701 C Category: IT Education IntroductIon The past two decades have ushered in a very pronounced gravitation toward a constructivist approach to teaching and learning in all realms of society and most particularly in the online distance education environment. Augmenting communication in and among those in the academic, busi- ness, and military communities, the exponential advance- ment of science and technology has availed vast amounts of information to virtually millions of people around the globe. In conjunction with this knowledge explosion has been a growing concern for the democratization of the learning process, with constructivism driving much of the educational agenda. This article examines the resurgence of this approach to teaching and learning, its convergence with rapidly changing technological advances, and how it forecasts future trends in online pedagogy. Background While the constructivist method has been highly emphasized in the more recent literature (Jonassen, Davidson, Collins, Campbell, & Haag, 1995; Rovai, 2004; Tenenbaum, Naidu, Jegede, & Austin, 2001), it is not a new approach to learning. Presenting an early example, Socrates facilitated discourse with students asking directed questions to assist them in real- izing the weaknesses in their logic and critical thinking. This enabled them to share in the responsibility of their learning through active participation while negotiating meaning in the creation of shared understanding. In contrast, over time, most professors in Western culture often served as primary repositories of information along with the scrolls and velum texts found in the limited number of physical libraries avail- able to educators. This role included the important function of disseminating information, as well as assisting students in Figure 1. © 2000, Grooms, L.D. Peers Peers Content Content Facilitator Facilitator Learner Learner Learner Interaction Model Learner Interaction Model Constructivism in Online Distance Education Kathaleen Reid-Martinez Azusa Pacifc University, USA Linda D. Grooms Regent University, USA Mihai C. Bocarnea Regent University, USA Copyright © 2009, IGI Global, distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.