E-Learning

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Welcome warmly to BM! Please rate 5/5 for my ideas and references.

First of all, one relevant theory that I personally advocate is the Meaningful Learning (ML) approach. This theory suggests that online education should be active and constructive in nature.

One source explicates it further:

Chia-Wen, T., Pei-Di, S., & Yi-Chun, C. (2013). Research trends in meaningful learning research on e-learning and online education environments: A review of studies published in SSCI-indexed journals from 2003 to 2012. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 44(6), E179-E184.

The authors reveal that this theory emphasizes that learners "...develop knowledge in response to their environment, reflecting on an activity and articulating what they have learned (E179). Historically, this approach is rooted in Ausubel's (1963) cognitive learning theory and "can be defined as a process in which learners actively relate new information to their own previous knowledge. It emphasizes students' acquisition of new information and its linkage to previous experiences and knowledge in the formation of personal and unique understandings" (E179).

Next, I also believe that Constructivism is another relevant online learning theory since it suggests that students actively construct meaning from the content and by learning collaboratively. They are similar in the notion that they are student, not teacher centered paradigms.

One source also supports this premise:

Bryant, J., & Bates, A. (2015). Creating a Constructivist Online Instructional Environment. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 59(2), 17-22.

The article reveals that this theory strongly correlates with online learning since "We believe that learners make sense of the world around them, as well as new information, by working to construct knowledge through interaction with others, texts, social media, etc." (17). Furthermore, the authors reinforce that this theory is beneficial since " A social constructivist ...