Meet the Learning Sciences : Issues and Opportunities

Abstract

This article explores how insights from the learning sciences can guide the effective use of computer technologies to promote learning and how these technologies make new types of learning opportunities possible. The discussion is organized to provide three illustrations of how the introduction of new technologies can have “ripple effects” that influence many different aspects of the teaching and learning processes. We discuss these examples from the perspective of a framework for thinking about teaching and learning based on principles from the 1999 book by Bransford, Brown, and Cocking, How People Learn. Finally, we explore how rapid advances in technology both require and support changes in how we as researchers and teachers do our work.