Week 2

Clark believed that the media had no effect on learning because learning is universal. The learning process doesn't change, just the medium through which one learns is different. Clark focused on the end result. Ultimately, everyone learned the same material, regardless of who or the medium that taught the material. However, the medium may speed up the learning process. Clark believes the most effective learning method is the one that is the least expensive with the most cognitive efficiency, which means learning.

Clark changed his initial position that the medium does not affect learning because of research comparing traditional teaching models on Newton's Laws of Motion and computer-based models. Those who learned from computer-based methods learned the laws in one week, while those who learned face to face learned the laws in four weeks. This proved that although the end result was equally cognitive efficient, the computer-based method enabled students to learn the material at a faster rate.

Cognitive product is the result of the learning process. It is the end result of learning, what you take away with you. In simpler terms, it's what you learned.

Clark's research had a big influence on technology in the classroom. Clark said that there was no point on doing media studies research. He claimed it was a waste of time, and the media does not change the learning process. He made a big impact on future researched. He was so strong and confident on his ideas that people were discouraged from studying the topic. It took some time before researchers went back to the topic.