Lajoie - Computers as Cognitive Tools: Volume II No more walls: theory change, paradigm shifts, and their influence on the use of computers for instructional purposes

Edited by

Susanne P. Lajoie

McGill University

First published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers

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Mahwah, New Jersey 07430

Transferred to digital printing 2010 by Routledge

Routledge

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Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK

Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Computers as cognitive tools: no more walls/ edited by Susanne P. Lajoie.Vol. II.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8058-2930-X (cloth: alk. paper)ISBN 0-8058-2931-8 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Computer-assisted instructionUnited States. 2. Artificial intelligence. I. Lajoie, Susanne.

LB1028.5 .C5722 2000

Susanne P. Lajoie

Fabio N. Akhras and John A. Self

Sharon J. Derry, Stephen Gance, Laura Lee Gance, and Mark Schlager

Jim Greer, Gordon McCalla, John Cooke, Jason Collins, Vive Kumar, Andrew Bishop, and Julita Vassileva

Barbara Y. White, Todd A. Shimoda, and John R. Frederiksen

Brenda Sugrue

David H. Jonassen and Chad S. Carr

Julie Erickson and Richard Lehrer

Barry Harper, John Hedberg, Bob Corderoy, and Robert Wright

Susanne P. Lajoie and Roger Azevedo

Daniel L. Schwartz, Gautam Biswas, John D. Bransford, Bharat Bhuva, Tamara Balac, and Sean Brophy

Valerie J. Shute, Lisa A. Torreano, and Ross E. Willis

Benedict du Boulay

Ellen B. Mandinach and Hugh F. Cline

Alan Lesgold

Since the publication of Computers as Cognitive Tools in 1993, rapid changes have been made in the uses of technology for educational purposes and the theories underlying such uses. The introduction to this book, Breaking Camp to Find New Summits, addresses my reconceptualization of the camp analogy used in Volume 1 to stimulate thinking about how researchers situate themselves within specific theoretical perspectives and to guide the development of computer-based learning environments based on such perspectives. Although many of these perspectives still exist, the analogy may have outlived its purpose. The introduction addresses this issue with regard to the influence of learning paradigms on the design of computers as cognitive tools.

Changes in perspectives on thinking and learning are guiding the instructional design of computer-based learning environments. Learning theorists are considering the nature of individual learning as well as how knowledge is constructed in social situations. The chapter authors in this book demonstrate some variability in their choice of guiding learning paradigms; consequently, readers have an opportunity to examine how such paradigms are operationalized and validated. Some of the paradigms represented are information processing, constructivism, and situativity.

This book has four parts. ). Sugrue examines uses of the Internet from several theoretical perspectives that support cognition: information processing, situated learning, collaborative learning, and student modeling. This review synthesizes and exemplifies instructional uses of the World Wide Web (WWW), providing both researchers and developers with a valuable resource.

The chapters by Derry et al., Greer et al., and White et al. describe ways in which research can be conducted in the area of distributed learning contexts. Knowledge building is a difficult concept to grasp, especially in the context of distributed learning. Derry et al. begin to demystify the concept by outlining specific indexes for assessing knowledge building in technology-mediated workplaces. Greer et al. explore instructional mechanisms for knowledge building through a combination of human peer support and an intelligent computer matching program, described as the Intelligent IntraNet Help-Desk facility. By modeling both the individual learner and peers, this facility is able to find appropriate matches between partners that can facilitate appropriate assistance. White et al. combine a computer-pedagogical agent approach to enhancing collaborative knowledge construction with inquiry tasks where humans can alter and test the effectiveness of pedagogical advisors with other students. This is a hybrid computer and human agent approach to enhancing instruction. provides examples of instructional strategies and assessments for collaborative learning situations that are mediated by cognitive tools.

In ) outline the various ways in which computers can provide the tools for multiple forms of knowledge representation and how such representations can be used for assessment purposes. They describe how different classes of mindtools, i.e., semantic organization tools, dynamic modeling tools, information interpretation tools, knowledge construction tools, and conversation tools enable learners to represent what they know in different ways, thereby engaging them in a range of cognitive activities.

Many of the chapters in ), for example, have defined a new way of documenting transitions in the hyperauthoring design process. They examine the student as hypermedia author and how that the authors conception of a hypermedia link and the function it serves during composition affect the use and design of links. In essence, the hypermedia link is a new form of representation that is specific to the hypermedia design process. Documenting transitions in proficiency in the design process through this new language of rhetorical links is unique to this computer tool.

Harper, Hedberg, Corderoy, and Wright () demonstrate ways in which multimedia tools provide opportunities for students to express themselves through alternative forms of representation. Exploring the Nardoo is a multimedia computer environment that teaches students about ecology through authentic learning situations. Students prepare multimedia reports that address specific ecology problems, and cognitive tools are embedded within the multimedia tools that scaffold the problem solving and support the writing process. The embedded tools enable successful multimedia reporting and support the manipulation of complex ideas, which can be represented in different forms, such as text, video, and audio. In addition to simply viewing or listening to video or television and radio shows, students can manipulate these images and sounds into their own notebooks and present a multimedia project presentation that represents their problem-solving activities in ecology.