Definitions and Important People

What is CSCL?

CSCL is Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is a pedagogical approach wherein learning takes place via social interaction using a computer or through the Internet.

"Put briefly, CSCL is focused on how collaborative learning supported by technology can enhance peer interaction and work in groups, and how collaboration and technology facilitate sharing and distributing of knowledge and expertise among community members." (Lipponen, 2002)

Developments in ICT offer increasing possibilities for collaborative learning. E.g. technology enhanced learning environments can provide advanced means for the production of knowledge and constructive communication, and interactive and collaborative learning in (and between) classrooms and between teachers and learners. This kind of learning is characterized by the sharing and constuction of knowledge among participants using technology as their primary means of communication or as a common resource. CSCL can be implemented in online and classroom learning environments and can take place synchronously or asynchronously.

Though the focus in CSCL is on individuals collaborating with their peers, teachers still have a vital role in facilitating learning. Most obviously, the instructor must introduce the CSCL activity in a thoughtful way that contributes to an overarching design plan for the course. The design should clearly define the learning outcomes and assessments for the activity 


Sources:
http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Computer-supported_collaborative_learning
Lipponen, L. (2002), Exploring foundations for computer-supported collaborative learning, CSCL 2002, http://newmedia.colorado.edu/cscl/31.html

Who is Jean Piaget?

Jean Piaget (French: [ʒɑ̃ pjaʒɛ]; 9 August 1896 – 17 September 1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology".

Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual."^[2]

Piaget created the International Center for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 and directed it until his death in 1980.^[3] The number of collaborations that its founding made possible, and their impact, ultimately led to the Center being referred to in the scholarly literature as "Piaget's factory."^[4]

According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget was "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing.^"

Harry Beilin described Jean Piaget's theoretical research program as consisting of four phases:

1. the sociological model of development,
2. the biological model of intellectual development,
3. the elaboration of the logical model of intellectual development,
4. the study of figurative thought.

The resulting theoretical frameworks are sufficiently different from each other that they have been characterized as representing different "Piagets." More recently, Jeremy Burman responded to Beilin and called for the addition of a phase before his turn to psychology: "the zeroeth Piaget."

^{Major Works}

• The Origins of Intelligence in Children (New York: International University Press, 1952) [La naissance de l'intelligence chez l'enfant (1936), also translated as The Origin of Intelligence in the Child (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1953)].
• The Moral Judgment of the Child (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1932) [Le jugement moral chez l'enfant (1932)].

Some Extra 

Would you like to hear about Piaget from Piaget himself`? Have a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1JWr4G8YLM

Have also a look at  Piaget´s conservation test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnArvcWaH6I

^{Source: Wikipedia}