Cognitive Learning and Technology

Cognitive Theory and Instructional Technology

Cognitive theory centers on the idea that students need to be introduced to information, manipulate it mentally, and then store it to learn. Students need to understand information in their own way and be able to explain it in the context of their life. Activating prior knowledge and connecting the to material are key to learning.

Micheal Orey writes in regard to using technology as a cognitive tool, “students learn “with” as opposed to “from” computers”. (Orey, 2001). The computer is a malleable tool that is as sophisticated or simple as the questions the user asks as opposed to a teaching machine that just tells information in the same way to each student. One great way that Orey describes a student learning with technology rather than from it is by creating a virtual field trip of a journey around the world. This is great example of cognitive learning because the student is combining interests and experience from his life with information made available by technology.

In Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, the authors state that “the instruction strategy cues, questions, and advance organizers focuses on enhancing students ability to retrieve, use, and organize information about a topic”. (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007) Being able to recall and organize information about a topic is crucial from a cognitivist perspective. With my first grade class, I use an organizer called “Kidspiration” which is a tool that lets students create simple webs with pictures or words. For children this young, just helping them along to think deeper about a topic and add details to what they know is important. They have trouble connecting facts about what they are learning about and deciding what are the main facts, and what is most important. However, by working on Kidspiration webs which require one main point and also doing concept sorts on the Smartboard, the students do understand that when they hear facts, they need to connect them to the main topic and filter what is important and not important.

In terms of the strategy, “Summarizing and Note Taking” I know that summarizing is a key element for young children in reading comprehension and in science and social studies subject knowledge. One way that students summarize using technology in my classroom is by adding Clipart to stories that they type in Word. They have to decide what their story is all about and choose just one picture that “summarizes” their work. Also, working together on the Smartboard allows students to create a shared document with things that they know about a topic (class notetaking) and they can share with one another to connect the facts to personal life by having to explain them to another child in a way that they can understand. Students also get a chance to do projects at the end of the year that require them to choose a topic, take notes, type their findings, locate pictures on the computer, and put it all together on a poster.

In the future with first graders or with older children, I would like to see if they could use a Powerpoint presentation to summarize information that they have learned. By having to explain and synthesize the information into their own words, students are following the cognitive process of learning and will be storing the knowledge and the ability to organize thoughts. The strategies suggested by Pitler et al. correlate directly to the cognitive theories because they stress repetition or the material and the students to put things "in their own words".


Resources:

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA:

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/