earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books and slate
chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the 20th century include
lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then motion pictures. During the 1950s,
programmed instruction emerged as the first true educational technology, that is, the first
technology developed specifically to meet educational needs. With every other technology,
including computers, educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have almost always
tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that teachers had always taught. So
information was recorded in the technology (e.g., the content presented by films and television
programs), and the technology presented that information to the students. The students role was
to learn the information presented by the technology, just as they learned information presented
by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to students, just as trucks deliver
groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver
instruction, students will learn. Not necessarily! We will tell you why later.
The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the same pattern
of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe computers were used to
deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching students lessons. When
microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural inclination was to use them in the
same way. A 1983 national survey of computer uses showed that drill and practice was the most
common use of microcomputers (Becker, 1985).
Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as productivity
tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programs,
and desktop publishing was enabling businesses to become more productive. So students in
classroom began word processing and using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs
to write with. This tool conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley
and Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text processing
tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially databases and some
spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and desktop publishing) along with
instructional software (including problem-solving programs along with drill and practice and
tutorials).
The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the Internet in the
mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing. Communications tools (e.g., email and computer conferences) and multimedia, little used according to Hadley and Sheingold,
have dominated the role of technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students
producing? Too often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook
told them or what they copy from the Internet.
Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does not conceive
of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we believe that, in order to
learn, students should teach the computer or use the technology to represent what they know

rather than memorizing what teachers and textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and
flexible media for representing what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of
research on computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at
teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as learning tools that
students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning will change.

prev page

next page

View Full Article

earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books and slate
chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the 20th century include
lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then motion pictures. During the 1950s,
programmed instruction emerged as the first true educational technology, that is, the first
technology developed specifically to meet educational needs. With every other technology,
including computers, educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have almost always
tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that teachers had always taught. So
information was recorded in the technology (e.g., the content presented by films and television
programs), and the technology presented that information to the students. The students role was
to learn the information presented by the technology, just as they learned information presented
by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to students, just as trucks deliver
groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver
instruction, students will learn. Not necessarily! We will tell you why later.
The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the same pattern
of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe computers were used to
deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching students lessons. When
microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural inclination was to use them in the
same way. A 1983 national survey of computer uses showed that drill and practice was the most
common use of microcomputers (Becker, 1985).

Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as productivity
tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programs,
and desktop publishing was enabling businesses to become more productive. So students in
classroom began word processing and using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs
to write with. This tool conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley
and Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text processing
tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially databases and some
spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and desktop publishing) along with
instructional software (including problem-solving programs along with drill and practice and
tutorials).
The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the Internet in the
mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing. Communications tools (e.g., email and computer conferences) and multimedia, little used according to Hadley and Sheingold,
have dominated the role of technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students
producing? Too often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook
told them or what they copy from the Internet.
Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does not conceive
of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we believe that, in order to
learn, students should teach the computer or use the technology to represent what they know
rather than memorizing what teachers and textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and
flexible media for representing what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of
research on computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at
teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as learning tools that
students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning will change.

prev page

next page

View Full Article

earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books and slate
chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the 20th century include
lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then motion pictures. During the 1950s,
programmed instruction emerged as the first true educational technology, that is, the first
technology developed specifically to meet educational needs. With every other technology,
including computers, educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have almost always
tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that teachers had always taught. So
information was recorded in the technology (e.g., the content presented by films and television
programs), and the technology presented that information to the students. The students role was
to learn the information presented by the technology, just as they learned information presented
by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to students, just as trucks deliver
groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver
instruction, students will learn. Not necessarily! We will tell you why later.
The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the same pattern
of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe computers were used to
deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching students lessons. When
microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural inclination was to use them in the
same way. A 1983 national survey of computer uses showed that drill and practice was the most
common use of microcomputers (Becker, 1985).
Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as productivity
tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programs,
and desktop publishing was enabling businesses to become more productive. So students in
classroom began word processing and using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs
to write with. This tool conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley
and Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text processing
tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially databases and some
spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and desktop publishing) along with
instructional software (including problem-solving programs along with drill and practice and
tutorials).
The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the Internet in the
mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing. Communications tools (e.g., email and computer conferences) and multimedia, little used according to Hadley and Sheingold,
have dominated the role of technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students
producing? Too often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook
told them or what they copy from the Internet.
Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does not conceive
of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we believe that, in order to
learn, students should teach the computer or use the technology to represent what they know
rather than memorizing what teachers and textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and
flexible media for representing what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of
research on computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at

teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as learning tools that
students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning will change.

