Cognitive Work Analysis and Design Research: Designing for Effective Human-Technology Interactions Using Handhelds in Elementary and Middle School Literacy Support Classrooms

This paper explores how Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) can be an effective approach for analyzing, designing, and evaluating complex sociotechnical systems such as elementary and middle school literacy support classrooms adopting new handheld technologies. CWA should be seen as an integral precursor to any design research iteration, enabling the identification of key constraints in order to design effective innovations in collaboration with the classroom teacher that optimize human-technology interactions. Through the addition of CWA, we may determine why new technologies may fail in their implementation in schools or do not have the level of impact on student learning they purport. This paper suggest how CWA informs the iterations of design and the interpretation of results of studies involving handhelds in elementary and middle school literacy support classrooms, our understanding of the human-technology interaction in this context, and implications for the design of educational technological interventions.