thinking will be constrained and controlled by the very materials they are developing ( Jonassen , Wilson , Wang , & Grabinger , 1993 ). It follows that empowering learners to design and produce their own knowledge representations and educational communications can be a powerful learning experience .
Langer ( 1989 ) reminded us of the importance of mindfulness in learning . Students learn and retain the most from thinking in meaningful ( mindful ) ways . Representing knowledge is a mindful task that can be enabled by cognitive tools such as multimedia construction software or electronic spreadsheets . Cognitive tools require students to think in meaningful ways about how to use an application ' s capabilities and features to represent what they know . Students not only learn deeply and mindfully with cognitive tools , their opportunities for reflection are also enhanced ( Norman , 1983 ). There is considerable evidence that reflective thinking is under-utilized in education by both teachers and their students ( Good & McCaslin , 1992 ), a problem that cognitive tools may help to ameliorate .
The Effects of Learning with and of Technology
Salomon , Perkins , and Globerson ( 1991 ) make an important distinction between the effects of learning with and of technology :
First , we distinguish between two kinds of cognitive effects : Effects with technology obtained during intellectual partnership with it , and the effects of it in terms of the transferable cognitive residue that this partnership leaves behind in the form of better mastery of skills and strategies . ( p . 2 )
Cognitive tools are important in both respects . Salomon et al . ( 1991 ) maintain that " the cognitive effects with computer tools greatly depend on the mindful engagement of learners in the tasks afforded by these tools " ( p . 2 ), and that educators should empower learners with cognitive tools and assess their abilities in conjunction with the use of these tools . Such a development will entail a new conception of ability as an intellectual partnership between learners and the tools they use . Although some worry that this partnership makes learners too dependent upon the technology , many performances ( e . g ., instrumental music ) are meaningless without the technologies which enable them . Allowing students to demonstrate learning in collaboration with cognitive tools may be attacked by parties invested in existing assessment systems . However , who would assess the ability of an artist without allowing the use of brushes , paint , and other media ? Contemporary intellectual abilities should not be assessed without cognitive tools , including books and computers ( Salomon et al ., 1991 ). The very conception of knowledge is changing with a move from a conception of knowledge as possession of facts and figures to one of knowledge as the ability to retrieve information from databases and use it to solve problems ( Simon , 1987 ).
Of course , there are many important intellectual abilities that should be performed and assessed without the aid of cognitive tools . This is where Salomon et al .' s ( 1991 ) delineation of the learning effects of technology become so important :
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