The availability of technological tools is promoting a shift toward more student-centered online instruction. This article describes the implementation of a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model and the technological tools used to meet the expectations of the model as well as the needs of the students. The end product is a hybrid course with eight…

Contrary to the long-running controversy as to whether learning is a transmission or a constructive process, this article stresses that the (e-)learning process is both a transmission process from the instructor to the learner and a knowledge construction process of the learner. However, the use of interactive technologies in e-learning needs to…

Capabilities and biases of learning technologies are examined in light of four widely accepted principles: deep content knowledge, dialogue, agency, and collaboration. Software that supports these principles must focus students' attention on ideas rather than topics or tasks and should foster high levels of "epistemic agency," providing students…

Considers the goal of creating communities of learners and how to integrate technology with learning. Highlights include cognitive apprenticeships; qualities of meaningful learning, including constructivism and collaboration; assumptions about technology, including knowledge construction; proper roles for technology; and how to support meaningful…

Discussion of constructivism and instructional design focuses on the development of a design model for constructivist environments that supports the construction of knowledge, a meaningful context for learning, and collaboration among learners and with the teacher. Differences between constructivist and objectivist approaches are considered.…

Discusses a constructive approach to instructional hypermedia. Highlights include attributes of hypermedia, including links and nodes, multimedia environments, nonlinear access to information, and interactivity; instructional applications that stress the learners' active interaction and their control of the learning process; associative or…

Outlines steps instructors must undertake to prepare for constructivist activities. Presents two categories of constructivist activity supported by the Web. Students may construct advanced mental models by: cooperating with peers, and/or connecting personal conceptions with expert conceptions. Online environments that allow learners to perform…

Reports on a pilot study that examined use by sixth-grade students in Costa Rica of a mathematical microworld written in LOGO. The investigation had three phases: (1) open exploration of the microworld; (2) group discussion and sharing of hypotheses; and (3) guided discovery and problem solving. (Contains 11 references.) (SLW)