Relevance of Social Constructivism
 in the Context of COVID-19 and Online
 Education

Introduction

              Education is the formation program of the society to mould its young members. Theories of learning in education helps to elucidate the mechanism involved in the learning process of young learners. Learning theories can be broadly be divided into three categories: Behaviourist theories, Cognitive theories and constructivist theories. 

      Behaviourist theories focuses on programmed learning, reinforcement and other techniques of behaviour modifications. Cognitive theories focus on mental activities that include internal coding and structuring. Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of culture and context in constructing knowledge. Comparing the behaviourist theories and cognitive theories, constructivist theories  specially social constructivism   seem to be very meaningful theory of learning in the present context of the society.

            As the context always supports the learning of language, social constructivist perspective can be considered as a great way towards learning foreign language like English.

         The drastic shift in the style of education from physical classrooms to virtual classrooms due to pandemic, has impelled students of the present scenario to adapt the new changes in education. 

Impacts of Covid - 19 in Education

            Social distancing can have an emotional bang on students due to the absence of daily interactions with their peer groups and teachers. So the present condition of students in learning process is a matter of discussion. 

             Will the present situation create a gap in the educational development of younger generation? Is it an effective mode of education to disseminate knowledge through online classes?

- It is a widely accepted fact that virtual classroom is not a conducive atmosphere for the emotional development of students. 

- There is less chance for the strategies like discussion, group work and other collaborative activities in online platform. 

- The development of speaking skill through the communication and the role of language in the mental development of students are obscure.

 

Constructivism and Education today

        According to the principles of social constructivism, learning must be designed ina away to encourage the learner for interaction and collaboration. It is a great challenge for the teacher to motivate and boost up the interest of the learners in the present context of pandemic and social distancing. 

            It is true that the use of ICT and scaffolding activities can expand the zone of proximal development. But the interaction between learner and learning task, construction of knowledge through scaffoldings, motivation of student interest and curiosity, drill and practice as per the self pace etc. must be supported for the  student learning. 

           Individual differences of the learners is an another challenge for the teacher. Physical distancing must not restrict the student interaction in the online classroom platform. 

  

Educational Implications

            All the human beings have a natural tendency to learn from the surroundings. So this natural tendency must be supported in education. The interactions must be facilitated and thus the learning of language will be more effective. 

The purpose of learning must be clear to the individuals specially the significance of language skills in social structure. 

Teacher must organize and make available online learning resources for the experiential learning in natural way. 

Considering the present context, the attempts to confront and link the learning material with real life will make the learning very much experiential.

Conclusion

            It is true that online education is relatively cheaper mode

 needless of infrastructure. But considering the students who are

 deprived of access to learning facilities such as internet and

 technological devices, online education remains ineffective. Thus

 the social constructivism in the context of pandemic is beyond

 reach. 

                  The educational development of younger generation is the obligation of the society; so it must be resolved effectively through the collaborative endeavors of the stakeholders of education in the society.