U-Blog 5

While doing research for assignment 7.3, I came across an article discussing 'Social Development Theory'. http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html

The article talks about the social learning theory, which was theorized by Lev Vygotsky. It has its basis in constructivism, and the article discusses three major themes

"1. Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In contrast to Jean Piaget’s understanding of child development (in which development necessarily precedes learning), Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development. He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).” (Vygotsky, 1978)."

I may be reading this incorrectly, but this seems like the idea of monkey see monkey do. Before a child (or any learner, really) can have an internal dialogue about what they have seen, they have to see an external interaction about it first.

"2. The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). The MKO refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. The MKO is normally thought of as being a teacher, coach, or older adult, but the MKO could also be peers, a younger person, or even computers."

In this case, the MKO is the website I got the information off of. The MKO is generally who the learner will learn from - I was the learner in this case, and the website was the MKO

"3. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is the distance between a student’s ability to perform a task under adult guidance and/or with peer collaboration and the student’s ability solving the problem independently. According to Vygotsky, learning occurred in this zone."

This is reflective of a hand on approach. There is a certain period of time that working with something under supervision gives you the most learning because you have something to fall back on if you can't figure it out.