Computers and Education Problems

SimpleSam06

Firstly apologies for the lengthy post, I have an idea I have been kicking around for the last while, and I thought it might be useful to share it.

There has been a lot of debate about the use of computers in schools, a laptop per child, and so on. The various angles range from "wtf is the point, we have enough problems just using chalk and blackboards", to "computers are the future, if kids don't use them they are at a immediate disadvantage".

What most people are missing though is that computers are a tool, just as much as a hammer or a paintbrush are tools. Its how you use them that makes them useful.

Some of the problems with education at the moment are that there aren't enough teachers, class sizes are too large, the church is responsible for a lot of the schools (although I have to say a great deal of them are doing a fine job, as much as they can), slower students are not keeping up with courses while faster students are getting bored and losing interest.

Education caters to the middle denomination, and a certain mindset among that denomination, and to a great extent focuses on rote learning, which is not learning at all, just teaching people to jump through hoops. I can honestly say I couldn't recall the tenth part of what I "learned" in secondary school off the top of my head.

So what I'd suggest is to put the entire curriculum online, from preschool right up to university level and postgrad, from mathematics to accounting to programming to woodworking, open to one and all. You could structure it in a way that tests were offered for each level, but you couldn't use those tests in real academic advancement, you'd have to sit a real life test for that. Or alternately a secured system for passing tests online, which would add credits towards a student's final score.

Set a basic minimum for education in various subjects, which students must attend, and then let students build on their own work with large amounts of classes being questions and answers sessions, with regular evaluations, not a monstrous marathon exam at the end of one, two or three years.

This would mean that the quicker students could advance themselves at their own pace, which is the best way to let highly intelligent/creative people work, and people with less interest could achieve at a minimum the education to build their own careers. Teachers would be more of a guide to what you want to do than dispensers of bulk received wisdom.

You could have avatars (students might select their own) to assist students with harder problems and concepts, these could be automated or remotely placed tutors (who could be anywhere in the world) to answer questions as they come up.

In 99% of cases where students don't grasp a concept in maths or whatever, its because they didn't grasp the underlying concepts, the earlier stuff, or have forgotten it. A computerised curriculum has the advantage that you can link back everything to earlier lessons; a student who is getting lost can simply click a word and go back to that word's meaning and explanation, and click words within that explanation for more explanations, right back to the simplest possible explanations.

What this means is that every school can offer every possible course to any student that wants it. Want to learn ancient Greek, with the correct pronunciation? No problem. Want to learn how a brickie or plumber does their thing? Step right through here. Practical classes could be scheduled in conjunction with the related industries or from schools for the more common ones, while options for courses could be opened up as students advance. Also fewer teachers in classrooms would be required, for less hours.

The end result of course would be aiming for qualifications and certification, gotten, as I mentioned, through real life tests.

The emphasis in such as system would be self education, which would provide the motivation for most if not all students to take advantage of it. If all of the knowledge and experience of Irish Universities were available for free to anyone who wanted it and could understand it, problems with disadvantaged but capable students would disappear.

I realise this would involve revolutionising the entire educational system, and you'd have to spend a lot of money on ruggedised dumb terminals (maybe just give the students a memory key or online account to store their work) and a countrywide wi-fi network (or just piggyback on exisiting mobile networks), but still less money than hiring more teachers and building new schools. This is all very doable today, now, not in some jetsons-like future.

Random ramblings from my brain...

Terry

Moved from AH.
Seemed more suitable here.
Feel free to send it back if you don't want it.

humbert

Not so long ago I was thinking about the current college structure, where attendance and effort seemed to be taking precedence over knowledge and understanding, and had a very similar idea.

I don't know how well it would work for younger students, pre-junior cert. for example, where a large percentage of students have no interest in learning anything and really must be forced. However from then on I think such a system has the potential to far out preform the current system at a fraction of the cost.

SimpleSam06

humbert wrote: »

I don't know how well it would work for younger students, pre-junior cert. for example, where a large percentage of students have no interest in learning anything and really must be forced. However from then on I think such a system has the potential to far out preform the current system at a fraction of the cost.

Thats a good point, although no reason not to make it available to them anyway, perhaps in a more entertaining format. I remember long, long ago reading a book where some school inspector came to a school and said "I want to see these childrens' eyes alight with the joy of learning!" Being in school myself at the time, I was flabbergasted at the idea, but really, thats how it should be.

Ivan

Indeed, spending a few million on implementing this system and designing and catering a system for younger children, so they are more interested in using this system and learning as a result, would be a wonderous acheivement.

And while I would heartily endorse such a scheme I cannot see it as being a realistic expectation within my lifetime, sadly

Sounds like a fantastic idea though.

