The world we live in

This table demonstrates the roles of the cognitive tools. I found this useful when planning lessons on prac as it helped me decide on the best program to support the lesson content and studnet knoweldge. It was taken from ‘Cognitve Tools’ by Brent Robertson, Laura Elliot and Donna Washington.

Having taken E-Learning as a subject, I have come to realise the dramatic changes within the classroom and the school, and the best tools to use.

The article ‘Cognitive Tools’, by Brent Robertson, Laura Elliot and Donna Washington, looks at the application of technology as a cognitive tool, “…the appropriate role for a computer is not that of a teacher/expert, but rather, that of a mind-extension ‘Cognitive Tool’”. The article states that Cognitive technologies are tools that may be provided by any medium and that help learners “transcend the limitations of their minds, such as memory, thinking, or problem solving limitations”.

To my amazement I realised many cognitive tools have multiple roles. These roles enable students to interact with information in order to acquire, synthesize, create, and share new knowledge. By examining their roles, educators can consider their implementation and impact on student learning.

The authors state “when students work with computer technology, instead of being controlled by it, they enhance the capabilities of the computer, and the computer enhances their thinking and learning”. In agreement, these tools allow students to effectively seek information, present, organise, integrate and generate their knowledge. Not only are they designing and constructing their own knowledge, but they are representing it in a meaningful manner that mirror cognitive skills and strategies employed through the interaction of information.

However, the article poses some challenges that teachers may encounter. They believe that it can be difficult to measure how students actually use the tools and process information. They say time constraints accompanied by the difficulty of providing feedback to large numbers of students in a timely manner can be challenging to manage. In my opinion, they may be a challenge but are easy to overcome and should not be an excuse to avoid using the software.

I believe technology is imperative to students’ education as they learn “with”, as opposed to “from”, computers. Equipping students’ with these computer skills, training them in software applications, and ensuring they have the ability to navigate the new forms of media will become an essential skill in the 21^st century.