Design of cognitive tools for everyday information-based activities

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We live in a knowledge society. We are heavily dependent on information in many spheres of our activities. Most of our everyday activities involve both the mind and information. We are awash in a tsunami of information. Simultaneously, we are expected to carry out our activities more efficiently than ever before. To cope, we need tools. Cognitive tools (CTs) can help. These software tools sit at the interface between our mind and a digital information space and mediate the interaction between the two. Examples of CTs include interactive mathematical visualization software, decision-support systems, and digital libraries. Researchers need to know how to design CTs so that these tools can effectively mediate our information-based activities. Currently, researchers do not have enough knowledge about how to design the human-information interaction component of CTs to support a variety of knowledge-oriented activities. In order to have scientific knowledge in this area, researchers need to develop design frameworks, build different kinds of tools for different activities, and conduct empirical studies to assess the effectiveness of different design strategies. My research proposal is to do the aforementioned research with regard to three kinds of cognitive tools: digital libraries, digital games, and tools for exploration of mathematical ideas. This research can significantly contribute to our understanding of how to design CTs. Well-designed CTs can transform and scale our knowledge-oriented productive activities, not unlike the revolutionary effect that physical tools and machinery have had on our material productive activities. As Internet-based CTs improve, these tools can virtually affect the knowledge activities of tens of millions of people throughout the world. In short, this research has wide-reaching applications in the support of our everyday information-based activities.