Cognitive Theory and Technology

The Cognitive Theory is the study of the thought process. In this theory, it is important to learn and focus on how people think and how new information is processed in the brain. As an educator, it is important to be conscious of this theory because it explains how people learn and think, which is exactly what we expect of our students. In the video, "Cognitive Learning Theories," Dr. Michael Orey explained various components of the Cognitive Theory, which have a correlation with some of the instructional strategies described in the resources (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). Chapter 4 "Cues, Questions, and Advanced Organizers" and Chapter 6 "Summarizing and Note Taking" of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works presents various strategies that can be used with technology that parallel quite nicely with the Cognitive Theory (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).
Dr. Orey mentioned that people have a limited short term and working memory and are capable of only remembering about seven (give or take two) pieces of information at a time (2010). The use of Advanced Organizers in the classroom is effective and straight to the point, and learning this information from the Cognitive Theory about our short term and working memory gives me a different perspective of how to use them. Using these organizers is effective, but using them through "chunking" or by presenting about seven pieces of information at a time would be more successful and not as draining.

Another component Dr Orey presented was the idea of Dual Coding where people create an image of the word as well as the actual word and is stored in different parts of the brain (2010). For example, if we are learning the word "dog" we may see a picture of a dog as well as the word. When we recall this in our minds, we will see the picture of the dog alongside the actual word, hence the "dual" aspect of this concept. This principal of the theory correlates with the instructional strategy of using Advance Organizers as well because it presents a visual for the students. Dr. Orey said that we learn better when more stimuli are used. The learning process would be more effective if students can use more than one of the five senses (2010). With this in mind, Advance Organizers in technology, such as Webspiration or Inspiration, are graphic organizers that can be created in front of the students, which makes the process interactive and engaging. Students are more likely to learn something when they feel included and in control of the creating process.

Virtual Field Trip tools are also innovative tools for the classroom. Personally, I have used these "field trips" when researching various venues for events a couple of times, but the thought never occurred to me to use it in the classroom. It is one thing to show a still picture of a historic place, but it becomes a whole different, enriched experience to see it through the perspective of standing inside of it.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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