Kurt Squire, 2003

Technology & CognitionTechnology & Cognition

Kurt Squire

Curriculum & Instruction

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Technologies for studentsTechnologies for students

• Blackboards• Books• Pencil Sharpeners• TVs / VCRs• Maps• Desks Chairs

• Charts• Paper

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Teachers and TechnologyTeachers and Technology

• Reliable• Easy to use• Reinforce power relations• Reinforce epistemology• Fit within constraints

Kurt Squire, 2003

But the times have changed….

Kurt Squire, 2003

Tools and cognitionTools and cognition

• “Mind as Computer”• Google• Reveal strengths &

limits in our cognition• Shape what it means

to be “intelligent”• Tools are socially

mediated

Kurt Squire, 2003

The Digital DisconnectThe Digital DisconnectKids are online• 78% of children between the ages of

12 and 17 go online.• Internet used for personally meaningful

learning• The Internet = virtual textbook and

reference library.• The Internet = virtual tutor and study

shortcut.• The Internet = virtual study group• The Internet = virtual guidance

counselor

Key: Many schools and teachers have not yet recognized—much less responded to—the new ways use the Internet.

Levin, D. & Sousan Arafeh, (2003). Digital Disconnect. Pew Internet Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=67

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Learning Memorizing, Mastering

Experimenting, discovering

Knowledge Discreet facts, “true” by authority

Tool for use, tested in practice, socially legitimized

Social Model Work alone! Collaborations, shared endeavors

Learner Empty receptacle Active, sense-making,

social organism

Practices Is reduced to facts, knowledge, skill

Leveraged, played upon

Colors perception, ideas

Instruction Transmission, drill n kill

Making meaning / Construction

Technology Present information, track and monitor

Supports practice, make thinking public / visible, test ideas, extend capabilities

SchoolsSchools Knowledge WorkKnowledge Work

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Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

So what does this mean?So what does this mean?Tools and signs

Subject “learner”

Object

mediation

Tools mediate our understanding of phenomena

Kurt Squire, 2003

So what does this mean?So what does this mean?Tools and signs

Subject “learner”

Object

mediation

Communities and social institutions

Kurt Squire, 2003

Activity TheoryActivity Theory

Artifacts / Tools

Subject

Division of LaborRules (formal and informal) Community

Object

Outcomes

Kurt Squire, 2003

Activity TheoryActivity Theory

Books, pencils, overheads

Students

Work alone, teachers organize info

No talking, 45 minute periods…

Master information vs

Get grades

Grades

Kurt Squire, 2003

Activity TheoryActivity TheoryBooks, pencils, overheads

vs. IM, chat, computers

Students

Work alonevs.

In groups

No talking, 45 minute periodsvs.

Learning

Master information vs

Get grades

Grades

Kurt Squire, 2003

Let’s see some examples…

1. Virtual Solar System

2. Civilization III

Kurt Squire, 2003

• University Astronomy course• Elementary School• Ken Hay (UGA), Sasha Barab

(Indiana), Mike Barnett (BC), Tom Keating (San Jose Tech)

Kurt Squire, 2003

Problems of RepresentationsProblems of Representations

• Why is it hot in the summer and cold in the winter?

• Why are there eclipses?• What are planets, asteroids,

comets?

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Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

Course ProjectsCourse Projects1. Build the Earth Moon Sun

• Show eclipses• Show seasons

2. Build the Solar System• Relative size and distance• Observe patterns

3. Extend your project• Ask questions• Comets, asteroids, etc.

Kurt Squire, 2003

Modeling ToolModeling Tool

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Students’ workStudents’ work

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FindingsFindings

• Student fascination with “correct” model– Building “correct” solutions– Copy and pasting answers in boxes

Result: Shift toward modeling practices

Kurt Squire, 2003

Kurt Squire, 2003

FindingsFindings

• “Inscriptions” were really important

Learning was not uniform– Highly related to specific practices– Highly related to questions asked

• Teacher gave “just in time” information– Why don’t eclipses occur every month?– Where is my moon?

