EJEL Volume 6 Issue 1
March 2008

Pedagogical Approaches and Technical Subject Teaching through Internet Media.

Olubodun Olufemi.
Dental School University of Lagos Nigeria

It is a common knowledge that we are living in a technology driven society where knowledge usage, sharing and distribution are facilitated by technology which make many refers to the present society as a knowledge society whose economy is knowledge driven. We can feel and see technology impacting on every sphere of human life and only those who do not want to be left behind will show willingness to be continuously relevant in their fields by keeping pace with the trend. Teaching and learning process is not left out in this drive and educators are equally on the look out for new approaches as all interacting factors in education system are responding to these changes. Theories of learning are being re-thought just as pedagogical approaches are being proposed in line with technology driven education system. A junior researcher as well as their supervisors are continuously being put on an edge as new ideas and methodologies are coming almost every time. This paper (Pedagogical approaches and technical subject teaching through Internet media) gives short but succinct details of the following pedagogical approaches and delves into an area (Practical/technical area) that not too many have dared in online course delivery: to present a sample study guide based on socio-constructivist pedagogical approach deliverable on a learning management system (LMS).

Instructivism

Constructivism

Socio-Constructivism

Practical oriented courses are mostly not offered online as there are challenges and quality issues that need to be addressed. That educators are convergent on running technical courses online is subject to debate as there is skepticism regarding quality of awards and reliability of actual transference of skills via Internet media. The study guide proposes strategies and concepts on the possibilities of technical courses online and it is hoped that it will elicit debate, opinion, and criticism. It is also hoped that this concept will be explored so that professionals in developing countries will be able to improve on their skills, and gain access to the latest development in their fields without the need to always cross international boundaries as at present.

Keywords: study guide, e-learning, pedagogy, socio-constructivism, test, evaluation, LMS, virtual classroom, asynchronous, instructivism, construction technique

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