Pea, R. (1985). Beyond Amplification: Using the Computer to Reorganize Mental Functioning. Educational Psychologist, 20, 167-182.

• What is the difference between a computer "as amplifier of cognition" and "as reorganizer of mental functions?"

• How relevant is this distinction to forms of technology other than computers, such as a calculator, a pen or pencil, a book, etc.?  How about to more abstract "tools" like, written language, mathematical constructs, or even cultural practices?
  

• What are some implicit assumptions typically made about how computers are used in classrooms (e.g., why are they almost always around the outside of a room facing away from one another? From how many students do software programs typically assume, or even accept, input? etc.) What are the (possibly unintended) effects of these assumptions?
  

• What is a cognitive technology?
  

• What are some activities from modern uses of computers that are qualitatively different than, rather than an amplification of, previous activity done without computers?
  

• What is dialectical materialism? Describe how a parallel construct to dialectical materialism for physical tools and labor can be applied to cognitive technologies?

• Pea keeps referring to functional reorganization.  To what does the word "functional" refer?  Give an example of a physical tool which organizes manual labor in two different ways depending on how it is used. Now give an example of a cognitive tool which organizes mental inquiry in two different ways depending on how it is used.
  
  

Skinner, B. F. (1968). The Technology of Teaching, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1-57.