Johanne Rocheleau, professor of educational technology at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, considers that to apply the reform without having to go back to books constantly, it is necessary to be able to distinguish the basic assumptions on which the different theories of learning are based. With educational technologies, it's a bit the same thing, since you have to know how to use them in a way that respects the principles underlying the program. So let's start with a brief reminder.
In the middle of the 20e century, it was the golden age of the behaviorist movement in educational psychology. It stipulated that by offering the right stimuli and by systematically reinforcing the behaviors expected of the pupil, the teacher could "shape" him, in a certain way, by teaching him all that a citizen worthy of the name should. know. In this perspective, not totally over, educational technology has lived its first hours with the appearance of tutorials and exercisers, which make the learner repeat a task and offer him or her positive or negative feedback on the spot.
Later, the current cognitivist came to bring an additional dimension to the psychopedagogy, supposing that the way in which the pupil represents his environment plays for much in his learning. The complex connections that govern the human brain as well as notions of short and long-term memory have created slightly different learning tools. These tools allow the learner in particular to vary his course according to his answers to follow the path that best suits his mental structure and promote the transfer of knowledge towards long-term memory.
Until then, it is the teacher or the technological tool who “knows”.
Since the 1990s, the constructivist trend has gone further. It aims to develop in students the ability to analyze and process the information present in their environment in order to build their knowledge themselves. This idea of “learning to learn” allows students to take ownership of their learning. These skills will come in handy in a multitude of situations throughout their lives. They are ultimately taught to fish rather than offering them fish!
The role of the teacher changes according to psychological trends. As summarized in his memory Catherine Bullat-Koelliker, student at the University of Geneva, “from transmitting information [the teacher] becomes facilitator (in the cognitivist approach) and guide or provocateur (in the constructivist approach). By letting go of the idea that he should be in full control of what students learn and how they learn it, by allowing them to find their own learning strategies, he helps them realize the relevance of their choices. »His role is now to make each student progress according to his own characteristics (learning style, social context, particular tastes, etc.) in order to make him autonomous and able to collaborate.
And the technology in there? We are seeing more and more new applications appear whose role is to create, organize, structure and collaborate. Think of mind map software, video clip streaming websites, blogs, wikis, bookmark organizers, social media, and more. These are all tools whose content comes from the community. They provide a platform, people use it to create. And today's school has no choice but to adapt to it as well.