Social-Constructivism - The Importance of Forums, Blogs and Wikis to E-Learning

There are many specific ways that online degrees and e-Learning courses facilitate the learning of students via computer technology. Traditionally, video tutorials have offered instruction in a similar manner that a lecture would, and online chats have allowed synchronous seminar-like discussions to take place. In recent years though, the rise of social web platforms have become included in distance learning (as well as traditional higher education courses) to aid peer assessment; and, arguably, to enhance adaptation into an increasingly electronic world.

The idea of constructivism theory is accredited to Jean Piaget who noted the internalisation of knowledge in learners, and now his ideas inform much of the way education is taught. In basic terms Piaget theorises that experience stimulates knowledge, and today it is generally regarded that, for example, baking a cake would be a better way to learn the process than reading a book and being tested on it. Social-constructivism in e-Learning refers to participation with others to better the learning experience, and forums, blogs, and wikis are increasingly used to achieve this.

Internet forums have been a popular social web tool for many years. This has no doubt been due to the communal nature of their design, and their simple and informative layout. Consequently, forums are particularly important to online education because they are easy for new computer users to get used to and they offer an almost instant community feel. It is then very quick and convenient for students to post work, discussions, links to texts, or anything they deem necessary for their peers to see. There is also the added benefit of forums being asynchronous to allow students to post and respond at any time they like to.

Blogs, again, are simple to begin and maintain for a user who is relatively new to the internet. In an e-Learning environment blogs can give a student an opportunity to show work, document their time on the course, or to focus on a subject outside of the curriculum. Subsequently blogs are also a great introduction to getting used to the workings of the web and how to succeed online. Learning how web content travels and what subjects are popular on the internet is now as much of an important after-effect of e-Learning as the most basic IT skills - and becoming of increasing importance to potential employers.

Wikis are increasing in popularity among courses and learning establishments such as colleges and universities. Akin to the inherent community feel of forums, wikis allow all users to edit the content of a collection of web-pages. In the same way that Wikipedia allows everyone to edit and re-write a continually evolving encyclopaedia, educational wikis can be easily set up and run by teachers and course leaders to allow students to upload content that can range from, for example, niche subjects such as photography, or e-Learning in the establishment itself. Arguably unlike forums and blogs, there is more of an incentive for students to uphold the standard of informative quality when contributing to a wiki.

Sarah Maple writes about adult education and distance learning.