prev page

next page

View Full Article

earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books and slate
chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the 20th century include
lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then motion pictures. During the 1950s,
programmed instruction emerged as the first true educational technology, that is, the first
technology developed specifically to meet educational needs. With every other technology,
including computers, educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have almost always
tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that teachers had always taught. So
information was recorded in the technology (e.g., the content presented by films and television
programs), and the technology presented that information to the students. The students role was
to learn the information presented by the technology, just as they learned information presented
by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to students, just as trucks deliver
groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver
instruction, students will learn. Not necessarily! We will tell you why later.
The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the same pattern
of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe computers were used to
deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching students lessons. When
microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural inclination was to use them in the
same way. A 1983 national survey of computer uses showed that drill and practice was the most
common use of microcomputers (Becker, 1985).
Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as productivity
tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programs,

and desktop publishing was enabling businesses to become more productive. So students in
classroom began word processing and using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs
to write with. This tool conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley
and Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text processing
tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially databases and some
spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and desktop publishing) along with
instructional software (including problem-solving programs along with drill and practice and
tutorials).
The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the Internet in the
mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing. Communications tools (e.g., email and computer conferences) and multimedia, little used according to Hadley and Sheingold,
have dominated the role of technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students
producing? Too often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook
told them or what they copy from the Internet.
Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does not conceive
of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we believe that, in order to
learn, students should teach the computer or use the technology to represent what they know
rather than memorizing what teachers and textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and
flexible media for representing what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of
research on computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at
teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as learning tools that
students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning will change.

prev page

next page

View Full Article

earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books and slate
chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the 20th century include

lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then motion pictures. During the 1950s,
programmed instruction emerged as the first true educational technology, that is, the first
technology developed specifically to meet educational needs. With every other technology,
including computers, educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have almost always
tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that teachers had always taught. So
information was recorded in the technology (e.g., the content presented by films and television
programs), and the technology presented that information to the students. The students role was
to learn the information presented by the technology, just as they learned information presented
by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to students, just as trucks deliver
groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver
instruction, students will learn. Not necessarily! We will tell you why later.
The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the same pattern
of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe computers were used to
deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching students lessons. When
microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural inclination was to use them in the
same way. A 1983 national survey of computer uses showed that drill and practice was the most
common use of microcomputers (Becker, 1985).
Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as productivity
tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programs,
and desktop publishing was enabling businesses to become more productive. So students in
classroom began word processing and using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs
to write with. This tool conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley
and Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text processing
tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially databases and some
spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and desktop publishing) along with
instructional software (including problem-solving programs along with drill and practice and
tutorials).
The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the Internet in the
mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing. Communications tools (e.g., email and computer conferences) and multimedia, little used according to Hadley and Sheingold,
have dominated the role of technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students
producing? Too often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook
told them or what they copy from the Internet.
Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does not conceive
of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we believe that, in order to
learn, students should teach the computer or use the technology to represent what they know
rather than memorizing what teachers and textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and
flexible media for representing what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of
research on computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at
teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as learning tools that
students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning will change.

