I sat down to watch the keynote address from Steve Jobs for the introduction of the new iPad. Steve demonstrated how one could read the New York Times on the iPad. I just went to Apple’s website and they are even using the NY Times as a screen shot on the iPad. So when did Apple start advertising for the NY Times? When the first Mac came out in 1984, I recall one of the ads read “It’s not just for Word Processing.” I can attest to that because I have the original 1984 Macintosh and it did some amazing things to support instructional technology, all on a floppy disk. I had a program called “Molecular Editor” which allowed you to create molecules and rotate them in 3 axises. You could point and click at the bonds between the atoms to get bond angles. And you could put the Mac into a bag and carry it around … as long you didn’t mind carrying around a 15 lb. computer. I also have one of those bags.
So Steve, here’s the new ad for the iPad …
“iPad …. It’s not just for reading the NY Times.”
Is the iPad a cognitive technology, or simply a web, email, photo and ebook browser? It can only become a true cognitive technology if we use it as such. The size and agility of the iPad will change the way we think about mobile devices. Developers of e-learning can no longer say that we can not effectively deliver e-learning on a mobile device. With the iPad we will be able to deliver high quality e-learning with as much learner engagement we need to. There is no excuse for creating boring page turners that do not engage the mind. And as long as it supports 3D, you can learn in immersive multi-player environments like 2nd Life. I would have liked to have seen Steve Job’s avatar on 2nd Life and a demonstration of constructing new worlds on the iPad. But I suppose that Apple is not supporting Linden Labs in the same way they are supporting NY Times.
Let’s take a closer look at some definitions of cognitive tools and technologies and see how the iPad fits into the definitions.
Jonassen provides us with a definition of cognitive tools and explains that cognitive tools can be used to support either “instructivist”, behavioral objectives for learning or constructivist learning. (Jonassen & Reeves, 1996)
“Cognitive tools and the goals, tasks, culture, resources, and human collaboration integral to their use enable learners to engage in active, mindful, and purposeful interpretation and reflection. In traditional instruction, active refers to stimulus, response, feedback, and reinforcement conditions that help students mirror accepted views of reality, whereas in constructivist learning environments, active learners participate and interact with the surrounding environment to create their own interpretations of reality.” (Jonassen & Reeves, 1996, p. 695)
As a result, what are we doing when we search Google, Wikipedia or the NY Times archives? Are we constructing knowledge and creating our own reality? I think it depends on the context for the search. If we are in the midst of analyzing a complex problem and an internet search is providing us with a piece of information to assist with the problem solving process then results of the search query become an input of data into the problem analysis and synthesis of the newly constructed solution. If we are constructing a new Blog entry or Wiki article or a Mind-Map while searching the web to gather information then we are in the process of constructing new knowledge. It’s not the tool but how we use it.
What we need is a cognitive tool or set of tools to help us “create interpretations of reality” based on our own experiences, knowledge and culture. So how can a tool like the iPad facilitate that process? Let’s take a trip over the Apple App store to see if there are any cognitive tools out there? I just spent a few minutes browsing through the Apple App store and what you find are tools for retrieving and organizing information but there are very few tools that allow you to take the information and build new knowledge constructs. I did find a few flash card apps for helping with memorization tasks but not higher level cognitive processing.
However here is a good example of a tool that allows for the process of synthesis. There are many mind mapping tools on the market that allow you to break ideas about, connect them, and re-organize them.
Let’s consider this definition provided by Dascal & Dror (2005) and ask ourselves if the iPad is approaching their definition of a cognitive technology.
“Cognitive technologies, in this sense, can be characterised as those systematic means created by humans and used by them for the achievement of cognitive aims, including either cognitive states or cognitive processes that lead to such states or help significantly to reach them. As these technologies are used in our cognitive processes, as they cognize with us and for us, they influence and impact the very way we think and affect the very nature of cognition. As cognitive technologies advance, they shift from being mere tools that aid cognition to having constitutive roles in shaping cognitive processes themselves. (Dascal & Dror, 2005)”
I suppose it would depend on the applications that developers create for the iPad in the near future but this tool does have the capability to “shape cognitive processes themselves.” What do you think? What makes the iPad different from other mobile devices? I have to admit that I believe that Apple has done it again and introduced something into the market place that will change the way we interact with information. It becomes a portal to the world, thanks to the evolution of the web. You can do virtually everything you need to do to support your day to day activities with one single device. The device becomes a technological extension of ourselves.
References
Dascal, M., & Dror, I. E. (2005). The Impact of Cognitive Technologies. Pragmatics & Cognition, 13(3), 451-457.
Jonassen, D. H. & Reeves, T. C. (1996). Learning with Technology: Using Computers as Cogntive Tools. (1996). In , Handbook of research for educational communications and technology a project of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (pp. 693-719). New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA.