10
LEARNING THEORIES, AND THEIR APPLICABILITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Authors: Virginia Mihaela DUMITRESCU
Number of views: 329
This article looks at the transition, over the last few decades, from a teacher-centric to a learner-centric education model culminating in the present-day connective learning model under the influence of various factors, among which technology, new scientific theories (chaos, network, complexity and self-organization theories), and the pressures of an increasingly demanding knowledge society hold an important place. It outlines both the theoretical and the practical implications of the latest education paradigm shift in terms of pedagogical methods, the teacher and learner roles, learning goals, and the very meaning of knowledge and learning. It places the current technology-based education model against the backdrop of previous learning theories and practices, and analyzes the characteristics that set it apart from all past approaches to teaching and learning. After a brief account of the way the learning environment is being continuously re-configured by the latest web technologies and learning theories, it reflects on the best options for Romanian higher education. Even though regional characteristics are still playing an important role in shaping teaching and learning practices, no education system can stay isolated from, and out of sync with, the new education trends in our globalized, interconnected world.