Computers and Education: Past, Present, Future

1. Computers and Education: Past, Present, Future Eric Goolish

2. Computers, Networks and Education By Alan Kay • Representations of ideas have replaced the ideas themselves • Students are taught superficially about great discoveries instead of being helped to learn deeply for themselves • Carriers vs. Contents • Should schoolchildren take computer?

3. Computers, Networks and Education By Alan Kay • Misconceptions of learning • Fluid Theory: Students are empty vessels that must be given knowledge drop by drop from the full teacher-vessel • Humans have to make do with nature’s mental bricks. Reality is solely what the senses reveal • Education should not be difficult

4. Computers, Networks and Education By Alan Kay • Technology • Forces us to choose between quality and convenience • Instant communication leads to fragmentation

5. Computers, Networks and Education By Alan Kay • Apple Vivarium Project & Life Lab Schools • Conclusions • Children found that the simulation capability of their computers helped them examine the merits of many different walkway designs • Children can make dynamic models of animal behavior through simulations

6. Computers, Networks and Education By Alan Kay • Computers allow greater interactivity • Computers have the ability to become any and all existing media (i.e. books, musical instruments, movies, ect) • Information can be presented from many different perspectives • Computers will be a universal library

7. Six Challenges for Educational Technology By Chris Dede • (1) How can schools afford to purchase enough multimedia-capable, Internet-connected computers so that a classroom machine is always available for every two to three students?

8. Yes? Volunteer time Donations Companies lower cost for massive educational purchases States are setting aside money for the necessary infrastructure improvements No? $94B initial investment $28B per year for ongoing costs Buildings are falling apart, money is needed for infrastructure improvements Professional development is expensive Can schools afford enough Internet connected computers?

9. Six Challenges for Educational Technology By Chris Dede • (2) How can schools afford enough computers and telecommunications to sustain new models of teaching and learning?

10. Yes? Resources can come from reallocating existing budgets Reduce the need for textbooks and other instructional materials Reduce staff involved in data entry operations No? Can schools afford new models of teaching and learning?

11. Six Challenges for Educational Technology By Chris Dede • (3) How can many educators disinterested or phobic about computers and communications be induced to adopt new technology-based models of teaching and learning?

12. Yes? Bottom Up Middle Out Top Down No? Teachers are alienated to reform because the straightjacket of traditional instruction Can educators be induced to adopt new technology-based models?

13. Six Challenges for Educational Technology By Chris Dede • (4) How do we prove to communities that new, technology-based models of teaching and learning are better than current instructional approaches?

14. Yes? Increased learner motivation Advanced topics mastered Students act as experts do Students receive better outcomes on standardized tests No? Adults are skeptical about new educational practices Increased achievement on standardized tests does not occur immediately Can we convince communities that technology enhances learning?

15. Six Challenges for Educational Technology By Chris Dede • (5) How can educational technology increase equity rather than widen current gaps between “haves” and “have-nots?”

16. Yes? Information technology makes society more egalitarian as media matures Extra efforts are made to provide resources for disadvantaged and at-risk populations No? Technology does not motivate disadvantaged populations Can educational technology increase equity?

17. Six Challenges for Educational Technology By Chris Dede • (6) If we use technology well, what should we expect as ‘typical’ student performance?

18. What should we expect as ‘typical’ student performance? • Research on new strategies for learning through sophisticated technology suggests that ‘typical’ students might do as well as ‘exemplary’ learners do now

19. Growing Up Digital By John Brown • Worldwide Web can become a transformative medium for social progress • Web is two-way media – Push and Pull • Web honors multiple intelligences • Web leverages the small efforts of the many with the large efforts of the few

20. Growing Up Digital By John Brown • Digital Learners • Kids today are always multiprocessing • The short attention spans of today’s kids may turn out to be productive in future work worlds • Literacy of tomorrow entails being able to navigate • Web facilitates discovery based learning • Today’s kids problem solve on the web

21. Growing Up Digital By John Brown • Creating knowledge • Learning to learn happens most naturally when individuals are situated in a community of practice • Powerful learning occurs when both cognitive and social dimensions are considered

22. Final Thoughts… • Where do you see technology and education in 5, 10, 15 years? • Will every 2-3 students ever have personal internet access in schools? • Will technology-based reform ‘catch on’ as an effective teaching practice?