Computers as Cognitive Tools: Learning with Technology, Not from Technology
Metadata
- Author: David H. Jonassen
- Full Title: Computers as Cognitive Tools: Learning with Technology, Not from Technology
- Category:articles
- Published Date: 2008-08-24
- Document Note: Based on the provided document, a semantic network is a cognitive tool that provides visual and verbal screen tools for developing concept maps, otherwise known as cognitive maps. These maps are spatial representations of ideas and their interrelationships that are stored in memory. Semantic networking programs enable learners to interrelate the ideas that they are studying in multidimensional networks of concepts, to label the relationships between those concepts, and to describe the nature of the relationships between all of the ideas in the network. An expert system, on the other hand, is a computer program that simulates the way human experts solve problems. It is an artificial decision maker that queries the individual about the current status of the problem, searches its own knowledge base for pertinent facts and rules that reflect the knowledge of an expert and stored previously, processes the information, arrives at a decision, and reports the solution to the user. Multimedia construction refers to the creation of multimedia materials such as videos, audio, and images. However, there is no specific information provided about this topic in the document. Overall, the document discusses how computers can be used as cognitive tools to aid learning by requiring learners to analyze the underlying structure of ideas they are studying. It covers various cognitive tools such as spreadsheets, semantic networking, and expert systems, and how they can be used to enhance human cognition.
- Document Tags: Digital Divide
- Summary: Computers can be used as cognitive tools in education, allowing learners to think critically and engage in knowledge construction. Cognitive tools, such as databases, spreadsheets, and semantic networks, can help students analyze, organize, and represent information in meaningful ways. By using computers as cognitive tools, learners become active participants in their own learning, constructing their own knowledge rather than reproducing information. These tools enhance learners’ thinking and problem-solving abilities, providing a collaborative partnership between the learner and the computer. While the concept of computers as cognitive tools is still relatively new, more research is needed to fully explore their potential in educational settings.
- URL: https://readwise.io/reader/document_raw_content/128973874
Highlights
- C OGNITIVE TOOLS are computer-based applications that are normally used as productivity software. However, these applications may also function as knowledge representation formalisms that require learners to think critically when using them to represent content being studied or what they already know about a subject. Applications such as databases, spreadsheets, semantic net- works, expert systems, multimedia/hypermedia construction, can func- tion as computer-based cognitive tools that function as intellectual partners with learners to expand and even amplify their thinking, thereby changing the role of learners in college classrooms to knowl- edge constructors rather than information reproducers. Cognitive tools are examples of learning with technologies rather than from them. (View Highlight)