Kurt Squire, 2003

FindingsFindings

• VSS Students had deeper understandings– Comparisons in interviews– VSS students understood why

• Students performed similarly on tests– Everyone studied the night before

Kurt Squire, 2003

Social Learning TheorySocial Learning Theory

tools

students

Community

objects

Kurt Squire, 2003

Activity TheoryActivity Theory

tools

Students

Division of LaborRules (formal and informal) Community

objects

Kurt Squire, 2003

VSS CaseVSS Case

Books, peers, web, models,

Students

1 make planets1 animate

Good models &presentations get “A”

“Technology builders”

Model Building

Correct Models ok understandings

Kurt Squire, 2003

VSS CaseVSS Case

Books, peers, web, models

Students

1 make planets1 animate

Good models &presentations get “A”

“Technology builders”

Model Building

Correct Models ok understandings

Kurt Squire, 2003

Replaying History:Learning World History through playing Civilization III

Case 3High School World Cultures Classroom

Kurt Squire, 2003

Civilization IIICivilization III

• Lead a civilization from 4000 BC - 2000 AD

• Build cities to use geographical resources (food, production, trade)

• Manage tax rates, science research, and luxuries

• Negotiate with other civilizations

• Build military • Choose between

technologies & wonders

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Kurt Squire, 2003

What Happened?What Happened?

178Day 1 4 12

Why am I doing this?

Replaying History

This game isn’t bad…

Purposeful Game Play

Kurt Squire, 2003

FindingsFindings

Civilization III only one component of activity– Teacher practices– Students’ goals / intentions

Playing Civilization III mediated understandings– “No matter how it plays out, history plays by the same set of rules.”– “You can’t separate geography from politics from history”

Playing Civilization III produced “conceptual tools” – Knowledge of islands, geography = tools– History was a “cheat”

Kurt Squire, 2003

Activity SystemActivity System

Students

Teacher as a cheat sheet

Playing Civilization III

Informal Groupings Collaborative Inquiry into game

Enjoyable Activityvs.

Understanding social studies

Individualistic Goals

Kurt Squire, 2003

Core ContradictionsCore Contradictions

Studentsvs

Teachers

Teacher as a cheat sheetvs

Concepts, maps, historical record

Playing Civilization IIIvs.

Social Studies Inquiry

Informal Groupingsvs

Communities of Practice

Collaborative Inquiry into gamevs

Inquiry into social studies

Pleasurable experiencevs.

Understanding social studies

Individualistic Goalsvs

School Norms

1. Difficulty of Civilization III2. Purposes opaque

1. Individualistic School Norm vs. Complexity2. Freedom to play the game

Kurt Squire, 2003

Walk-aways Walk-aways (hint hint…)(hint hint…)

Technologies shape….

… how knowledge is represented– Solar system = dynamic models– Civilization III = historical simulation

… what we value– Knowing is more than memorizing (google)– Person + computer and tools

… how we interact– internet collaborations, scientists in the lab

Kurt Squire, 2003

Implications Implications (hint hint)(hint hint)

Technologies are socially situated & constructed– VR Building tool vs. VR Modeling Tool– Implies the role of the teacher, social context

Technologies and schools is a social problem- What values do technologies carry?- Do those contradict school norms?- Classroom cultures change technologies

Technologies are not the silver bullet…- Technologies tend to reproduce social inequities- What teachers do with them is critical- School cultures is the biggest problem…

Kurt Squire, 2003

ImplicationsImplications

• Activity theory is one way to think about technology– Emphasized social context– Theoretical lens for examining contradictions

• Technology integration is a social problem• Contradictions drive change

– What is knowledge– What is valued

Artifacts / Tools

Subject

Division of LaborRules Community

Object

Outcomes

Kurt Squire, 2003

ContactContact

• Kurt Squire

• kdsquire@education.wisc.edu

• http://website.education.wisc.edu