Examples of Assistance Activities in Technology-anchored Lessons
“Assistance” in the PAR framework is synonymous with what happens — or should happen — during learning. It is the stage when students encounter the processes of learning, often described as the mental activity that goes on as one reads and thinks about content. While this is occurring, the learner may need assistance in understanding the material. Huey (1908/1968) and then Thorndike (1917) defined reading as a thinking process, implying that understanding involves not only recognizing letters and their combination into words, but also thinking about what those symbols mean.