Cognitivism in Practice

This week I had the opportunity to explore a number of instructional strategies involving technology and identify how these relate to the cognitive learning theory.  First, it is important to have an idea of the basic parts of cognitive learning theory.  According to Dr. Michael Orey, cognitive learning is how information is inputted, processed and stored by the brain (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  Information can either be stored in our short-term memory or long-term memory.  As educators, we should be looking for ways for our students to store information in their long-term memory.  One of the ways that we can do this is referred to as the elaboration theory, which is a primary way for storing information in long-term memory.  Elaboration provides opportunities to make numerous connections, which in turn builds "networks" of information in our brains (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  The more connections that are built, the easier it is to recall this information.  When we forget something, what we have really done according to Orey, is lost the connection to the information (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  So, how can we use technology to help students make these connections?  There are a lot of different ways, and some of these I have used without realizing exactly how much they impacted student learning.

Cues, questions and advance organizers are strategies that we can use to allow student to better "retreive, use and organize information" (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kihn, 2012, p. 91).  Cueing and questioning on the teacher's part will help frame the thought process that we would like students to take.  It scaffolds the students' line of thinking to the goal that we wish for them to reach.  As suggested by Pitler, et. al., it can take the form of a blog in which a teacher engages students in discussions by providing cues and questions on the topic being studied (2012)   It can also be as simple as using a drawing app on an iPad to create a graphic organizer (Pitler, et. al.,  2012).  There are several free apps that could be downloaded and used for organizing information such as MindMeister, Popplet Lite, and SimpleMind.  These advanced organizer apps provide an interactive, tactile way for students to organize ideas and make connections.  They also provides students the opportunity to activate prior knowledge by brainstorming.  This directly relates to cognitive learning and the need to make connections in order to be able to later retrieve the information.  By organizing and connecting big ideas, students can create an outline for the details to be filled in (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).  This is in itself, the perfect model for the network model that we speak of when we talk about cognitive learning.  

The instructional strategy of summarizing and note taking is directly related to cognitive learning in that we allow students the means to synthesize and process information.  In order for information to be processed and stored in long-term memory, there must be many connections available to retrieve the information.  By intaking information, synthesizing it, and then outputting it in a new form, we are allowing this long-term storage to take place.  This is simple to achieve in the classroom, but as stated by Pitler, et. al., it does not seem to be a skill that is commonly taught in the classroom (2012).  Word processing applications are the simplest way to use this strategy in the classroom by providing the opportunity to easily type up a summary or take notes.  These skills must be explicitly taught in order to be effective.  Rule-based summarizing is a great way to ensure that students are learning and practicing this skill properly.  Note taking should be done in a variety of formats, which can be done using some of the same advance organizer apps mentioned above.  Word processing programs can also be used, with the addition of graphics or other media in addition to the text.  It can also be taken to the next level by using presentation software such as Powerpoint, Glogster, or Prezi which all allow the information to be shared with others.

These strategies all allow for the brain to process new information using different senses.  By using strategies such as these, we are providing extra opportunities for new information to be stored in long-term memory.  We also ensure that enough connections are made so that the information is easily retrievable at a later time.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program five: Cognitive learning theory [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Retrieved from http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.ecollege.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.