Computers In Education History

presented by Bryon Carpenter, Erin Talbot, Jodi Yorston and

Travis KlakEDUC 463

May 15th, 2008

Article: Molnar, Andrew S. (1997). THE Journal (Technological Horizon in Education), Vol. 24.

Online at: www.thejournal.com/the/printarticle/?id=13739

A Brief History of Computers in Education

(CIE)

Introduction

The history of computers in education (CIE) has been characterized as: an “accidental revolution” or “unthinking man and his thinking machine”

Others have said that the computer revolution has changed the adage

“necessity is the mother of invention” to “in a computer world, invention is the mother of necessity.”

Regardless, it is clear that innovators have made significant changes in the history of education.

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EDUC 463 Summer Session Bryon Carpenter, Erin Talbot, Jodi Yorston, Travis Klak

A Confluence of Change

Two major functions of education are to1. transmit culture, values and lessons from history to

the present day2. prepare our children for the world in which they live

There has been a confluence of change that has impacted the direction of modern education.

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A Confluence of Change (cont…)

1. The Global Economy An interdependence between the world’s economies

facilitated by computers

2. The Scientific Information Explosion at an unprecedented rate. the base of science information is huge and readily

accessible. Eg. It would take 2200 years to read the annual amount

of biomedical information available.

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A Confluence of Change (cont…)

3. The New Emergence of Cognitive Science

Change in education from “learning” to “thinking”

4. New Educational Demands Sputnik, 1957, stirred national interest in

educational reform Demands on education were changing.

Change in national philosophy from Mass Education for many to Education for all.

Preparation of children for a new society that did not yet exist.

Formal education could not stop at high school or college as life expectancy was increasing.

Modern communication created an information rich society and thus education had to compete for students attention.

New technologies were an important catalyst for rethinking education.

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The First Computers

Mark I (1944, Harvard) and ENIAC (1946, University of Penn.)Usage in Math, science and engineering as tool for problem solving, replacing the slide rule and making problems real life.

PLATO (1959, University of Illinois) – 1st large scale project for use of CIE Thus, CIE is little more

than 35 years old (as of this paper in 1997)

Mark I was 51 feet long, eight feet high and weighed nearly five tons.

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The First Computers (cont.)

1. The Early Pioneers of CIE Kemeny and Kurtz (1963, Dartmouth)

Changed CIE from research use to academic use Most programs written in FORTRAN but Kemeny and Kurtz

developed BASIC

2. Computer Assisted Instruction Suppes and Atkinson (1963, Standford) – developed a self-

paced program where students could do “offline” learning.

3. Micro Worlds Papert (Early 197o’s, MIT) LOGO programming language

accessible to children Language of the elementary school computer literacy movement. Extended LOGO to LEGO – constructivist approach view learning

as a reconstruction of knowledge. Papert tired to move from “computer literacy” to “computer

fluency”

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Rapid Growth of Computer-Based Education

National Science Foundation (NSF) – commissioned 30 regional computing networks in the late 1960’s (included 300 higher education institutions and secondary schools).

In 1963 – only 1% of secondary schools used computers for instructional purposes.

By 1974 over two million students used computers in their classrooms.

By 1975, 55% of schools had computer access and 23% were using computers primarily for instruction.

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Rapid Growth (cont.)

The Microcomputer In 1975 the personal computer

revolution began – Enter Apple I Reduced need for time-sharing

computer resources and thus increase access.

Now computer at: office, school, home, laboratories and libraries.

The computer was no longer a luxury but a necessity for schools.

Many universities required freshmen to own a computer.

Grassroots to a new educational imperative.

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The Effectiveness of Computer Based Education

John Kulik (University of Michigan) studied effectiveness of CIE Observed an increase of grades by 10 to 20 percentile

points and reduce time by one-third.Do computer-based technologies work in education: Yes,

they do!

Intelligent Tutors 1970’s - the combination of artificial intelligence,

cognitive science and advanced technologies could dramatically improve learning and problem solving

SOPHIE (SOPHisticated Instructional Environment) – helped the student debug and articulate their own reasoning strategies.

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Effectiveness (cont…)

Intelligent Tools “…build the intelligence into the tool and let students

focus on problem-solving and reasoning”

For example: Feurzeig developed an algebra workbench that can solve

complicated algebra problems as directed by the student.• To shift focus away from manipulative skills (the computer

does well) to qualitative reasoning and problem solving.

