Novel constructivist learning environments and novel technologies: some issues to be concerned with

Three issues are discussed. One concerns the instructional goals of constructivist environments: Are they to be aimed at the processes of social participation and the joint systemʹs operation, or at more lasting attainments of it? A solution is offered based on conceptions of reciprocal interdependence between approaches. The other issues pertain to the technologyʹs role in constructivist learning environments. One concerns the possibility of a Butterfly Defect whereby students may learn to construct cognitive webs in terms of the casual links typical of the hypermedia they construct. The second issue pertains to the flood of unstructured, fortuitous information students in constructivist learning environments face when surfing the Internet: Might it not debilitate their construction of knowledge? Researchers and designers should therefore beware of being led into a technological promised land that redefines the nature of constructionist learning environments.