I have long been troubled by the instructivist vs. constructivist debate. I find constructivist theoretical positions appealing, but struggle with the lack of data supporting such theories. I do understand there are those willing to explain why my pessimism is unwarranted, but my training limits what must be offered as justification. Perhaps, one critical issue is what we are willing recognize as tests of our ideas. If we find ourselves stuck with conventional contexts, factors which may generate change may be difficult to implement and evaluate. I ran across an interesting Ted Talk that tested the power of exploratory learning in a very different context. This presentation concerns students learning about and with technology in an extremely “informal” setting. What is at issue in this demonstration (I am not sure research would be the proper term) is what are learners capable of learning on their own. I find this demonstration more persuasive that those who use children’s mastery of complex video games as evidence that exploratory learning can be successful, but again the connection with identifiable classroom content is evident.
