Digital Media and Education: cognitive impact of information visualization

In this article I argue that, like other technological innovations, the rise of the digital information age is contributing to shape people's mode of cognition. I review the use of computers in teaching and learning in terms of their impact on our ability to (1) process parallel data, (2) access information in a non‐linear order, and (3) visualize information. I analyse some implications for education stressing the importance of focusing on the meaning and interpretation of information rather than on gathering or memorizing data. In addition, I contend that although hypertextuality is perceived to be dynamic for its engagement with multiple dimensions, it is also a highly mediated form of accessing information. The most significant innovation of the computer, however, is the return to a visually based representation of reality. Paradoxically, the digital visualization of information aids the understanding of abstract concepts while simultaneously increasing conceptual abstraction.