Book Review
Title: Computers in Education (social, political, and historical perspectives)
Authors: Various
Chapter 1 is about social science, social movements and the production of educational technology in the U. S. The authors discuss social science in terms of psychology and education. In the 19th century, social science was related to social reform, and just like now, “the rules and standards of problem solving, issues of methodology, and concepts are related to social agendas and social movements” (p. 12). This means that education has been tremendously affected by society’s beliefs and values. The formation of schools resulted in changes in the organization of professional authority. Before, professionalization was based on social morals and community obligation; it did not necessarily include any technical tasks. With the advent of schools, the profession of knowledge became crucial. During the late 19th century, education as a social science was closely linked to politics.
With the onset of World War 1 and the acceleration of industry, technological control became a part of the social sciences. After the war, the nation was in fear of decline. Pluralist, behaviorist and statistical models of a liberal world were created as a result of this. The expertise of research became important in the concepts of social innovation and institution, especially during the Progressive Era, from 1880-1920. This expertise blossomed in the universities where social scientists were very much involved with state and social planning. Universities represented a moral and ethical life. By 1900, universities were designed to make governments more efficient. “Referred to initially as the ‘Wisconsin Idea’, universities emphasized practical and useful knowledge to assist commerce, industry, agriculture, public affairs and government through expert advice” (p.14; Curti and Carstensen, 1949; McCarthy, 1912).
Early social scientists were people with no higher education but from privileged backgrounds, who sought to bring Christianity into U. S. life; by 1900, they were people trained in social disciplines and methods of historical analysis. “Science was mixed with Puritan notions of redemption, cooperative self-help, and social ethics…” (p.16). Reformers saw mass schooling as an institution that could overlook class distinction and determine success through merit. Andrew Carnegie’s Carnegie Commission on Higher Education, founded in 1927, claimed that schools were to “consolidate and advance” U. S. civilization. All social classes could attend school and be treated equally. Psychologists believed that “science was the mainstream of inevitable progress and that man could make and remake his own world” (p.19; O’Donnell, 1985, p. 212).
In the current reform movement, the focus is placed on the modernizing of the human mind and a technology of organizing cognition through psychology. It is believed that this can be accomplished by the increased introduction of computer technology in schools. “The use of information technology in school curriculum is labeled as a disciplinary move from a behavioral to a cognitive or constructivist science” (p.24; Minsky 1987). Psychologists’ research finds that information technology leads to social efficiency. It has been evident in the workplace since the introduction of computers in the mid 1970’s. The application of information technologies with telephone lines in domestic life enables a wider variety of practices. “As every transaction (in domestic life) becomes information for processing, the computer becomes more instrumental in attempts to achieve higher levels of efficiency, control over and responsiveness to consumer practices” (p. 26; Wilson, 1988). In education, research about information technology is based on the management of students and the increased learning process through communication. Telecommunications are being adapted in schools, allowing parents to more easily monitor the practices of their children. Through computer integration with telephones, classrooms are able to communicate with each other across the world. These new technologies are intended to redesign education by offering students access to greater types and forms of information.
Chapter 2 discusses education as a marketplace. The popular notion for educational reform in the 1980s coincided with mass marketing of the personal computer. Through mass media, people began to believe that they needed computers in their homes and their businesses and that their children needed to learn about them in school. Computer literacy was included in suggestions for curricular changes in many schools. Initially, though, the learning about computers in school was not for the purpose of becoming more efficient adults in society. Therefore, more force was applied to include computer learning in more areas of education. The belief that computers would enable students to become more productive members of society stems from the long-standing efforts of Americans to socialize their youth through public schools, and prepare them for productive adulthood. This notion began in the years of the Industrial Revolution. Schools were also expected to provide vocational training, necessary skills that businesses within growing industrial regions were beginning to need. This idea also applies in contemporary society with the growing use of computer technologies. Schools were also seen as being important to economic development and were evaluated on their efficiency and productivity. In 1970, Michael Katz wrote that the rich and the powerful were the ones who promoted public education. “The supporters of education wrote the legislation, invested the money, and ran the enterprises that brought about economic and social transformation…”(p.43).
The worker was viewed as being a machine, and scientific management techniques could be applied to get the most efficient and productive use out of him or her. Even kindergarten children were seen as machines, which could be adjusted and altered to improve in productivity. NAM’s Committee on Industrial Education in 1912 attempted to classify children into three different groups, and schools: abstract-minded and imaginative children whose ancestors were in the professions and the higher occupations; concrete of hand-minded children who have difficulty learning from the abstraction of the printed page; and the great intermediate class. They pushed for a differentiated educational system that would train students for their “proper” roles in life.
In the early 1980s, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, there was a rise in computer use in the schools at the same time as a rampage of reports about the growing crisis of American education. These studies of education called for a back-to-basics educational approach to traditional values, which included the institution of a computing requirement for graduation. These studies and reports emphasized a more structured educational system based on science and technology. The state of education reflected America’s place in the world. America was in an international competition to avoid falling behind everyone else. America took pride in their accomplishments and advances, and excellence in education insured continued success for the nation. The “Action for Excellence” report claimed that America’s future success depended on its ability to improve education. “Educating Americans for the Twenty-first Century” talks about how Americans will lose their competitive economic edge to foreigners unless young people are better trained in technology. This report specifically called for business leaders to get involved in education, both financially and in developing programs and curricula. “A Nation At Risk” stated that “the demand for highly skilled workers in new fields is accelerating rapidly” and this created a major risk to the nation.
