The theoretical basis of educational technology covers many fields, including psychology, pedagogy, sociology and computer science. These theories provide profound support and guidance for the development of educational technology. The following are some major theoretical foundations:
Behaviorism: Behaviorism theory is an important theoretical basis in educational technology, which emphasizes the influence of environment on individual behavior and changes behavior through operating conditions. In educational technology, behaviorism is widely used to create teaching programs and games to encourage or guide students to learn and master specific skills or knowledge.
Cognitive theory: Different from behaviorism, cognitive theory focuses on people's internal cognitive process and emphasizes how knowledge is acquired, organized and understood. This theory provides a foundation for many aspects of educational technology, including effective teaching strategies, the organization of learning materials and the design of teaching methods.
Constructivism: Constructivism theory emphasizes the sociality and situational nature of learning, and holds that knowledge is constructed in the process of interaction between individuals and the environment. This theory is widely used in the field of educational technology, such as simulated learning environment, online collaborative learning and role-playing games.
Humanism: Humanistic theory pays attention to the importance of individual emotion, values and personal experience in education. This theory emphasizes that learners are active and they have decision-making power and autonomy in their own learning process. Therefore, the design of educational technology tools and platforms should respect learners' personality and needs and provide personalized learning experience.
Connectionism: Connectionism is a theory about learning and knowledge, which emphasizes that knowledge is networked and constantly develops and changes in the interaction between individuals and others. This theory has influenced the development of educational technology, especially in creating online learning environment and social learning platform.
The above five theories provide a theoretical basis for the practice of educational technology. Each theory has its own unique perspective and viewpoint, but together they form the core theoretical basis of educational technology.