Does Your Child Need A Computer?

Many parents believe that to assure the proper education —and future job prospects —of their children, they must see to it that their children lea...

Many parents believe that to assure the proper education —and future job prospects —of their children, they must see to it that their children learn everything they can about computers. What role is the computer playing in the education of our children? How good a teacher is it?

A Teaching Aid

Certainly, the computer has the potential to teach and to develop creativity and problem-solving abilities in ways that were previously not thought possible.

For instance, one computer program allows the student not only to dissect a frog but also to reassemble it. If the student performs the “operation” correctly, he is rewarded by seeing the frog come to life and hop off the screen. Other programs simulate the motion of the planets, portray the geography of the earth, or enable the student to fly a plane, drive a car, or perform chemical experiments.

Another way in which the computer is used is generally called computer-assisted learning. The computer asks a question. If the student answers correctly, it moves on the next question. If not, it prompts the student with clues. This gives the student a one-on-one learning experience and allows him to proceed at his own pace. Besides, a computer has infinite patience and does not get upset with the student when wrong answers are given, as a teacher might. This too is conducive to learning.

Writing and research are other useful application of school computers. Teachers in writing classes often find that students using computers as word processors are more willing to rewrite and edit their own material — an essential part of good writing — because they always have in front of them a finished, neat-looking product.

The computer can also open up a vast source of information for the student. Using the appropriate equipment, students in one school can communicate with students in other schools for special projects. They can also tap into large central libraries and data banks, gaining access to up-to-date information on a wide range of subjects that the library of their own school could never afford to maintain.
All of this certainly sounds wonderful. But how are things working out in reality?

Has the Computer Lived Up to Expectations?

Making computers in Child education a success is really no different from making any school curriculum a success. What is needed is the right kind of programs taught by competent teachers. Have these criteria been met?

Some schools, in their rush to purchase computer technology, went ahead and bought computers without carefully considering how they were going to be used and what the needs of the students were. The result is that many schools are stuck with the unpleasant task of finding worthwhile uses for their computers.

This state of affairs is reflected in how school computers are currently being used. While there are fascinating programs and ingenious ways of teaching, surveys have found that such programs constitute only a minimum of the total being used in schools. Most of the programs used in the classrooms are either for practice and drill or for teaching computer literacy.

Practice and drill, of course, have their place in school. But it is hard to refute the logic in the question raised by a school teacher and computer-literacy instructor: “Why spend $2,000, or $1,200, or even $600 for an electronic workbook when a plain old $2.95 workbook with lots of drill and practice sheets will do just as well?” Furthermore, some educators feel that such applications defeat the whole purpose of using computers in classrooms because they reduce learning to seeking right and wrong answers rather than stimulating thinking and creativity. As for the need of computer literacy, many feel this is a clever gimmick of the computer makers and related industries. Because of advertisements, and perhaps because of their own fear of this new machine, many parents feel that their children will be failures if they do not have a working knowledge of computers. In reality, few future jobs require computer literacy, that is knowledge of programming, computer languages, and so forth. Rather, computers will be used as tools, much as calculators or electric typewriters are commonly used today. Certainly, it is an asset to know how to use these machines, but no one worries about not knowing how they work unless one is interested in a vocation in this area. The prevailing view is that computer literacy should be taught but only as an option.