Beyond constructivism : An ecological approach to e-learning

The last four decades of the 20th century saw the growth of ecological perspectives across the disciplines. This period also saw the rapid penetration of computing and information technology into every sphere of human activity, culminating with the internet and digital convergence of all media. The juxtaposition of an emergent ecological philosophy together with the information technology explosion poses some fascinating issues for education. There are particular implications for the fashionable notions of constructivist and student centred approaches to learning, which constitute a zone of comfortable dogma. In this presentation I propose an ecological approach to e-learning that goes beyond the comfort zone of constructivism.