User:Ashima Deshmukh/sandbox

Comupters as a cognitve tool

COMPUTERS IN EDUCATION B.ED 2013-14 UNIT 1 : COMPUTERS AS COGNITIVE TOOLS TAKEN FROM http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Cognitive_tool Definition •Cognitive tools refer to learning with technology (as opposed to learning through technology). Jonassen (1994) argues that “ technologies, from the ecological perspective of Gibson (1979), afford the most meaningful thinking when used as tools”. •Cognitive tools are generalizable computer tools that are intended to engage and facilitate cognitive processing. [...] Cognitive tools can be thought of as a set of tools that learners need in order to serve cognitive apprenticeships. [...] They scaffold the all-important processes of articulation and reflection, which are the foundations of knowledge construction. They (gag, can I say it?) empower the learners to think more meaningfully and to assume ownership of their knowledge, rather than reproducing the teacher's. The major problem if we accept this conception of technologies is what to do with all of the instructional designers... (Jonassen 1994). •Cognitive tools help learners with complex cognitive learning activities and critical thinking. These tools are learner controlled in the sense that they construct their knowledge themselves using the tools rather than memorizing knowledge. In this perspective, computer systems are "partners" that stimulate learners or groups of learners to make maximum use of their cognitive potential. •“ Because of the interactive nature of technology and the power of its information-processing capabilities, Jonassen (1996) proposes that when students learn with technology, it becomes a "mindtool." He defines mindtools as "computer-based tools and learning environments that have been adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher-order learning" (p. 9). Using commonly available software (databases, spreadsheets, electronic mail, multimedia, hypermedia, and others), learners employ technology to both construct and represent knowledge. This concept is similar to Pea's (1985) conception of a cognitive technology as " . . . any medium that helps transcend the limitations of the mind, such as memory, in activities of thinking, learning, and problem solving" (p. 168).” (Boethel and Dimok, 1999: 17). •“ Cognitive tools are technologies that learners interact and think with in knowledge construction, designed to bring their expertise to the performance as part of the joint learning system.” (Kim and Reeves (2007:224)

Why a cognitive tools approach ? According to Shim and Lee (2006), Lajoie (1993, p. 261) summarized that cognitive tools can benefit learners by serving the functions as follows: 1.Support cognitive processes, such as, memory and metacognitive processes 2.Share the cognitive load by providing support for lower level cognitive skills so that resources are left over for higher order thinking skills 3.Allow the learners to engage in cognitive activities that would be out of their reach otherwise 4.Allow learners to generate and test hypotheses in the context of problem solving Let's continue with a longer quotation from Reeves (1999) keynote speech at Ed-Media 1999: The foundation for the use of interactive learning systems as "cognitive tools" (the "with" approach) is "cognitive psychology." 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, interactive tools are given directly to learners to use for representing and expressing what they know (Jonassen & Reeves, 1996). Learners themselves function as designers, using software programs as tools for analyzing the world, accessing and interpreting information, organizing their personal knowledge, and representing what they know to others.

The basic principles that guide the use of interactive software programs as cognitive tools for teaching and learning are: •	Cognitive tools will have their greatest effectiveness when they are applied within constructivist learning environments. •	Cognitive tools empower learners to design their own representations of knowledge rather than absorbing representations preconceived by others. •	Cognitive tools can be used to support the deep reflective thinking that is necessary for meaningful learning. •	Cognitive tools have two kinds of important cognitive effects, those which are with the technology in terms of intellectual partnerships and those that are of the technology in terms of the cognitive residue that remains after the tools are used. •	Cognitive tools enable mindful, challenging learning rather than the effortless learning promised but rarely realized by other instructional innovations. •	The source of the tasks or problems to which cognitive tools are applied should be learners, guided by teachers and other resources in the learning environment. •	Ideally, tasks or problems for the application of cognitive tools will be situated in realistic contexts with results that are personally meaningful for learners. •	Using multimedia construction programs as cognitive tools engages many skills in learners such as: project management skills, research skills, organization and representation skills, presentation skills, and reflection skills. •	Research concerning the effectiveness of constructivist learning environments such as microworlds, classroom-based learning environments, and virtual, collaborative environments show positive results across a wide range of indicators. In summary, thirty years of educational research indicates that various interactive technologies are effective in education as phenomena to learn both "from" and "with." Historically, the learning "from" or tutorial approaches have received the most attention and funding, but the "with" or cognitive tool approaches are the focus of more interest and investment than ever before. Preliminary findings suggest that in the long run, constructivist approaches to applying media and technology may have more potential to enhance teaching and learning than instructivist models (Jonassen & Reeves, 1996). In other words, the real power of interactive learning to improve achievement and performance may only be realized when people actively use computers as cognitive tools rather than simply interact with them as tutors or data repositories. Typologies of cognitive tools Jonassen & Carr According to Kim and Reeves (2007:226), Jonassen and Carr (2000) suggested the following classes of "mindtools": •semantic organization tools (e.g., databases and concept mapping tools), •dynamic modeling tools (e.g., spreadsheets and microworlds), •visualization tools (e.g., MathLab and Geometry Tutor), •knowledge construction tools (e.g., a multimedia authoring tool), •socially shared cognitive tools (e.g., computer conferencing (forums) and computer-supported collaborative argumentation).

