Kozma wins: 3 to 0 | Wk 2: Discussion Synthesis - Instructor | Forum

Clark’s central points about the impact of media and attributes on learning, motivation and instruction are that media does not — and will never — influence learning. As one Clark put it: “The large number of research on media and learning, and causal evidence shows that media has no significant and essential influence on learning in any conditions. Media is only a facilitating vehicle” to deliver instruction. The main influence on learning is the instructional method. Another Clark explained that the media comparison studies themselves are flawed; they do not control for underlying pedagogy or subject matter or a significant difference between treatment and control groups can be explained by the ‘novelty effect’ or newness of the media. Critiques of Clark were that his views of learning were ‘one-sided’ and that he down-plays the influence of technology affordances.

Kozma’s central points are that we as educational researchers should be focusing our attention on the conditions under which media influence learning and the complex processes (cognitive, affective, social) of learning with different media. As our Kozma put it: ‘Rather than asking the question, Do media influence learning?..the more appropriate question to pose is Will media influence learning? This reframing is necessary as technological and media innovation will inevitably make its way into classrooms and other social settings. As such, education technologists must seek to establish a relationship between learning and media. Critics of Kozma push to know: “how is our use of technology helping learning? …technology gives us access to knowledge, but are we actually learning from our interactions and access? What does this learning look like?”

When asked to be yourselves the vote was 0 – Clark and 3 – Kozma.

Questions:
– Reactions: what surprised or shocked or angered, etc. you in reading the Clark & Kozma articles?
– What definitions of learning OR media OR their relationships in these debates struck you as meaningful or limited in understanding learning with media today? Why? (e.g., Can media influence learning even when learning is its unintended goal?)
– What ideas related to mind, media, and learning research and practice did you take away from Clark/Kozma?