This will cover Student-Centered Learning (SCL) in education with a focus on strategies. Specifically, this will include what SCL is, theoretical foundations, pros, and cons. This should guide the administration to plan a professional development program focused on student-centered learning and strategies to include how technology instructors can implement technology to achieve this task.
Therefore, this will help educators understand the purpose of the transformation of education using SCL. Teachers will be able to understand what SCL is, why it is essential, and some advantages. Also, administrators will be able to understand the same and why professional development is essential.
Student-Centered Learning
Student-Centered Learning (SCL) is an idea where the student is in charge of their learning while the teacher is a facilitator of knowledge. According to Overby (2011), SCL is a 21st-century concept that uses technology. The SCL approach brings students from different academic backgrounds, from advanced to disabled, and work together. Wright (2011) describes five key points to address for a successful implementation of SCL: “the balance of power, the function of content, the role of the teacher, the responsibility of learning, and the purpose and processes of evaluation,” (p. 92).
For this, SCL is an idea that is technology-driven to transform education where students take charge of their learning, and the teacher is a facilitator of knowledge.
Theoretical Foundation
According to Vygotsky (1978), students learn by interacting with their environment by engaging them through scaffolding. Primarily, learners need instruction from their peers through the collaborative nature of learning, or Social Constructivism, by engaging small groups to interact with different academic levels. By understanding the point where tasks sufficiently challenge students, or Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, Bloom’s (1956) Taxonomy fits well to encourage students’ learning at the synthesis level. That allows students to take charge of their learning.
Koehler (2012) explains that TPaCK consists of seven components, where three are the primary.
- Content Knowledge: Teachers as subject matter experts.
- Pedagogical Knowledge: The teaching practices and how students learn.
- Technology Knowledge: Using technology tools to achieve goals.
Education can be transformative when arriving at the seventh component of TPACK, where the teacher has all three knowledge areas.
To achieve transformative education with TPACK, we need to look at Puentedura’s (2011) model called SAMR. It is not as simple as using technology to educate students. The critical part of SAMR is how teachers and students use technology. Teachers learn how to use technology and enhance the lessons through direct substitution with some functional improvements. However, students can experience transformative education when teachers significantly redesign tasks to a previously inconceivable point. That allowed students to use technology in a meaningful way.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
According to Wright (2011), as students respond well to SCL, teachers feel a sense of success, reinforcing the learning process and achieving the class objectives. By implementing SCL, learners are more engaged, resulting in deeper understanding (Brush, et al., 2000, p. 98). When properly implemented, students will engage more enthusiastically in discussions.
Disadvantages
According to Brush and Saye (2000), the SCL approach can cause disorientation and frustration if there is a lack of information on how to complete the tasks. Some teachers lack the understanding of how to implement SCL, thus providing no structure properly.
Professional Development Program
Technology professional development typically focuses on the use of technology instead of pedagogy and implementation. Though it should be part of professional development, it should not be the focus. There should be time to design and implement the technology used, and SCL instructors should model this.
Tech Academy
Instructors can implement a technology academy using a scaffolding system where educators can use technology. Instructors will also introduce different models like Bloom’s Taxonomy, TPACK, especially the SAMR model.
Scaffolding
The academy should start with basics and increase the understanding that technology is a tool (see figure 1) by introducing strategies of SCL. These strategies should be modeled and focus on:
- The balance of power,
- The function of content,
- The role of the teacher,
- The responsibility of learning, and
- The purpose and processes of evaluation.
Summary
Although there are disadvantages to Student-Centered Learning, school districts can overcome this with professional development that instructors should plan well. The advantages of SCL are significant, and school districts should not neglect them. The proper implementation of technology through SAMR, pedagogy, and content knowledge can help teachers in a purposeful implementation of Student-Centered Learning.
References
- Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives Handbook I: Cognitive domain. Longman.
- Brush, T., & Saye, J. (2000). Implementation and evaluation of a student-centered learning unit: A case study. Educational technology research and development, 48(3), 79-100. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02319859
- Koehler, M. (2012, September 24). TPACK Explained. TPACK.ORG. http://matt-koehler.com/tpack2/tpack-explained/
- Overby, K. (2011). Student-centered learning. Essai, 9(1), 109-112. https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol9/iss1/32/
- Puentedura, R. (2011, December 8). A Brief Introduction to TPCK and SAMR. Hippasus.com. http://hippasus.com/blog/archives/62
- Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
- Wright, G. B. (2011). Student-centered learning in higher education. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(1), 92-97. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ938583
