Computers at School and

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Chapter 16

Topics

How technology changes educational needs

How technology changes educational process

How technology changes educational outcomes

Computers at home

The future is a race between education and catastrophe.—H.G. Wells

Education in the Information Age

The Roots of Our Educational System

This industrial age system has been described as a factory model for three reasons:

1. It assumes that all students learn the same way and that all students should learn the same things.

2. The teacher’s job is to “pour” facts into students, occasionally checking the level of knowledge in each student.

3. Students are expected to work individually, absorb facts, and spend most of their time sitting quietly in straight rows.

Education in the Information Age

Information Age Education

Research and experience suggest education should provide the following for students:

• Technological familiarity• Literacy• Mathematics• Culture• Communication• Learning how to learn

Education in the Information Age

Computers Go to School

Students can prepare for standardized tests usingInside the SAT and ACT.16

Students in this class build LEGO robots and write LOGO programs to control them.

Education in the Information Age

Computer-aided instruction (CAI)

CAI software combines tutorial material with drill-and-practice questions in an interactive format that provides instant student feedback.

CAI is one of the most common types of courseware because it is relatively easy and inexpensive to produce and it can be easily combined with more traditional educational techniques.

Education in the Information Age

Programming Tools

Programming tools such as LOGO, Pascal, and Basic allow young students to take a more active role programming the computer.

Education in the Information Age

Simulations and Games Allow students to explore artificial environments, whether imaginary or based on reality.

Educational simulations are metaphors designed to focus student attention on the most important concepts. Star Wars Droid works is a

simulated robot factory.

Education in the Information Age

Productivity Tools

Productivity tools like word processors, spreadsheets, databases, graphics programs, desktop publishing software, Web browsers, and e-mail programs—the software tools used by adults—are the tools students learn most often in schools.

Once students learn to use these tools, they can put them to work in and out of school.

Education in the Information Age

Computer-controlled Media

Computer-controlled media, including the Web, are being used by teachers to convey information in a more dynamic form to their students.

Education in the Information Age

Distance Education

Distance education uses technology to extend the educational process beyond the walls of the school.

Asia Quest allowed students to communicate with a team of scientists and explorers.

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

High Marks

Students improve problem-solving skills, outscore classmates, and learn more rapidly in a variety of subject areas and situations when using technology as compared to conventional methods of study.

Students find computer-based instruction to be more motivational, less intimidating, and easier to persist with than traditional instruction.

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

High Marks

In many cases, students’ self-esteem is increased when they use computers. This change is most dramatic in cases of at-risk youngsters and students with handicaps.

Using technology encourages cooperative learning, turn taking among young children, peer tutoring, and other valuable social skills.

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

High Marks

Computer technology can make learning more student centered and stimulate increased teacher/student interaction.

Well-designed interactive multimedia systems can encourage active processing and higher-order thinking.

Students who create interactive multimedia reports often learn better than those who learn with more traditional methods.

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

High Marks

Students can become more productive, more fluid writers with computers.

Computers can help students master the basic skills needed to participate and succeed in the workforce.

Positive changes occur gradually as teachers gain experience with the technology.

Technology can facilitate educational reform.

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

Room for ImprovementIf the only thing that changes is the delivery medium, the advantages of technology are small—or nonexistent.

Kids and teachers forget advanced computer skills if they don’t use them.

Students have unequal access to technology; economically disadvantaged students have less computer access at school and at home.

Technology does not reduce teacher workloads. It seems to make their jobs harder.

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

Room for ImprovementThere is a gender gap that typically puts the computer room in the boys’ domain. The gap can be reduced by stressing computer activities that involve collaboration.

Many of the outcomes of technology-based education don’t show up with traditional educational assessment methods.

Sending students to a computer lab for 30 minutes a week has little or no value. Computers are more effective when they are in classrooms where students can use them regularly.

Younger students may be better served by art, music, and shop classes than by computer classes.

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

Several Issues

Money

Planning Support

Teacher Training

Restructuring

Computers at School: Midterm Grades

The Classroom of Tomorrow

After more than a decade of research, ACOT’s research demonstrated that the introduction of technology into classrooms can significantly increase the potential for learning, especially when it is used to support collaboration, information access, and the expressions and representation of students’ thoughts and ideas.

Research suggests that technology can have a positive impact on education if it is part of a program that includes teacher training, ongoing support, and radical restructuring of the traditional “factory model” curriculum.

Computers Come Home

Household Business: Business Applications at Home

Personal InformationManagement

Programs

WordProcessor

Spreadsheets

Web BrowsersE-mail

Accountingand

Tax Programs

DatabasePrograms

Computers Come Home

Smart Cards

Look like standard credit cards.

Contain embedded microprocessor and memory

Some contain touch-sensitive keypads for entering numbers.

Computers Come Home

Education and Information

Home computer users use CD-ROMs to help with all kinds of tasks, including locating streets in far-off cities, planning wilderness treks, and learning to play the guitar.

Computers Come Home

Regardless of how people say they use home computers, surveys suggest that many people use them mostly to play games.

Home Entertainment Redefined

Computers Come Home

Creativity and Leisure

Interactivemovies

Composemusic

Computergames