Connection, Translation, Off-Loading, and Monitoring: A Framework for Characterizing the Pedagogical Functions of Educat
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Connection, Translation, Off-Loading, and Monitoring: A Framework for Characterizing the Pedagogical Functions of Educational Technologies Lee Martin
Published online: 29 August 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract Distributed cognition offers powerful tools for conceptualizing the role that technology plays in learning environments, yet it can be challenging to apply. This paper presents an analytical framework that focuses on four pedagogical functions that technology can perform in learning environments: connection, translation, off-loading, and monitoring. The framework is drawn from theories of distributed cognition and, in particular, the idea that learning is increased coordination between two cognitive systems. Each pedagogical function is first explicated individually, along with examples. The framework is then applied to several cases, including three technology development and research cases drawn from the literature. The paper concludes with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the framework for use in research and design. Keywords Distributed cognition Educational technology Analytical framework Coordination
It is easy to think about new technologies in terms of their capabilities. How fast is the processor? How vivid is the display? Does it have a camera, a microphone, and an accelerometer? Researchers who work with educational technologies certainly indulge in such questions, especially as they consider how technological innovations can create new possibilities for thinking and learning, but they know that a focus on specifications and software is itself inadequate. Technologies for learning do not work in isolation, but must be considered in context (see Mehan 1989; White 2008, among many others, for cogent discussions of this point). Consideration of context is no trivial matter—the learning environments where educational technologies are typically deployed are far from simple, combining overlapping constraints and capabilities from multiple human actors with varying forms of knowledge and authority, multiple artifacts ranging from sophisticated to mundane, and complexes of disciplinary, social, and socio-disciplinary rules and norms. Because educational technologies require time and money to implement, there is an L. Martin (&) School of Education, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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expectation that they will do more than simply fit into an environment, but will also lead to significantly improved outcomes in thinking and learning. If considerations of contextual complexity were not enough, the role that technological devices play in human activity is further complicated by advances in technology that have created devices increasingly capable of intelligent action. It is no longer tenable to think of technologies merely as tools that amplify existing human capabilities, as pliers amplify grip or screwdrivers amplify twisting strength. Instead, technologies can fundamentally
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