Computers as mindtools for engaging learners in critical thinking

instruction, that is, as conveyors of information and tutors of students. Whn used in this way, information is "stored" in the technology. During the "instructional" process, learners perceive and try to understand the messages stored in the technology as they "interact" it. Interaction is often limited to pressing a key to continue the information presentation or responding to queries posed by the stored program. The technology program judges the learner's response and provides feedback, most often about the "correctness" of the learners response. Technologies that have been developed by instructional designers are often marketed to educators as "validated" and "teacher proof," removing any meaningful control of the learning process by the learners or the teachers. In this paper, we argue that technologies should not support learning by attempting to instruct the learners, but rather should be used as knowledge construction tools that students learn with, not from . In this way, learners function as designers, and the computers function as Mindtools for interpreting and organizing their personal knowledge. Mindtools are computer applications that, when used by learners to represent what they know, necessarily engage them in critical thinking about the content they are studying (Jonassen, 1996). Mindtools scaffold different forms of reasoning about conent. That is, they require students to think about what they know in different, meaningful ways. For instance, using databases to organize students' understanding of content organization necessarily engages them in analytical reasoning, where creating an expert system rule base requires them to think about the causal relationships between ideas. Students cannot use Mindtools as learning strategies without thinking deeply about what they are studying.