Introduction
Inquiry-based learning and related approaches such as project- and problem-based learning respond to the increased availability of information in a networked world by emphasising the location and application of information by the learner rather than its transmission from teacher to learner. The role of teacher necessarily shifts toward being a designer and facilitator of projects through which students learn rather than the primary source of knowledge in the classroom. That shift is facilitated by the application of digital technologies to initiate learning activities, access and process information, and present results. It confronts teachers with challenges in relation to the relative emphases on content and process in learning and assessment, and the role of learners in deciding what is learned and how.
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
What are some potential benefits and disbenefits of inquiry-based approaches to education?
What similarities and differences are there among various inquiry-based learning pedagogies?
What are the theoretical foundations of inquiry-based learning?
How can digital technologies be used to facilitate inquiry-based learning?
Learners and learning at the centre
Traditional understandings of education centre on teaching. A typical image is of a teacher delivering content to a class. Over the past 50 years that image may have evolved from a man at a blackboard to a woman with a tablet and smartboard, but despite changes in technology, the essential paradigm remains. Teaching is telling.
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