prev page

next page

View Full Article

earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books and slate
chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the 20th century include
lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then motion pictures. During the 1950s,
programmed instruction emerged as the first true educational technology, that is, the first
technology developed specifically to meet educational needs. With every other technology,
including computers, educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have almost always
tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that teachers had always taught. So
information was recorded in the technology (e.g., the content presented by films and television
programs), and the technology presented that information to the students. The students role was
to learn the information presented by the technology, just as they learned information presented
by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to students, just as trucks deliver
groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver
instruction, students will learn. Not necessarily! We will tell you why later.
The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the same pattern
of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe computers were used to
deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching students lessons. When
microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural inclination was to use them in the
same way. A 1983 national survey of computer uses showed that drill and practice was the most
common use of microcomputers (Becker, 1985).
Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as productivity
tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programs,
and desktop publishing was enabling businesses to become more productive. So students in
classroom began word processing and using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs
to write with. This tool conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley

and Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text processing
tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially databases and some
spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and desktop publishing) along with
instructional software (including problem-solving programs along with drill and practice and
tutorials).
The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the Internet in the
mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing. Communications tools (e.g., email and computer conferences) and multimedia, little used according to Hadley and Sheingold,
have dominated the role of technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students
producing? Too often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook
told them or what they copy from the Internet.
Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does not conceive
of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we believe that, in order to
learn, students should teach the computer or use the technology to represent what they know
rather than memorizing what teachers and textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and
flexible media for representing what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of
research on computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at
teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as learning tools that
students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning will change.

prev page

next page

View Full Article

earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books and slate
chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the 20th century include
lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then motion pictures. During the 1950s,
programmed instruction emerged as the first true educational technology, that is, the first
technology developed specifically to meet educational needs. With every other technology,

including computers, educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have almost always
tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that teachers had always taught. So
information was recorded in the technology (e.g., the content presented by films and television
programs), and the technology presented that information to the students. The students role was
to learn the information presented by the technology, just as they learned information presented
by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to students, just as trucks deliver
groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver
instruction, students will learn. Not necessarily! We will tell you why later.
The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the same pattern
of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe computers were used to
deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching students lessons. When
microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural inclination was to use them in the
same way. A 1983 national survey of computer uses showed that drill and practice was the most
common use of microcomputers (Becker, 1985).
Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as productivity
tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases, spreadsheets, graphics programs,
and desktop publishing was enabling businesses to become more productive. So students in
classroom began word processing and using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs
to write with. This tool conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley
and Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text processing
tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially databases and some
spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and desktop publishing) along with
instructional software (including problem-solving programs along with drill and practice and
tutorials).
The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the Internet in the
mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing. Communications tools (e.g., email and computer conferences) and multimedia, little used according to Hadley and Sheingold,
have dominated the role of technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students
producing? Too often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook
told them or what they copy from the Internet.
Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does not conceive
of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we believe that, in order to
learn, students should teach the computer or use the technology to represent what they know
rather than memorizing what teachers and textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and
flexible media for representing what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of
research on computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at
teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as learning tools that
students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning will change.

prev page

next page

View Full Article

earning From Technology

Some of the first educational technologies were illustrations in 17th-century books

and slate chalkboards in 18th-century classrooms. Educational technologies in the
20th century include lantern-slide and opaque projectors, later radio, and then
motion pictures. During the 1950s, programmed instruction emerged as the first
true educational technology, that is, the first technology developed specifically to
meet educational needs. With every other technology, including computers,
educators recognized its importance and debated how to apply each nascent
commercial technology for educational purposes. Unfortunately, educators have
almost always tried to use technologies to teach students in the same ways that
teachers had always taught. So information was recorded in the technology (e.g.,
the content presented by films and television programs), and the technology
presented that information to the students. The students role was to learn the
information presented by the technology, just as they learned information
presented by the teacher. The role of the technology was to deliver lessons to
students, just as trucks deliver groceries to supermarkets (Clark, 1983). If you
deliver groceries, people will eat. If you deliver instruction, students will learn. Not
necessarily! We will tell you why later.

The introduction of modern computer technologies in classrooms has followed the

same pattern of use. Before the advent of microcomputers in the 1980s, mainframe
computers were used to deliver drill and practice and simple tutorials for teaching
students lessons. When microcomputers began populating classrooms, the natural
inclination was to use them in the same way. A 1983 national survey of computer
uses showed that drill and practice was the most common use of microcomputers
(Becker, 1985).

