Media Technology Has Effects On You, Your Family And Your Friends.

There are two major approaches to using media and technology. First off, media and technology have been introduced into the world because it is believed that they can have positive effects on teaching and learning. The purpose of this report is to summarize the evidence for the effectiveness and impact of media and technology in K-12 schools around the world.

For the purposes of this report, media is defined as “all means of communication, whatever its format.” In this sense, media include symbol systems as diverse as print, graphics, animation, audio and motion pictures. Technology is defined as “any object or process of human origin that can be used to convey media.” In this sense, technology includes phenomena as diverse as books, films, television, and the Internet

Computer-based cognitive tools have been intentionally adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners to enable and facilitate critical thinking and higher order learning. Examples of cognitive tools include: databases, spreadsheets, semantic networks, expert systems, communications software such as teleconferencing programs, on-line collaborative knowledge construction environments, multimedia/ hypermedia construction software, and computer programming languages.

-Cognitive tools empower learners to design their own representations of knowledge rather than absorbing representations preconceived by others.

-Cognitive tools can be used to support the deep reflective thinking that is necessary for meaningful learning

-Cognitive tools enable mindful, challenging learning rather than the effortless learning promised but rarely realised by other instructional innovations.