Moving forward in social constructivist theories through agile learning in the digital age

Abstract

Social constructivist theories have established the foundations for a variety of educational approaches involving the construction of knowledge through social and cultural interactions. In an attempt to contextualize learning in the digital age, the connectivism theory defend knowledge resides on a network of connections and learning is a process of connecting such nodes. These two approaches to learning are currently orienting some teaching practices; however, the effective application of strategies for successful technology-enhanced collaborative learning is still under review. Among the competences behind the notions of social constructivism and connectivism, collaboration, information, media, and technology literacy are becoming increasingly important in entering the workforce. Given the known benefits of collaborative learning (e.g., motivation, persistence, and efficiency), researchers and practitioners have searched for solutions to persuade students to build knowledge together. The incorporation of professional strategies (such as those derived from the agile methods) for team regulation in project management is proving to be useful for improving group dynamics and teamwork satisfaction. In this chapter, we conduct a theoretical review of social constructivist and connectivist theories defending that a combination of agile learning and project-based learning might be a turning point for the effective application of collaborative learning in the digital age.