Later in the 1980s, educators began to perceive the importance of computers as

productivity tools. The growing popularity of word processing, databases,
spreadsheets, graphics programs, and desktop publishing was enabling businesses
to become more productive. So students in classroom began word processing and
using graphics packages and desktop publishing programs to write with. This tool
conception pervaded computer use according to a 1993 study by Hadley and
Sheingold that showed that well-informed teachers were extensively using text
processing tools (word processors), analytic and information tools (especially
databases and some spreadsheet use), and graphics tools (paint programs and
desktop publishing) along with instructional software (including problem-solving
programs along with drill and practice and tutorials).

The development of inexpensive multimedia computers and the eruption of the

Internet in the mid-1990s quickly changed the nature of educational computing.
Communications tools (e.g., e-mail and computer conferences) and multimedia,
little used according to Hadley and Sheingold, have dominated the role of
technologies in the classroom ever since. But what are the students producing? Too
often, they are using the technology to reproduce what the teacher or textbook told
them or what they copy from the Internet.

Our conception of educational computing and technology use, described next, does
not conceive of technologies as teachers or repositories of information. Rather, we
believe that, in order to learn, students should teach the computer or use the
technology to represent what they know rather than memorizing what teachers and
textbooks tell them. Technologies provide rich and flexible media for representing
what students know and what they are learning. A great deal of research on
computers and other technologies has shown that they are no more effective at
teaching students than teachers, but if we begin to think about technologies as
learning tools that students learn with, not from, then the nature of student learning
will change.
Learning With Technology

If schools are to foster meaningful learning, then the ways that we use technologies
in schools must change from technology-as-teacher to technology-as-partner in the
learning process. Before, we argued that students do not learn from technology but
that technologies can support productive thinking and meaning making by students.
That will happen when students learn with the technology. But how do students

learn with technologies? How can technologies become intellectual partners with
students? We assume the following:

* Technology is more than hardware. Technology consists also of the designs and
the environments that engage learners. Technology can also consist of any reliable
technique or method for engaging learning, such as cognitive learning strategies
and critical thinking skills.
* Learning technologies can be any environment or definable set of activities that
engage learners in active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative
learning.
* Technologies are not conveyors or communicators of meaning. Nor should they
prescribe and control all of the learner interactions.
* Technologies support meaningful learning when they fulfill a learning need
when interactions with technologies are learner initiated and learner controlled and
when interactions with the technologies are conceptually and intellectually
engaging.
* Technologies should function as intellectual tool kits that enable learners to
build more meaningful personal interpretations and representations of the world.
These tool kits must support the intellectual functions that are required by a course
of study.
* Learners and technologies should be intellectual partners, where the cognitive
responsibility for performance is distributed by the part of the partnership that
performs it better.

How Technologies Foster Learning

If technologies are used to foster meaningful learning, then they will not be used as
delivery vehicles. Rather, technologies should be used as engagers and facilitators
of thinking. Based on our conception of meaningful learning, we suggest the
following roles for technologies in supporting meaningful learning:

* Technology as tools to support knowledge construction:

o for representing learners ideas, understandings, and beliefs
o for producing organized, multimedia knowledge bases by learners

* Technology as information vehicle for exploring knowledge to support learning

by constructing:
o for accessing needed information
o for comparing perspectives, beliefs, and worldviews
* Technology as authentic context to support learning by doing:
o for representing and simulating meaningful real-world problems, situations,
and contexts
o for representing beliefs, perspectives, arguments, and stories of others
o for defining a safe, controllable problem space for student thinking
* Technology as social medium to support learning by conversing:
o for collaborating with others
o for discussing, arguing, and building consensus among members of a
community
o for supporting discourse among knowledge-building communities
* Technology as intellectual partner (Jonassen, 2000) to support learning by
reflecting:
o for helping learners to articulate and represent what they know
o for reflecting on what they have learned and how they came to know it
o for supporting learners internal negotiations and meaning making
o for constructing personal representations of meaning
o for supporting mindful thinking

How Technologies Foster Thinking

Why do these uses of technology foster meaningful learning? It is because they

require that students think and reason. In this book, we argue that students do not
learn from teachers or from technologies. Rather, students learn from thinking
thinking about what they are doing or what they did, thinking about what they
believe, thinking about what others have done and believe, thinking about the
thinking processes they usejust thinking and reasoning. Thinking mediates

learning. Learning results from thinking. What kinds of thinking are fostered when
learning with technologies?
Causal