Jonassen 2006 Shim and Li (2006) summarize Jonassen's (2006) Cognitive tools for teachers with the following table: Type	Description	Examples Database	1. Are useful for supplementing the learning of concept-rich content, such as that in geography, social studies, and the sciences 2.	Support the storage and retrieval of information in an organized manner Structure is inherent in all knowledge, so using a database that helps learners to structure what they know will facilitate understanding. Database management systems (DBMSs) Concept Map	1. Are spatial representations of concepts and their interrelationships that simulate the knowledge structures that humans store in their minds (Jonassen, Beissner, & Yacci, 1993). 2.	Are also effective for planning other kinds of productions and knowledge bases. Inspiration Spreadsheets	1. Are computerized, numeric record-keeping systems. 2.	Qualitatively change educational processes that require manipulation or speculation with numbers and are easy to adapt and modify 3.	Support speculation, decision making, and problem solving, and they are often used in what-if analyses. 4.	Are versatile tools that are most effective in solving quantitative problems 5.	Three primary functions: storing, calculating, and presenting information	Excel Simulation Tools	1. Represent abstract ideas visually, enabling students to use their most highly developed sensory system. 2.	Support performance in investigative projects, so they are scaffolds that enable students to complete projects 3.	Help students to understand and express ideas that they otherwise might not be able to. MacSpartan Structured Computer Conference	1. Two types: asynchronous communication and synchronous communication 2.	Support student s to construct their knowledge	Email, Bulletin board service, Discussion board Source:Cognitive Tools in the classroom, Copyright:Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Tools This section should index related articles that refer to specific kinds of tools (not complete yet !) Cognitive tools can be really simple, e.g. a Word processor that will allow a teacher to scaffold a student's activity planning process (one can write outlines, use the text as a mirror, etc.). Forum + argumentation •CSILE was a research system that now is commercialized as Knowledge forum •Fle3 is a free pedagogical platform that builds on ideas of CSILE Collaborative hypertexts •This Wiki is also used in teaching, e.g. students participate through writing activities. During the summer semester 2006 a few students participate in a course that will only be offered once and that features only writing activities. Tools for organizing ideas •Concept maps •Idea managers Tools to organize writing activities •See writing tools, e.g. the Scribe note-taking application

Simulation and microworld building •See microworlds and simulation and look at systems that are designed for student's end-user programming activities, e.g. AgentSheets or LEGO Mindstorms. •Drawing tools that simulate something e.g. Cabri Geomètre (geometry) or ASSIST (Gravity) Links •Mindtool Resource Page. A good collection of links (papers, tools, etc.) •elearning-reviews Topic: Cognitive Tools •Cognition and Technology ED TEC 6444/ED PSY 6444, Joe Polman's course at University of Missouri - St.Louis •Design Rationale group at MIT. They build some interesting "sketching" applications, like ASSIST for which someone sent me a video linkwith Randy Davis presentig the thing. •Constructing knowledge with technology. References •Béguin, Pascal (2003), Design as a mutual learning process between users and designers, Interacting with Computers, Volume 15, Issue 5, October 2003, Pages 709-730. doi:10.1016/S0953-5438(03)00060-2 •Béguin and Rabardel, 2000. P. Béguin and P. Rabardel, Designing for instrument-mediated activity. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems 12 (2000), pp. 173-191. •Boethel, Martha and K. Victoria Dimock (1999). Constructing Knowledge with Technology: A Review of the Literature, SEDL, html/PDF/booklet •Bransford, John D.; Brown, Ann L.; Cocking, Rodney R. (2000) Technology to Support Learning In Bransford, John D.; Brown, Ann L.; Cocking, Rodney R. (Eds.), How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, pp. 206-230 ISBN 0309070368 •Bereiter, C. (2002). Education and mind in a knowledge society. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. •Clark, Richard C. (1983). "Reconsidering Research on Learning from Media," Review of Educational Research 53 (Winter 1983): 445-59. JSTOR HTMLImages / PDF (Access restricted) •Clark, R.E. (1994). Media will Never Influence Learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(2), 21-29. Abstract PDF - DOI 10.1007/BF02299088 (Access restricted) •Derry, S.J. & Hawkes, L.W. (1993). Local cognitive modeling of problem-solving behavior: an application of fuzzy theory. In S.P. Lajoie and S.J. Derry, ed., Computers as cognitive tools, pp. 107-140. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Hillsdale, NJ. •Iiyoshi, T., Hannifin, M. J., & Wang, F. (2005). Cognitive tools and student-centered learning:Rethinkingtools, functions, and applications. Educational Media International, 42, 281-296. •Jonassen, D. H., & Reeves, T. C. (1996). Learning with technology: Using computers as cognitive tools. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research for educational communications and technology, 1st edition. (pp. 693-719). New York: Macmillan. •Jonassen, David. H. (1994), Technology as Cognitive Tools: Learners as Designers, ITForum Paper #1 HTML •Jonassen, D. H. (1996). Computers in the Classroom: Mindtools for Critical Thinking. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. •Jonassen, D.H. & Carr C.S. (2000). Mindtools: affording multiple knowledge representations for learning. In S.P. Lajoie, ed., Computers as cognitive tools: No more walls, Vol. 2, pp. 165-196. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ •Jonassen, D.H. (2006). Modeling with technology: Mindtools for conceptual change. Columbus, OH: Merill/Prentice Hall.