A bit of research

I decided to do some research into the digital technologies used in throughout  New Zealand education, and whether images are more memorable than written words.

• Every New Zealand classroom will soon have access to digital devices - opening up huge learning opportunities, but also a risk of another "digital divide".
• Government investment in ultrafast broadband and technology, combined with the falling prices of devices, has already transformed many classrooms. But those involved in education warn a similar investment is needed to ensure such technology is used properly.
• Professor Stuart McNaughton, of the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of Auckland, said increased access was positive, but came with risks. "Just providing laptops or digital devices, in and of themselves, will not necessarily produce more effective learning."A laptop, a digital device, can be used like an abacus or a piece of paper - it's just a tool. And if it's not used in a way that capitalises on what it offers, then it's sort of irrelevant, almost."
• NZ Principals' Federation president Phil Harding said the challenge was how to teach a kind of "new literacy" to children.
  "We have got to look beyond simple things that any kid could do at home without any support from an adult, and find ways to channel and challenge children's problem-solving, thinking skills.
  
  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11147201
  
• Recent research by Paul W. Foos and Paula Goolkasian is beginning to shed light on the difference between memory for pictures and words. They had previously found that while short-term memory for simple line drawings was superior to memory for printed words, the advantage disappeared when the word was spoken.
• One second after the task was displayed on a computer screen, the word they were required to remember was presented. After viewers saw six problems together with the corresponding words — either pictures, spoken, or printed — they were asked to recall as many of the words as possible. The experiment was repeated until the list of 54 words (simple nouns like “baby,” “whale,” and “handcuffs”) had each been used in picture, spoken, and print form. Here are the results:
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• As expected, pictures and spoken words were recalled more accurately than printed words, and the more difficult distractor task impaired memory in every case. Pictures were correctly recalled about 1.5 times as often as printed words.
  
  http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2006/10/25/actually-a-picture-is-worth-15-1/