Cognitive Theory and Digital Technology Connection

This is Anasuya Chowdhury, a high school math teacher in HISD. I have been teaching in HISD for 13 years. Currently, I am teaching AP Precalculus, and serving as a Math Department Chair as well. I have a Bachelor's and Master's degree from India. I also have completed Post Baccalaureate in C&I Math and am in the process of getting a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology. My objective is to integrate technology in instruction to enhance learning and my goal is to become Curriculum Specialist at the district level.

My other passion is music; I am a mom of a 23-year-old daughter and a wife of an awesome husband. 

 What is the focus of cognitive learning theory in technology education?

 

Educational technology came of age as a discipline at a time when relevant psychological theory was based almost entirely on behavioral principles. In later half of the twentieth century, cognitivists made a new contribution to learning theory by creating models of how learners receive, process and manipulate information. Cognitivism, based on the work of Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget, explores the mental process individuals use in responding to their environment-solve problems, make judgements. Cognitive theories focus on the conceptualizations of students’ learning process and address the issues of how information is received, organized and retrieved by mind. Cognitive Load Theory suggests that our working memory can hold a small amount of information at one time and that instructional methods should avoid overloading it in order to maximize learning. CLT assumes that students learn better when they use their own thinking skills rather than being taught facts and procedures. In short, Student are less dependent on the guiding hand of the teacher and rely more on their own cognitive strategies in using available resources. The degree of success of our activity as instructional designers relies on two things: first, the validity of our knowledge of effective instruction in a given subject domain and, second, the reliability of our procedures for applying that knowledge. Knowing subject matter and something about instruction are therefore not enough. We concluded by suggesting that cognitive theory requires of our design procedures that we create learning environments in which learning strategies are not entirely predetermined, which requires that the environments be highly adaptive to student actions. Recent technologies that permit the development of virtual environments offer the best possibility for realizing this kind of learning environment. Cognitive scientists are particularly attracted by the concept of AI, computer models of mind in which computer programs designed to "think" like people might represent information. I also love the way the app uses AI to challenge kids and let them grow without feeling discouraged. It nudges them gently if they make a mistake. The app integrates science lessons from National Geographic Young Explorer Magazine, Music from Super Simple Songs, and content from children’s nonfiction publisher Bellwether Media. Kids can learn on the go with the Khan Academy Kids offline library. Thousands of books and games for kids are available offline, so the learning never has to stop. Another way in which educational technology has used schema theory has been to develop and apply techniques for students to use to impose structure on what they learn and thus make it more memorable. These techniques are referred to, collectively, by the term information mapping. Quizzes is becoming popular among educators for AI generated lessons with supporting videos and assignments.

Helpful Links: 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/khan-academy-kids/id1378467217

https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5f215a21ec9173001c76f4cd/general-knowledge-for-kids