Transfer of Knowledge and Skills
Bransford, Sherwood, Hasselbring, Kinzer, and Williams (1990) described a model of anchored instruction "designed to help students develop useful knowledge rather than inert knowledge" (p. 119). By designing instruction around complex situations developed through media-rich technologies, Bransford et al. (1990) help students to meaningfully use knowledge and skills learned in the process of problem-solving. The meaningful application of learning facilitates transfer and "greater spontaneous use of relevant information in new problem-solving settings" (Bransford et al., 1990, p. 118).
Bransford and Schwartz (1999) argue that metacognition "has been shown to increase transfer" (p. 65). Thus the reflective process of developing an ePortfolio of my teaching skills would help me to apply those skills in future situations. In terms of technology, a key factor in this experience was not its digital nature, but the metacognitive purposes underlying the assignment.
Brown, Collins, and Duguid (1989), in contrast, argue transfer depends not only on a rich learning environment but also "authentic activities" (p. 34). However, Brown et al. (1989) doubt that these authentic activities can take place in the classroom because "because their context is inevitably transmuted" (p. 34). While the extent to which students' learning will be transferrable to other contexts is debatable, it remains an important consideration in evaluating learning technology.