SimpleSam06

Ivan wrote: »

Sounds like a fantastic idea though.

Thank you, its just putting together bits which already exist though, really. The more I think about it the more I like it, however, and it has some interesting ramifications. It blurs or removes the line between school and college, and makes it a continuous education process, obviates the need for schoolbooks (and expensive University textbooks) entirely, and to a great extent removes any shortage of college places, except perhaps for the sciences or maybe engineering or such disciplines that require a lot of practical work.

Another large advantage is that it would create an enormous knowledge base for whoever wanted to to draw upon, giving obvious advantages to businesses and such, not to mention simpler things like home DIY. You might have to limit the IPs to within Ireland though, or you'll have half the world downloading your material daily, which I fear would stretch resources beyond their capacity.

The free exchange of information has always historically lead to enormous leaps in technology and knowledge; who knows what we could achieve?

The biggest challenge would be to convince a trial group of parents to let their children try it, although you might not need to; you could phase it in over time.

The introduction of the terminals and putting the entire curriculum online could be done intially as an extra facility for students to use, without disrupting the existing system. You could then move by gradual stages towards a more self educational stance, testing it as you go.

You'd have to carefully watch the social aspects of it as well, to understand how children who grow up with little formal daily structure will come out - maybe better off, maybe worse, it would probably depend on the individual.

Ivan wrote: »

And while I would heartily endorse such a scheme I cannot see it as being a realistic expectation within my lifetime, sadly

Hmm. All you'd need to do would be to convince the Department of Education to float a pilot project, and then not duff it up, really.

SimpleSam06

Just a quick follow up on that, there has been a lot of work done lately on "Electronic paper" screens for computers, ie not backlit, which is hard on the eyes, and draws no power to maintain an image, leading to far longer battery life. Perfect for this kind of a project, really.

Also interestingly, I looked up a similar pre-existing system, home schooling

Home Schooling Achievement, a study conducted by National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), indicates the academic integrity of homeschooling; the average homeschooled student outperforms their public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects. The study also indicates that public school performance gaps between minorities and genders are virtually non-existent among homeschooled students.

In 2003, the National Home Education Research Institute conducted a survey of 7,300 U.S. adults who had been homeschooled (5,000 for more than seven years). Their findings included:

• Homeschool graduates are active and involved in their communities. 71% participate in an ongoing community service activity, like coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association, compared with 37% of U.S. adults of similar ages from a traditional education background.
• Homeschool graduates are more involved in civic affairs and vote in much higher percentages than their peers. 76% of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 24 voted within the last five years, compared with only 29% of the corresponding U.S. populace. The numbers are even greater in older age groups, with voting levels not falling below 95%, compared with a high of 53% for the corresponding U.S. populace.
• 58.9% report that they are "very happy" with life, compared with 27.6% for the general U.S. population. 73.2% find life "exciting", compared with 47.3%

humbert

Another major advantage I thought was that the course texts and notes could be drawn up by the best, or a collection of the best, professionals in that particular field, instead of relying on whatever teacher happens to be available at your school. They could include audio and video tutorials. Then just reviewed every so often.

The biggest practical barrier to this system being implemented, I think, is that it would make a lot of people, who currently have very secure jobs, redundant.

SimpleSam06

humbert wrote: »

Another major advantage I thought was that the course texts and notes could be drawn up by the best, or a collection of the best, professionals in that particular field, instead of relying on whatever teacher happens to be available at your school. They could include audio and video tutorials. Then just reviewed every so often.

Exactly. The ripple effects of it are a lot more widespread than an initial glance would make it appear - I mean, an enormous amount of testing material for the courses could be stored for teachers, taking that burden off them and making the single end of year test redundant.

You could, as you pointed out, upload the latest developments and understanding as it happens, making staying up to date in a given field very easy with a single source of reference, and you could have the best quality material anywhere, available to all.

Actually you could add an element of interactiviy, and read other students notes and discussions on the topic at hand, providing an even larger knowledge base to call upon (the word gargantuan springs to mind). These could be positioned adjacent to the actual course work.

humbert wrote: »

The biggest practical barrier to this system being implemented, I think, is that it would make a lot of people, who currently have very secure jobs, redundant.

Well given the way that technology is converging in every area of life, such a system is not just useful, it is inevitable, really. Just as there are no buggy whip makers or flint knappers anymore, the world won't end.

You can't convince people to give up their jobs, but you can take away those jobs and find them employment elsewhere. Providing alternate employment would be a key element here. Alternately you could simply not hire anyone to take their places as they retire, and let the system sort itself out over a period of twenty years or so.

Now that I get to thinking about it, you could make the system pay for itself by selling or licensing it out to other countries. It could become a fairly major source of income for the State as well!