Interaction Of Media Cognition And Learning

The educational use of television, film, and related media has increased significantly in recent years, but our fundamental understanding of how media communicate information and which instructional purposes they best serve has grown very little. In this book, the author advances an empirically based theory relating media's most basic mode of presentation -- their symbol systems -- to common thought processes and to learning. Drawing on research in semiotics, cognition and cognitive development, psycholinguistics, and mass communication, the author offers a number of propositions concerning the particular kinds of mental processes required by, and the specific mental skills enhanced by, different symbol systems. He then describes a series of controlled experiments and field and cross-cultural studies designed to test these propositions. Based primarily on the symbol system elements of television and film, these studies illustrate under what circumstances and with what types of learners certain kinds of learning and mental skill development occur. These findings are incorporated into a general scheme of reciprocal interactions among symbol systems, learners' cognitions, and their mental activities; and the implications of these relationships for the design and use of instructional materials are explored.

First Published in 1986. The readings reflect the current interest in the possible effects that such communications media may have upon children's studies and cognition and upon how children are likely to respond to education and educational media.

Richard Clark’s observation that “…media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition” is as misunderstood today as it was when first published in the Review of Educational Research in 1983. The convincing if little read scientific evidence presented by Clark has divided the field and caused considerable concern, especially among the providers of newer media for learning. A collection of writings about the “media effects debate,” as it has come to be called, was published in 2001. Edited by Clark, Learning From Media was the first volume in the series “Perspectives in Instructional Technology and Distance Education.” The series editors are convinced that the writings of Clark and those who take issue with his position are of critical importance to the field of instructional technology, Thus, a revised, second edition of Learning From Media is now being offered. The debate about the impact of media on learning remains a fundamental issue as new mediated approaches to teaching and learning are developed, and Clark’s work should be at the center of the discussion. The critical articles on both sides of this debate are contained in Learning From Media, 2nd Edition.

For some time now, the study of cognitive development has been far and away the most active discipline within developmental psychology. Although there would be much disagreement as to the exact proportion of papers published in develop mental journals that could be considered cognitive, 50% seems like a conservative estimate. Hence, a series of scholarly books devoted to work in cognitive devel opment is especially appropriate at this time. The Springer Series in Cognitive Development contains two basic types of books, namely, edited collections of original chapters by several authors, and original volumes written by one author or a small group of authors. The flagship for the Springer Series is a serial publication of the "advances" type, carrying the subtitle Progress in Cognitive Development Research. Each volume in the Progress sequence is strongly thematic, in that it is limited to some well-defined domain of cognitive developmental research (e.g., logical and mathematical development, development of learning). All Progress volumes will be edited collections. Editors of such collections, upon consultation with the Series Editor, may elect to have their books published either as contributions to the Progress sequence or as separate volumes. All books written by one author or a small group of authors are being published as separate volumes within the series.

Cognition, Education, and Communication Technology presents some of the recent theoretical developments in the cognitive and educational sciences and implications for the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the organization of school and university education. Internationally renowned researchers present theoretical perspectives with proposals for and evaluations of educational practices. Each chapter discusses different aspects of the use of ICT in education, including: *the role of perceptual processes in learning; *external cognition as support for interactive learning; *the role of meta-cognition; *simulation learning environments as cognitive tools; *the role of science controversy for knowledge integration; *the use of ICT in the development of educators; and *the role of narratives in education. ICT has great potential for revolutionizing education. Large investments of resources are being made, often without a strong understanding of how ICT will or should be implemented. The expectation is that students will show immediate improvements in terms of their motivation to learn and their learning achievements, but reality is different. Progress of ICT in education requires more than just computers in the classroom. It demands an understanding of the complex processes contributing to human learning and how they interact with new technologies. This text provides theoretical perspectives on the learning processes that can be used as a foundation for constructing pedagogically valuable tools based on ICT. The combination of results--from cognitive science and pedagogy, with more practically oriented suggestions for how ICT can be used in various forms of education--makes this book suitable for researchers and students in the cognitive and educational sciences, as well as for practitioners and planners of education.

Patricia M. Greenfield was one of the first psychologists to present new research on how various media can be used to promote social growth and thinking skills. In this now classic, she argues that each medium can make a contribution to development, that each has strengths and weaknesses, and that the ideal childhood environment includes a multimedia approach to learning. In the Introduction to the Classic Edition, Greenfield shows how the original edition set themes that have extended into contemporary research on media and child development, and includes an explanation of how the new media landscape has changed her own research and thinking.

This volume is comprised of contributions from leading scholars in education and psychology. In part one of the book the authors provide insight into the psychology of change, examining: What factors work as catalysts for change in environments, institutions and people What factors hinder change When change is deemed beneficial In the second part of this volume the authors turn their attention to the issue of peace education. They examine the types of problems that societies and scholars should identify and try to solve in hopes of building more peaceful environments. The final chapter is a biography honoring Professor Gavriel (Gabi) Salomon, a significant contributor to the vast literature on change. This book is appropriate reading for professors, students and academics who are dedicated to fostering change to benefit institutions, environments and people.

Cognitive Technology: Instruments of Mind Cognitive Technology is the study of the impact of technology on human cog- tion, the externalization of technology from the human mind, and the pragmatics of tools. It promotes the view that human beings should develop methods to p- dict, analyse, and optimize aspects of human-tool relationship in a manner that respects human wholeness. In particular the development of new tools such as virtual environments, new computer devices, and software tools has been too little concerned with the impacts these technologies will have on human cog- tive and social capacities. Our tools change what we are and how we relate to the world around us. They need to be developed in a manner that both extends human capabilities while ensuring an appropriate cognitive t between organism and instrument. The principal theme of the CT 2001 conference and volume is declared in its title: Instruments of Mind. Cognitive Technology is concerned with the interaction between two worlds: that of the mind and that of the machine. In science and engineering, this - teraction is often explored by posing the question: how can technology be best tailored to human cognition? But as the history of technological developments has consistently shown, cognition is also fashioned by technology. Technologies as diverse as writing, electricity generation, and the silicon chip all illustrate the profound and dynamic impact of technology upon ourselves and our conceptions of the world.