Muse #2
My impression of the relative pros and cons of Behaviourism, Cognitivism and Socioculturalism based on how the three theories were presented to us is that there seems to be some sort of gradual transition. I'm not sure if this interpretation is correct but nonetheless I feel that all three theories have their fair share of educational value that they can contribute to the arena of e-learning.

Behaviourism - using reinforcements and punishments to shape one's behaviour - is too simplistic to me. It totally disregards any active thinking on the part of the learner. This implies the mindless actions carried out just so as to attain the incentives promised and/or avoid being punished. This does not really constitute real learning, does it? All the person learns is to do what the educator wants him to do and he will be rewarded otherwise he will face punishment. But he may not necessarily have understood the rationale behind.

This is where Cognitivism comes in. In contrast to Behaviourism which focuses too much on the external, Cognitivism goes one step further to include internal thoughts, assimilation and accomodation, and how these affect external behaviour. This is perhaps a better way of understanding the process of learning than Behaviourism. But for all the merits of Cognitivism, it still does not give a full picture since it is restricted to the individual. 'No man is an island'. It would be narrow minded to think that learning is a one-man show. Everything occurs in a certain sociocultural context which must be factored into the equation. That is why Socioculturalism is perhaps most reflective of the learning process.

By giving credit to the whole system, Socioculturalism acknowledges that each individual must be located in the bigger picture - the system in which he resides as well as the other individuals residing there with him. A great myriad of factors and conditions in the system would definitely have varying levels of influence on the learning process of an individual and hence these factors should not go unaccounted for.

Of course, this is not to say that Socioculturalism is always the best theory and that the other two theories are inferior. One fundamental assumption of Socioculturalism is that the various individuals in the system will interact with one another harmoniously and amicably. This could be too rosy a picture that is painted since the world is much more complicated than that. Hence it really depends whether a particular theory is more appropriate for the problem in question.

As for exactly where each theory should be applied, unfortunately, I'm still unclear about how to pinpoint precisely which type of theory suits which problem best. I suppose the general framework outlined above can serve as a rough guide whilst we continue to discover more about each theory during the course of the module.