CTM 710 Instructional tools and multimedia

Mohlala N.E 29665419

Constructivist
Many researchers discovered that education can be offered in different ways.
Learning can either be learner or teacher/lecturer cantered. Learners can learn
better if they can construct their own knowledge. The lecturer/educator facilitates
the process of learning to ensure that learners are actively participating in the
learning process. He/she translates/interprets the learning activities so that
learners can learn easily. The activities are in a way that they guide learners and
create opportunities for discussions.

By constructivism learning process in such a way that learners are expected to

be creative and use their critical thinking to construct knowledge. They work
collaboratively to share their different perspective with each other; that they
could negotiate a solution and come to a much deeper understanding of a
problem or task.

Learners are can be actively involve in learning because of style of learning. The
disadvantage of this is that the method consumes a lot of time for preparation
and planning, especially if the group contains learners from diverse backgrounds.
Learners enjoy this method because they are given an opportunity to discover on
their own. This method meets the requirements of the new curriculum, NCS.
According to the theories of Jean Pieget, Jerome Bruner, Lev Vygotsky and John
Dewey this is the recommended method to achieve the expected outcomes.

Directed instructions
This is the type of method where the learning process is lecturer/educator
centred. Lecturer usually presents a lesson to a large group of learners. This
method is used when the lecturer wants to convey a fair amount of learning
content as a body of knowledge in a structured and pre-planed way, before it is
discussed and practiced. The lecturer does all the talking, explaining and
demonstrating, while the learners are rarely allowed to interrupt or ask
questions. There is very little interaction, and questions and discussions are
allowed at the end of the lecture.

The disadvantages of this method are:

• only one-way communication takes place during the lesson

• the amount of learning taking place cannot be controlled or checked.
• gaining learner attention is very difficult
• lecturing is useful for imparting knowledge, but is largely inappropriate for
the attainment of skills.
The advantages are:

• large amount of content can be covered in a short time

• lecture can have the full control over the learning content, the sequencing
of information and the time used, without having to deal with interruption
by learners or other factors
• method can be use for both beginners and advanced learners