Causal reasoning is one of the most basic and important cognitive processes that
underpin all higher-order activities, such as problem solving. Hume called causality
the cement of the universe (Hume, 1739/2000). Reasoning from a description of a
condition or set of conditions or states of an event to the possible effect(s) that may
result from those states is called prediction. A baseball pitcher predicts where the
ball will go by the forces that he or she applies when pitching the ball. When an
outcome or state exists for which the causal agent is unknown, then an inference is
required. That is, reasoning backward from effect to cause requires the process of
inference. A primary function of inferences is diagnosis. For example, based on
symptoms, historical factors, and test results of patients who are thought to be
abnormal, a physician attempts to infer the cause(s) of that illness state. Thinking
causally is also required for making explanations. Explaining how things work
requires learner to identify all the causal connections among the things being
explained.

Causal thinking is really more complex than learners understand. In order to be able
to understand and apply causal relationships, learners must be able to quantify
attributes of causal relationships (direction, strength, probability, and duration) as
well as be able to explain the underlying mechanisms describing the relationship
(Jonassen & Ionas, 2007). Why does a force applied to a ball cause it to move in
certain direction?
Analogical

If you distill cognitive psychology into a single principle, it would be to use analogies
to convey and understand new ideas. That is, understanding a new idea is best
accomplished by comparing and contrasting it to an idea that is already understood.
In an analogy, the properties or attributes of one idea (the analogue) are mapped or
transferred to another (the source or target). Single analogies are also known as
synonyms or metaphors. One word conveys attributes to the other, often using the
word like or as as a connector. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans
was said to be inundated with a toxic gumbo. Gumbo is a complex New Orleans
style soup that contains a variety of ingredients. The waters that surrounded New
Orleans contained a complex variety of toxic substancesthus metaphor as
analogy.

People most commonly think of syllogism as analogies. A syllogism is a four-part

analogy. For example, love is to hate as peace is to . The analogy makes
sense only if the structural characteristics of the first analogy can be applied to the
second.

In using technologies to represent their understanding, students consistently are

required to engage in the comparisoncontrast reasoning required to structurally
map the attributes of one or more idea to others, that is, to draw an analogy.
Expressive

Using technologies as tools to learn with entails learners representing what they
know, that is, teaching the computer. To do so, learners must express what they
know. Using different tools requires learners to express what they know in different
ways. Technologies can be used to help learners express themselves in writing.
Learners can express themselves using a variety of tools, such as databases,
spreadsheets, and expert systems, each tool requiring different forms of expression.
Ttechnologies can support verbal expression, while chapter 9 focuses on visual
expressions. Contrast these varieties of expressions to those required by statemandated tests, where students only form of expressions is the selection of answer
a, b, c, or d.
Experiential

Experiences result in the most meaningful and resistant memories. We can recall
with clarity experiences that we have had many years before. The primary medium
for expressing experiences is the story. Stories are the oldest and most natural form
of sense making. Stories are the means [by] which human beings give meaning to
their experience of temporality and personal actions (Polkinghorne, 1988, p. 11).
Cultures have maintained their existence through different types of stories,
including myths, fairy tales, and histories. Humans appear to have an innate ability
and predisposition to organize and represent their experiences in the form of
stories. Learning with technologies engages stories in a couple ways. First, the
experiences that students have while using technologies to represent their
understanding are meaningful and memorable. Second, students may seek out
stories and use technologies to convey them.
Problem Solving

Using technologies to express and convey learner knowledge all entail different
kinds of problems solving. Learning with technologies requires that students make
myriad decisions while constructing their representations. Deciding what
information to include and exclude, how to structure the information, and what form
it should take are all complex decision-making processes. Students also engage in a
lot of design problem solving while constructing their interpretations. They also
must solve rule-using problems in how to use software. When learners are solving
problems, they are thinking deeply and are engaged in meaningful learning. What
they learn while doing so will be so much better understood and remembered than
continuously preparing to answer multiple-choice test questions.