9/22/2019 3 theories why digital learning access is good for students

3 theories why digital learning access

is good for students
Liane Wardlow, Ph.D. | September 20, 2016 in PreK-12 Education
(https://www.pearsoned.com/blog-archive/prek-12-education/)

Digital learning resources are becoming increasingly common in classrooms. They bring huge potential for
increasing learning in part because they can be constantly updated to meet students’ needs. Digital
resources allow for faster updates than textbooks and o er a wider variety of sources to all students,
including those with disabilities. The bene ts of the increased access to more resources is not only good
for students, but is also supported by formal theories and philosophies of learning.

One theory that supports increased access to quality digital learning resources is the Behaviorist
philosophy of learning. According to this philosophy, teaching should emphasize ways to increase desired
behaviors, which can occur through connectionism or operant conditioning. Connectionism stresses that
learners form associations between sensory experiences and neural impulses often through trial and error
practices. One key component of this theory is that learning should involve practice and rewards that

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 9/22/2019 3 theories why digital learning access is good for students

increase desired behaviors, which is what many educational technology applications are built around.
Many apps serve to increase drill practice such as learning a foreign language, doing math drills or spelling
practice, which all help a student’s overall learning.

Operant conditioning, the other component of behaviorism, refers to training voluntary responses by the
consequences they induce. Apps and other ed tech that provide incentives for desired behaviors, like
earning coins or tokens for correct answers, are a couple of examples of operant conditioning.

Another theory that supports increased access to digital learning resources is Social Cognitive theory, which
is a formal theory of learning that asserts people learn from observing others in their social environments.
This theory has three key themes: modeling, self–e cacy, and tutoring and mentoring. Modeling, which refers
to learners observing others perform actions in context, is central to learning, so teachers often
incorporate it into their own teaching practice. Before technology, students’ access to models were limited,
but now it can increase educators’ abilities to provide models and increase students’ access to models by
providing opportunities for all students to observe teachers explain and demonstrate concepts and skills.
Students are no longer bound to just classroom walls, either. They can easily reach out through computers,
tablets, and apps to see instructors around the globe model di erent skills and problems.

Self–e cacy, or the belief in one’s own ability to complete tasks and reach goals, is increased when
students are able to watch a model of a skill and then practice it themselves. One example of how
technology is increasing access to this type of learning opportunity is software programs with already
downloaded avatars or recorded teachers that model a desired skill or behavior, after which the student is
provided an opportunity to practice and perform. Many other types of educational technology can increase
students’ access to opportunities to increase their self-e cacy.

The last component that the Social Cognitive theory stresses is the importance of tutoring and mentoring
for learning. Technology provides access to tutors or mentors that many students may not have otherwise.
Students are no longer bound to receiving help solely through their school community, and can
communicate with tutors and mentors from all over the world whom they would not otherwise be able to
reach with technology, increasing their learning potential.

Another in uential formal learning theory is Information Processing theory, which focuses on students’
abilities in the areas of attention, perception, encoding of skills and information, storage of knowledge in
short and long-term memory, and retrieval of knowledge. This theory stresses that individual students
have di erent information processing capacities, meaning students di er in how much information they

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can attend to, encode, retrieve, and retain in their short and long-term memory.  According to Information
Processing theory, students must be able automate some function, like a simple math function, in order to
free up cognitive resources to learn e ectively. Apps that provide students with drills and practice follow
this theory and can provide students with increasingly changing and innovative ways to automate essential
skills.

Explore more resources to guide you (http://www.pearsoned.com/prek-12-education/topics-in-prek-12-

education/online-and-blended-learning/digital-learning-de ned/) through online and blended learning
models. According to the learning theories above, increased access will continue to improve teaching and
increase learning.

About the Author

Liane Wardlow, a former Pearson research scientist, focused on designing and

implementing research studies examining e-learning in on-ground and on-line K-20
classrooms. She also worked collaboratively across research centers on a multi-state
research project measuring the use and e ects of digital technology on teachers’
Liane
instructional practices and students’ learning outcomes. Prior to joining Pearson, Dr.
Wardlow,
Wardlow worked as a research scientist at the University of CA, San Diego in the
Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, and for the US Department of Education in the Institute for
Education Sciences. Dr. Wardlow holds a master’s degree in Education from the University
of Southern California and a doctorate in Experimental Psychology from the University of
California, San Diego. Follow her on Twitter: @LianeWardlow (https://twitter.com/LianeWardlow)

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