Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments

Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments describes the most contemporary psychological and pedagogical theories that are foundations for the conception and design of open-ended learning environments and new applications of educational technologies.

In the past decade, the cognitive revolution of the 60s and 70s has been replaced or restructured by constructivism and its associated theories, including situated, sociocultural, ecological, everyday, and distributed conceptions of cognition. These theories represent a paradigm shift for educators and instructional designers, to a view of learning as necessarily more social, conversational, and constructive than traditional transmissive views of learning. Never in the history of education have so many different theories said the same things about the nature of learning and the means for supporting it. At the same time, although there is a remarkable amount of consonance among these theories, each also provides a distinct perspective on how learning and sense making occur.

This book provides students, faculty, and instructional designers with a clear, concise introduction to these theories and their implications for the design of new learning environments for schools, universities, and corporations. It is well-suited as a required or supplementary text for courses in instructional design and theory, educational psychology, learning, theory, curriculum theory and design, and related areas.