A second series of reports appeared several years later. “The Carnegie report by the vice-president of IBM argued that economic success depends on achieving far more demanding educational standards than we have ever attempted to reach before” (p. 55; Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy, 1986). The pressure for computer education came from corporate leaders, higher education officials, the science and technology community, the military, the federal government, and the media.
Chapter 3 discusses a historical perspective of technology in education. There are many advantages and disadvantages to using interactive technologies in education. This process has been advancing in stages, through trial and error. There have been signs of acquisition of hardware, but without proper training on how to use the hardware, it is insignificant. Teachers and administrators have been heavily involved in choosing hardware and getting as much of it into their schools. Parents and the commercial world have been the driving forces behind this acquisition; however, no one seemed to know what the equipment would be used for. A similar analogy would be that schools might acquire a video player for every room, with little consideration of what educational tapes are available, how they can be obtained, and the role they play in student learning. Initially, one of the first things to be taught in public schools with computers was basic programming language, because people had no idea what else was available. The problem with this though was that low-level languages were being taught, the teachers were not highly knowledgeable of programming and engineering and there wasn’t adequate material available for the teaching of programming. Modern programming is not simple, and students who learned BASIC in school will most likely have problems when trying to learn more modern languages, because that language is old and not very useful anymore. Logo is considered only a little better by the author, but still not very useful today. When this book was written in 1993, the Advanced Placement exam in Computer Literacy focused on Pascal, which is a structured language that is taught in most beginning colleges computer classes. Therefore, it would be beneficial to be taught Pascal in high school. The problem still exists though with teachers’ competency of computer programming. Certification has been given to teachers after only a summer course in programming. More training should be required, in the author’s opinion. If the computer is used in schools only to teach languages, as many are, then they are essentially useless. Students are studying many subjects in which the computer can be utilized to enhance learning. Computers can only have a true effect on the educational system if they are used in every area of the curriculum.
The next stage of technology use in education tends to be the teaching of computer literacy. But the term “computer literacy” means different things to different people. It is true that the need to be familiar with computers is important in future society, but at the lowest level, computer literacy means learning how to turn the computer on, insert a disk and run a program. Or it can mean learning about the history of computers. On a slightly more advanced level, a course in computer literacy might include work with spreadsheets and word processors. One aspect of computer literacy is important but difficult to get across to some students; that is the moral and ethical uses of computers in society. They can be powerfully damaging to people or they can help to absolve problems, depending on how they are used. Sometimes, computer literacy courses are intended to motivate students, which is important to an extent, if the tasks they are accomplishing are beneficial to them. However, in many cases, much time is sent playing games on the computer, and the amount of learning going on can be argued.
The author continues by emphasizing the need for more training of teachers in the area of computers, stating that currently, very few teachers have had much exposure to computers. If they are not trained properly, how can they teach? There are very few schools of education today that have the proper means to train teachers in technology. This is definitely a problem that should be focused on more than it is.
In the next stages of educational technology’s advancement, the author believes it is the intention of some schools to try to purchase the most advanced and expensive hardware they can afford, or the newest devices on the market, thinking that they have the potential to be useful but not knowing exactly how to use them to their best potential. Some prestigious universities have been known to act in this manner. They don’t seem to use the technology that they have to its fullest extent, but rather, are eager to precede to newer and better technology. The problem is, we have the technology we need to make a major influence in education at all levels, but it is not being done very efficiently. Educators are slowly beginning to realize the necessity for computer use in all subject areas. The entire learning context involved with computer usage should be considered before decisions are made to use specific hardware or programs simply for their visual appeal.
Another aspect of the middle stage of our computer history in education is the tendency to want to teach students about the current computer tools that are available, since they will most likely be using these tools in the future. These tools-- word processors, spreadsheets, database manipulators, and graphics programs – are the products of the business community. None of them were developed to use in the learning process. However, with proper training of teachers in how these tools can be used in the learning process, these tools can possibly be beneficial to students. However, the author states that the “business” tools used in public schools and universities are probably not of the highest quality as those used in businesses, but they are sufficient enough for the course content being taught. Or are they? The following questions should be considered: How is the student to learn the tools? How do the tools integrate with each other? How does the use of the tools aid in the information being taught? How can thee tools be used in other areas of the curriculum? Is there a context for learning? Is there a valid reason to learn to use the tool? Does the tool make any attempt to determine if the student is learning anything? Are there tutorials available to the student who is having difficulty?
Using technology to develop networks and management systems are a primary focus for some schools. Networks tend to make the personal computer seem obsolete to some students, but they do provide a wider range of information. Management systems reduce the amount of paperwork required of teachers, which is appealing. Both of these uses of technology have the potential of being beneficial to education if the time saved in spent involved in the learning process of the students.
The author concludes by revealing what he believes should be the final, future stages of the history of computers in education, which has not occurred yet. First of all, new course and curricula should be developed around the use of interactive information technologies, just as new courses were created around the use of the book. Full video-based courses have been developed, but not many computer-based course have been. More focus should be made on the training of teachers in association with the new courses being developed. A comment was made, “The constructive use of computers is not a problem in hardware or software. It is a problem of making teachers confident” (p. 90). It is only through the implementation of these reconstructing changes that we can precede to the final stages of integrated information technologies in education.
I believe this book has a lot of interesting ideas and theories about the use of computers in education. Many of the ideas I agree with; however, I think that we are improving substantially in our focus on integrated information technologies in schools. We are learning more and more every day. The future holds so much possibility, and I think we are headed in the right direction. Maybe the process seems to be slow to some people, but considering where we were twenty years ago, I think we have come a long way.
