The Vanderbilt Cognition and Technology Group notes that the goal of instruction using programs such as Jasper Woodbury is to overcome the inert knowledge problem. Technology can powerfully provide a realistic, complex context for students' problem solving that transforms classrooms from a place to learn inert knowledge to a place to practice active knowledge. The Jasper Woodbury series creates that environment for inquiry and provides students access to relevant multimedia information as they determine the need for such information. Real-world problems are complex and often continuously changing. Engagement with these problems develops students' ability to make judgments about the appropriateness of tools and ideas, be self-reliant in finding important resources for their inquiry, and differentiate between effective and ineffective strategies for addressing the problem situation.
Videotapes can provide a similar service to laser discs in helping create a context for learning.
However, laser discs, particularly attached to a computer, can be not only a context setter but also a rich, instantaneous information resource. Students, workers, and citizens of the 21st century must utilize technology as a tool to acquire, organize, and present information. Students can acquire information through CD-ROMs such as Encarta and Grolier's encyclopedias, direct collection through Computer Based Laboratories or other probes, or from the world through World Wide Web sites or databases. They can organize information and create new ideas through spreadsheets like Excel, brainstorming applications like Inspiration, or student graphing programs such as Tabletop. Students can communicate information and ideas through e-mail or programs such as PowerPoint and Hyperstudio to all points in the world.