) tendency to consolidate all your history and assume the revered position of “wise source of knowledge”.

It helps us keep our eyes open for opportunities to allow the other participants in our learning situation to share their ideas with us and to remind us to listen carefully and ask good questions that elicit more from others.

I find I need to constantly remind myself of this point, especially when the culture of a situation pushes me into a central role (like now!)

We learn particularly well from the act of creating or expressing something for others to see.

(esto sería el punto fuerte de este programa ... si hubiera más amabilidad por parte de los estudiantes a enseñar sus diseños y procesos - incluso dificultades - en el wiki .. o incluso entre ellos en la finca. no hay bastante confianza ... otro tema de recursos para 'empujar' .. que tal vez sería más fácil hacer ANTES de llegar a la finca .. + también hace falta conexión EN la finca para ser viable)

For most of us this is basically “learning by doing”, and is fairly obvious, yet it's worth reminding ourselves of it.

It's surprising how much online learning is still just presenting static information, giving students little opportunity to practice the activities they are learning about. I often see online teachers spending a great deal of time constructing perfect resources for their course, which no doubt is a terrific learning experience for them, but then they deny their students that same learning experience. Even textbooks often do a better job, with exercises after every chapter and so on.

Most importantly, such learning is best when you are expressing and presenting posts, projects, assignments, constructions etc for others to see. In this situation your personal “stakes” are a lot higher, and a lot of self-checking and reflection takes place that increases learning. Seymour Papert (the inventor of logo) famously described the process of constructing something for others to see as a very powerful learning experience, and really this sort of thinking goes right back to Socrates and beyond.

We learn a lot by just observing the activity of our peers.

(esto funciona bien cuando hay alguien 'despierto' en el grupo ... pero se lo esperan de nosotros - de mirar a nosotros trabajar - y no siempre podemos estar ahí ... estamos siempre pensando en como re-diseñar eso ... difícil )

Basically this is about “classroom culture”, or learning by osmosis. Humans are good at watching each other and learning what to do in a given situation though cues from others.

For example, if you walk into a lecture theatre where everyone is sitting in seats, facing the front, listening quietly to the teacher at the front and taking notes, then that's most likely what you are going to do too, right?

If you are in a less rigid class where people are asking questions all the time, then it's likely you'll feel freer to do so too. By doing so you'll be learning about both the subject itself and the meta-subject of how learning occurs from overhearing the discussions of your peers and the kinds of questions that get asked, leading to a richer multi-dimensional immersion in learning.

By understanding the contexts of others, we can teach in a more transformational way (constructivism)

(no hay recursos para ese tipo de atención personal ahora, y es el más grande fallo y / o queja ... parece imposible intentar conseguir el recurso de tiempo por trueque porque casi todos llegan con enormes necesidades de atención, con una bajísima conciencia del concepto de simetría ... casi parece no comprenden que no hay 'maestros' aquí)

As you probably know from experience, advice from a mentor or friend can provide better, more timely and customised learning experience than with someone who doesn't know you and is speaking to a hundred people.

If we understand the background of the people we are speaking to then we can customise our language and our expression of concepts in ways that are best suited to the audience. You can choose metaphors that you know the audience will relate to. You can use jargon where it helps or avoid jargon when it gets in the way.

Again this is a pretty basic idea - every guide to public speaking talks about knowing your audience - but in online learning we need to be particular mindful of this because we often have not met these people in person and don't have access to many visual and auditory cues.

A learning environment needs to be flexible and adaptable, so that it can quickly respond to the needs of the participants within it.

(somos muy flexibles.. tal vez demasiado .. pero sin lo de arriba es lógico que sea una flexibilidad no-diseñada bien)

Combining all the above, if you as a learning facilitator want to take advantage of your growing knowledge about your participants, giving them tailored opportunities to share ideas, ask questions and express their knowledge, then you need an environment which is flexible, both in time and space.

If you discover that you need to throw your schedule out the window because your participants know a lot less than you'd expected when you first designed the course, you should be able to readjust the schedule, and easily add new activities to help everyone (or just one group) catch up. Likewise, some great ideas for a simulation or something may have come up during discussions, so you should be able to add those later in the course.

Timewise, your participants may be spread over different timezones, or maybe they live in the same timezone but have differing free time, so you should be able to offer asynchronous activities where people can work together but at different times.

Jason Cole from Open University recently referred to these as “Martin's five laws” (ha!) but really they are referents: guiding concepts that I personally find useful to refer to whenever I need to make a decision in any given educational situation. In particular I find them useful for building communities of learners.

I guess you probably find a lot of this familiar, even if you use different terms. If not there is a lot of research about constructionism, constructivism and social Constructionism which you can find out more about in some of my more formal papers.

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