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New Technology-Based Education

“Doing better is not the same as doing better things.” Computers became the new instrument for extending

our senses and intuition. “Andrea DiSessa says the trick is not to turn

experiences into abstraction with a computer, but to turn abstractions, like the laws of physics, into experiences.”

New visual metaphors are needed to represent chaotic behaviour.

Eg. models for weather or flow of liquids. Traditional methods were difficult to use.

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New Technology-Based Education (cont…)

Mathematicians and Scientists found traditional Euclidean geometry inadequate – Enter Fractal geometry

Integrating new important developments into education can take 20-30 years. With the aid of computer networks information can flow faster allowing for less lead time for new ideas to surface in education.

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Management of Complexity

Human have difficulty with handling large amounts of information.

“Information overload is a fact of life and while it is not possible to meaningfully eliminate complexity, it is possible to manage it”

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Management of Complexity (cont…)15


Management of Complexity (cont…)

2. Visualization CG and visualization techniques overcome complexity

and limit need for written text “A picture is worth a thousand words” Change in perception about seeing problems to new

ways of thinking about problems.

3. Virtual Reality (VR) emerging as a new computational paradigm for

creating mediated experiences. Experiential problem solving in an artificial environment.

Hypothetical environments allow learner be vicarious and experience situation that are not possible outside VR.

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Distance Education

Allows for learning experience via the internet (a new idea). Education is now a flexi-time and flexi-place activity. Worker training can now be achieved through

classroom experience and then “online” experiences. Distance mentoring in now a possibility.

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Distance Education (cont…)

Learning-on-Demand Necessary to keep up with the pace of scientific discovery

for new learning for current problems on the job.

Organizational Learning Intranets within an organization can allow for

collaboration of employees so that one can do their job better. Information from one can readily be used by another

(databases and email systems). Learning and working are becoming indistinguishable. A

new role of education is to collect and organize info from many sources and provide, on demand, to individuals and organizations as they need it.

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The SuperComputer and Telecommunications

1980’s supercomputer arrived permitted the solution of previously intractable

problems observation of new phenomena Information disseminated quickly Infosphere – a new form of knowledge

the interaction of people, information, technologies and new social organizations.

This evolving infrastructure lead to restructuring in education.

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The SuperComputer and Telecomm. (cont…)

1984 NSF – five supercomputer centers connected with high-bandwidth backbone

1985 NSF – National Network called NSFNET available to all colleges and universities.

1997 it now link over 1500 networks, over 100000 computers over one million user all over the world Gov. effort to expand the US portion of the internet. Aim,

to interconnect all schools to be linked with research centers to share in databases and libraries of information.

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Project Oriented Education

KidsNet (1987) National Geographic KidsNet was formed in 1987 by

Robert Tinker useful for experiment that can be performed in

classroom data can be collected and combined with other class’s

data for a national level project. In 1991 more than 6000 KidsNet units used in

classrooms in 72 countries >90% of teachers using KidsNet reported significant

increase in student interest in science and their classes spent twice the time on science than before KidsNet.

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Project Oriented Education

Global Laboratory Network was also created by Tinker in 1991 students (11-18 years) from six continents measured

soil and air temp., precipitation, birds and insect presence and the stage of plant growth linking meteorological, physical and biology observations to major seasonal events.

a “snapshot” of the state of the planet. Described this global device as a “macroscope” by

Buckminster Fuller.

The significance of these projects are numerous Project oriented science education.

Allows students of different grades, academic aptitudes and skill levels to participate in real scientific problem of social significance.

Computers and telecommunications create a global classroom – a new academic infrastructure.

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Conclusion

Economy, science and technology are very interrelated. Growth and exploitation of knowledge rests not only on the

scientist to produce it, but also upon society’s capacity to absorb it. Thus real limitations for scientific growth may be man’s limited ability to absorb the new information.

Research shows that educational technology can provide an effective means for learning.

Education has changed from an orderly world of disciplines to an Infosphere in which CIE and telecommunications are significantly important.

The driving question for education in the 21st century will be that posed by Henry Simon on what it means “to know.” Is it what we have in our heads or how well we are skilled to explore the Infosphere?

(Remember Google is your friend!)

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Thank you

Bryon CarpenterTravis KlakJodi YorstonErin Talbot

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Computers In Education History

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Transcript of Computers In Education History