Teachers are finding video equipment to be highly motivating and educationally valuable when used within a context that promotes study and analysis of socially important themes. With more sophisticated technology, students can produce compositions combining computer text, video, and audio media. The MultiMedia Works Club was held after school for students and teachers from a high-poverty area. Summary Used well, technology applications can support higher-order thinking by engaging students in authentic, complex tasks within collaborative learning contexts. Moreover, the projects described above have made it clear that projects using technology applications to support advanced skills can be successful with disadvantaged students.
Word processors facilitate the process of writing as a complex task.
Both by facilitating the revision process and by handling mechanical aspects of writing, this technology can help focus attention on higher-level issues of content and organization. Use of this technology within a collaborative learning format appears particularly promising for providing students with modeling of the metacognitive skills involved in writing and editing. Although intriguing, these claims are still speculative. Thus, the technology invites active processing on the part of users. Additionally, hypermedia databases can be developed collaboratively by groups of students interested in particular information, subjects, or topics.