Section 3 :
The Impact of Learning “ With ” Media and Technology in Schools
Section 3 :
The Impact of Learning “ With ” Media and Technology in Schools
The Meaning of Media and Technology as Cognitive Tools
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Cognitive tools have been around for thousands of years , ever since primitive humans used piles of stones , marks on trees , and knots in vines to calculate sums or record events . In the broadest sense , cognitive tools refer to technologies , tangible or intangible , that enhance the cognitive powers of human beings during thinking , problem-solving , and learning . Something as complex as a mathematical formula or as simple as a grocery list can be regarded as a cognitive tool in the sense that each allows humans to “ off-load ” memorization or other mental tasks onto an external resource .
Today , computer software programs are examples of exceptionally powerful cognitive tools ( Jonassen , 1996a ; Lajoie & Derry , 1993 ). Also referred to as " cognitive technologies " ( Pea , 1985 ), " technologies of the mind " ( Salomon , Perkins , & Globerson , 1991 ), and “ mindtools ” ( Jonassen , 1996a ), they will be referred to as “ cognitive tools ” in this report ( Kommers , Jonassen , & Mayes , 1992 ). As computers have become more and more common in education , researchers have begun to explore the impact of software as cognitive tools in schools ( Jonassen & Reeves , 1996 ).
Computers as cognitive tools represent quite a different approach from media and technology as vehicles for educational communications ( see Section Two of this report ). Computer-based cognitive tools have been intentionally adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners to enable and facilitate critical thinking and higher order learning . Examples of cognitive tools include :
• databases ,
• spreadsheets ,
• semantic networks ,
• expert systems ,
• communications software such as teleconferencing programs ,
• on-line collaborative knowledge construction environments ,
• multimedia / hypermedia construction software , and
• computer programming languages .
In the cognitive tools approach , information is not encoded in predefined educational communications which are then used to transmit knowledge to students . Indeed , with cognitive tools , the need for formal instructional systems design processes are reduced . Instead of specialists such as instructional designers
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