The CiviCRM Cron module executes CiviCRM's cron function without having to call
http://[SITEROOT]/sites/all/modules/civicrm/bin/cron.php?name=username&pass=password&key=site-key
Step to configure CiviCRM's cron using that script can be found here http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC43/Managing+Scheduled+Jobs
Instead, the CiviCRM Cron module uses Drupal's cron to call CiviCRM's Scheduled Jobs. Scheduled Jobs must still be configured on CiviCRM.
FAQ
Q. What does this strange error mean when trying to run CiviCRM Cron on Pantheon's dev or test instance?
A. This happens when the dev and/or test instance of the site is set to Private mode in the Security settings. When the site is in Private more, an .htaccess password is required. You enter that when you make a request to the server and it's remembered for all future requests, but when the web server requests something itself using drupal_http_request, it would also need to enter a password. Since it can't, the error is shown.
Q. Now that my Scheduled jobs are running in CiviCRM, how do I prevent email from being sent from a dev or staging version of the site.
There is an open issue to automatically set the outgoing mail settings for each instance using the civic.settings.php file.