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Human Memory and the Limits of Technology in Education
Author(s) -
Puddifoot Katherine,
O'Donnell Cian
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
educational theory
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1741-5446
pISSN - 0013-2004
DOI - 10.1111/edth.12345
Subject(s) - computer science , cognitive science , cognition , human memory , cognitive models of information retrieval , simple (philosophy) , information storage , cognitive psychology , data science , psychology , human–computer interaction , world wide web , epistemology , human–computer information retrieval , search engine , information retrieval , neuroscience , philosophy
Human memory systems perform various functions beyond simple storage and retrieval of information. They link together information about events, build abstractions, and perform memory updating. In contrast, typical information storage and access technologies, such as note‐taking applications and Wikipedia, tend to store information verbatim. In this article, Katherine Puddifoot and Cian O'Donnell use results from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and machine learning to argue that the increased dependence on such technologies in education may come at a price: the missed opportunity for memory systems of student learners to form abstractions and insights from newly learned information. This conclusion has important implications for how technologies should be adopted in education.