Tool

"The tool's function is to serve as the conductor of human influence on the object of activity; it is externally oriented; it must lead to changes in objects. It is a means by which human external activity is aimed at mastering, and triumphing over nature "(Vygotsky, 1978, p.55)

Smart Tools - Physical objects such as calculators, rulers, thermometers. "These tools literally carry intelligence in them, in that they represent some individual's or some community's decision that the means thus offered should be reified, made stable, as a quasi-permanent form, for use by others."(Pea 1992, p.53)