Abstract: For the first time, a genuinely \"think­ ing\" interacting technology, the com­ puter, has become readily available to education. This special issue of the Edu­ cational Researcher addresses the prom­ ise of information technology, specifically computers, for extending and shaping the mind. The papers build on three attributes of the technology: information, symbol systems, and user activities. This preface defines and describes these attributes, highlights why they are important, and points out how they form a common thread through the four papers. Information technologies can be charac­ terized by three fundamental attributes: information, the symbol systems in which the information is cast (e.g., language, numbers, pictures), and the activities that the technologies afford or require. The common ruler, for example, is designed for measuring, and when applied yields particular information coded in a numerical symbol system. Another at­ tribute, memory, which has been absent from all preceding technologies, sets it apart as a technology capable of \"learned interaction\" with users. Unlike other technologies, the computer is neiţher limited to particular kinds of in­ formation or symbol systems nor to a restricted set of activities. All known sym­ bolic forms can, or will in the forseeable future, be available to the computer, enabling learners to shift from one mode of representation to another at will. Computer-afforded activities likewise can range from selecting an answer to a multiple-choice test item to musical com­ position, from programming to expert ad­ vice for repairing aircraft equipment, and from writing essays to designing auto­ mobiles. The pedagagical promise of the new in­ formation technology is boundless if we can master the technology. This promise lies partly in mapping the three attributes of the technology—information, symbol systems, and activities—onto their men­ tal correlates: knowledge structures, in­ ternal modes of symbolic representation, and cognitive operations, respectively. In­ formation presented in alternative sym­ bol systems, with the learner controlling the translation among symbol systems, may provide more complete knowledge than if only one symbol system had been used. Moreover, the process of translation among_symbol systems may provide the learner with the capability to take new in­ formation presented in one symbol system and translate it to another, with one sym­ bol system being more conducive than an­ other to the learner's preferred mode of processing, or to solving a complex prob­ lem. For example, different symbol systems can represent more or less the same in­ formation, but each introduces its own bias because each encodes the information in unique ways. For example, a graphical representation of a parabola provides somewhat different information than does its algebraic form. The power of repre­ senting information in more than one symbolsystern_lies in the ability to: (a) provide a more complete picture of a phenomenon than any single symbol system can; (b) in­ crease the chances of linking new informatioņ to the learner's preferred mode of learning (i.e., to the learner's preferred symbolic representation); and (c) cultivate cognitive skills in translating or shifting among symbolic representations. Our ex­ pectation is that this symbolic flexibility will increase the learner's knowledge and understanding. In \"Thought Provoking Software: Juxtaposing Symbol Systems,\" Pat Dickson develops this line of argument more extensively. User activities also are expected to en­ hance knowledge acquisition, understand­ ing, and transfer. Activities such as pro. gramming, responding to a drill exercise, manipulating a variable in a simulation, or composing with a word processor afford learners potential choice points. Informa­ tion used to make these choices tends to be remembered, and hence becomes part of the learner's knowledge base. Accord­ ing to David Olson in \"Computers as Tools of the Intellect,\" computers, by consistent feedback on choices, will make children's knowledge more explicit and teach them to distinguish \"what is represented in the language and what is added by the reader or listener.\" In \"Computer Literacy and Book Literacy,\" Bob Calfee makes a similar argument: Computers, like book literacy, may lead to \"an explicit understanding of the use of written and spoken language as a tool for problem solving and communication.\" Activities afforded by the computer also affect how the learner's knowledge base is manipulated. Computer programming, for example, is heralded for the mental skills it is expected to cultivate in learners, no for the specific knowledge the learner acquires about the programming lan­ guage. The assumption is that the ac­ tivities involved in computer program­ ming—planning, creaţing_specific routines for handling redundant activities such as looping testing specific routines—become generalizable skills. All four authors make this point about one or another form of computer activity. It is the central focus of Marcia Linn's paper, \"The Cognitive Consequences of Programming Instruc­ tion in Classrooms.\" The studies Linn briefly summarizes suggest that program­ ming can cultivate mental skills under spe­ cific instructional conditions, although ad­ mittedly this effeçt; is. as yet small and elusive. The mapping of computer attributesinformation, symbol systems, and activi­ ties—onto their cognitive counterpartsknowledge, symbolic mode of representa­ tion, and cognitive skills—can be of two distinct kinds, as David Perkins points out in a forthcoming article. One is a relatively superficial mapping. The computer makes it possible to achieve greater convenience or efficiency and reduce mental effort, as is typical when we move from the use of Scotch Tape and scissors to electronic cut­ ting and pasting. The second kind of map­ ping is far more profound; the use of a word processor has a lasting effecţ on the way essays are planned, composed, and revised. Although computers afford a vast pan­ oply of instructional activities, a caveat is in order. The impact of the new tech­ nology on cognition is not guaranted. Its impact depends largely on how students and teachers use the new technology. Whether the technology's effects on cog­ nition are profound depends on learners' motivations, expectations, attributions, self-perceptions, and the like which, in turn, affect the extent to which computers are \"mindfully\" or \"mindlessly\" engaged. Trial and error activities of children ob­ served while programming in Logo, for example, are symptomatic of a \"mindless\" mental set. With this mental set, \"pow­ erful ideas\" would not be learned, multi­ plicity of symbol systems or activities would not cultivate the kinds of general cognitive skills Dickson and Linn describe, and explicit meanings, as Calfee and Olson expect, would not be acquired.

