Cognitivism in Practice (Application 3 for EDUC 6711)

The cognitivist perspective of learning is one where learning takes place thorough the senses and is stored, first in short term memory, and finally long term memory, if the student is able to make connections to other pieces of information they have already stored. In essence, cognitivism makes use of the way we think to understand the way students learn (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008, p. 16).

In their book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) present some ideas to help students acquire and integrate learning. The first set of ideas deal with using cues, questions, and advance organizers (pgs. 73-85). Cues give the student hints about what they will be learning about, and begin to help them organize in their minds what they might already know about the subject. This helps them to make the connections to other subjects already stored in their memory and to help them process the information to enter from short-term to long-term memory. Questions are similar to cues in that they are used to help the student access their prior knowledge and make the needed cognitive connections. Advance organizers can be anything from brochures, rubrics, and articles, to tables and charts to help the student visually focus on the important information they will be learning about. Some of the ways to make use of technology to make advance organizers includes using word processing to have the students make brochures prior to a field trip and making rubrics using spreadsheet software. Another use of technology is to make concept maps using software like Kidspiration to help students visually organize and brainstorm their thoughts as well as the important concepts from the material. Websites such as United Streaming, Google Video, and BrainPOP Jr. also provide multimedia examples of advance organizers in the form of video clips used to help the students think about upcoming material and link it with their prior knowledge. These sites can be viewed at home and allow the families to get involved with their child’s learning, helping to make the learning more meaningful to the student. Virtual field trips can also help students to visually process a location that they are unable to physically visit, such as a zoo, an ocean, or somewhere halfway around the world. Virtual field trips allow the student to begin and make connections that will be more real than simply reading about the location.

Many students may become frustrated when trying to take new information and summarize it or when searching for the main points they need to know. Pitler et al. also make recommendations on how to integrate technology to help students take notes and summarize text (pgs. 119-138). Using word processers, students can make use of auto summarizing, where the program will look through the typed text and locate the main ideas and key points. Inspiration allows teachers to make guided notes, where the students fill in certain points from a text or video. This can help the student narrow their focus to only the relevant information. Teachers may also choose multimedia technology to have students present notes and summaries. PowerPoint software allows students to create combination notes with main ideas, a multimedia enhancement, and a summary statement. Combination notes are powerful tools that link the text with pictures, auditory stimuli, or video that can help the student make a strong cognitive connection. There are also web resources that help students take and present notes in a collaborative manner including Google Docs, ThinkFree, wikis, and blogs. One of the important things to remember is that students need a variety of formats and options to take notes. The more options they have the more personal connections they can form and the more likely they will store the information into their long-term memory.

Using technology to support cognitive learning will help students of all abilities, ages, and levels. Whether using a simple word processor or top of the line multimedia software, students will enjoy using the technology to create, explore, summarize, and present their new information in a meaningful and motivating way.

References

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Teaching and learning with technology (3rd ed. pp. 2–35). Boston: Pearson.

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