The two quotes above were written by highly respected scholars from two of the most esteemed research universities in the USA . Professor Patricia Marks Greenfield is in the Psychology Department at the University of California Los Angeles ( UCLA ), and Professor Richard E . Clark teaches Instructional Technology at the University of Southern California ( USC ). How can two such noted researchers , physically just a few miles distance from each other , be worlds apart in terms of their estimation of the importance of media in education ? This report is an attempt to sort out the differences in these perspectives and present a synthesis of research findings that may help to resolve this and other controversies about media and technology in education .
Organization of the Report
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This report is organized into four sections . Section One is an Introduction to the major issues underlying the growing interest in media and technology in schools around the world . Section Two addresses the impact of media and technology in schools when they are used in didactic or tutorial modes ( the learning “ from ” approach ). Section Three presents the evidence for the impact of media and technology in schools when they are used as cognitive tools or constructivist learning environments ( the learning “ with ” approach ). Section Four presents a critical analysis of what we know about the impact of media and technology in schools as well as a set of recommendations for an improved research agenda regarding these issues .
Summary
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This first section has presented important distinctions between media and technology with the former defined as a means or symbol system for human communication and the latter as a vehicle or tool for the transmission or manipulation of media . This section has also described several major reasons for the widespread attention focused on media and technology in education today . These reasons include : 1 ) the importance of unresolved issues about educational media and technology to virtually all members of society , 2 ) the enormous financial investments being made in media and technology in education around the world , and 3 ) the often vehement disagreements that exist about the value and impact of media and technology in education that exist in both the popular press and the educational research literature .
5