Abstract: We believe that technology—defined broadly as know‐how—is the raison d'etre for any business. A company's organization, philosophy, and culture will tend to shape itself around the nature of the technology underlying it. If the technology changes, then the business must adapt itself to the new conditions if it is to survive.

Abstract: The classic art/science dichotomy applies to educational technology, as well as to the traditional academic disciplines within which the debate has raged. Educational technology as applied science implies effectiveness and efficiency in instruction and for learning. Educational technology as art provides us with a different metaphor — one which has hitherto been overlooked. Is there a blueprint for good teaching as the engineering metaphor would have us believe? Or, is educational technology the orchestration of a performance? The metaphors of educational technology are very relevant to future directions of the field.

Abstract: Defines technology through the use of knowledge, tools and skills, aiming to solve day-to-day problems by integrating individual aspects of technology into systems. It has been designed to teach students how to approach technological problems analytically.

Abstract: Over the last few years information technology has presented itself as a powerful tool to aid the solution of many of the problems faced by modern society. This paper examines the nature of this new tool and discusses its potential for aiding the implementation of teaching, learning and training processes.

Abstract: Administrators must make use of the most current technology to help teachers reach their maximum effectiveness. That's the view of these writers, who identify six areas of technology that will be i...

Abstract: Just what should technology assessment involve? Analyses of information technology in offices show that it is not enough to be concerned with the technology itself. On the contrary, the hierarchy in the work between men and women, as well as the way in which the work is organized, should be a major issue in any attempt at technology assessment. Technology reflects both the capitalist and sexual power structure.

Abstract: Scholars in technology education are of the view that there should be some relationship between supervised industrial work‐experience and classroom instruction in order that the theory learned at school would have relevance to practice at the work place, especially as supervised industrial work‐experience has become an important component of well‐planned technology education programmes. This study was therefore designed to determine the nature and extent of the relationship between supervised industrial work‐experience and classroom instruction. A research sample of 64 (comprising of 30 mechanical, 20 electrical and 14 civil) engineering technology students were alternatively exposed for three years to classroom instruction and its consequent sessional examinations on the one hand and supervised industrial work‐experience and the consequent performance assessment process on the other. Performance scores‐‐in percentages‐‐were collected from the two research situations. Product moment correlation c...

Abstract: A growing number of teachers with little or no expertise in educational technology are becoming involved with technology in the classroom. Consequently there is an increasing awareness by teachers of the need to examine the facilities and effectiveness of the technology. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the potential of teacher generated research in educational technology.

Abstract: When we were asked whether ER should have an occasional column on computers in education, we responded that a column on computers in education was too narrow to capture the promise that technology holds. Computers are the heart of the technological revolution, to be sure, but other advances such as video disk and satellite technologies are part and parcel of the revolution. The computer, with its memory, interactive capability, and multimedia, when combined with these other technologies, expands both the opportunities for learning and our notions of education.

Abstract: This paper speculates on the potential impacts of our increasing access to and use of computer technology and communication, especially with respect to planning and policy making. The focus of the discussion is on the interaction between the users of this expanding technology and the technology itself. Those involved in its development, whether it be the hardware or software of this technology, are in a position to make substantial contributions toward a more effective use of the models and their data bases by planners and policy analysts. Specific features of the technology and of environmental planning and policy-making processes are examined to identify where and how interactive computer-based models and associated hardware can best serve individuals, their organizations or institutions. Finally, the necessary conditions for the successful implementation of such tools and methods are identified.

Abstract: This article presents the results of a field study examining the strategies and mechanisms used by major companies for identifying, assessing, and adopting new information technology. The principle finding is the identification of several generic models which reveal the driving forces for new technology adoption. The article also describes phases in the adoption process, organizational roles, and information gathering mechanisms. This new line of research in MIS parallels and builds upon technology transfer research and marketing studies in the area of organizational buying behavior. The purpose of this work is to assist organizations with the challenge of coping with rapidly changing information technology.

Abstract: :The primary focus of computer and communication technology application in some companies has shifted from efficiency/process improvement to strategic/competitive uses. Companies that have become strategically dependent on computer and communications technology have found that the requisite processes of technology forecasting, tracking, research and development, introduction, and management of new technology are unwieldy and almost impossible to operationalize, given traditional administrative and organizational approaches. This paper proposes that a contemporary organization, strategically dependent on computer and communications technology, should: (1) establish an organizational unit with specific responsibility for these processes, and (2) use a contingency framework for the design of ongoing administrative infrastructure to effectively manage new technology. The organizational unit is called the Emerging Technology group, and an example description from Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. is pro...