Learning Theories

We know that individuals such as Piaget, Skinner, Gardner and Vygotsky all have views of how children develope and learn. Although I do not fully agree with just one view, I do see many parts of these theories in my classroom today. I also noticed that scaffolding played a large role in many of the technolgoy lesson plans that I saw for our last assignment. For example, many consisted of a teacher (or peer) explaining and showing how to use the computer (or create a power point presentation). Then the students were helped to create their own. Scaffolding creates just the right amount of support for the student. This follows closely to Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. Vygotsky says what a child can do today with help from a teacher or more able peer, a child can do by self later.