What are Computers Doing to the Task of Education
Predrag Filipovic, Ph.D., Senior Analyst
March 22, 2009
“PCs have and will continue to improve the education of individuals, as well as advance our educational system in general.”
My knee-jerk reaction to the truth of this proposition was “of course they do,” but then l paused for deeper reflection. Education is a critical issue in virtually all cultures – if they intend to survive, that is – and the idea that PCs necessarily improve education is open to debate. Though it seems rhetorical to many of us in the industry, it is far from obvious. Yes, information technology in general and computers in particular can help students learn about IT and computers (self-fulfilling at this level). But what about the role of computers in the general educational process? In our push to get PCs into the hands of every child, have we forgotten to think about their true purpose in regards to the larger task of human education? Are we simply training PC operators, bloggers, and enthusiastic consumers or are we building better citizens and educated human beings?
Many of us avoid addressing these important questions, instead content in our belief that the flood of information produced by IT will somehow help us rediscover the wisdom of all previous generations via intensive browsing. In this process, however, I am concerned that we could end up confusing the virtues of in-person instruction with mere information distribution (which computers do better than teachers) and subsequently outsourcing the act of teaching to the equivalent of hyperlink advisors. That would be a tragic mistake, one from which I’m afraid human society might never recover.
In order to turn the virtually infinite amount of information made available by modern IT into a legitimate educational asset, it is imperative that students master the fundamental principles of knowledge acquisition and critical thinking (a truism that never goes out of style). The challenge, then, is how to ensure that students learn these fundamental principles before the PC and the Internet enter the equation. Of course, there is no shortage of enthusiasm-fueled ideas regarding “21st century education." An impartial assessment of these efforts (including International Education Assessments such as PISA, TIMSS, IAEP), however, suggests that we now risk bypassing the time-tested process of structured incremental learning or reducing the role of human guidance and interaction. What a dangerous mistake this would be.
It is my belief that computers should be thought of in the same light as inventions such as the printing press, an innovation which improved education by (1) enabling the widespread distribution of knowledge, and (2) enhancing the effectiveness of instructions. The printing press is a tool by which knowledge is dispersed; not a replacement for personal instruction but a means by which these instructors can better teach their students.
The system by which human beings acquire knowledge has been finely tuned over millions of years of evolution and thousands of years of socialization, and is thus not subject to overnight revolutions. Despite what many evangelists may believe, technology cannot replace teachers but can (and should) be used to help them in their efforts and more generally to aid societies in increasing the reach and quality of education. While there is a great deal of enthusiasm regarding the presence of PCs in schools (and the need to get PCs in the hands of all students regardless of economic status), one would be hard pressed to identify well-conceived, cohesive thoughts on the subject.
For this reason, a call to action is warranted for municipalities, state and federal institutions, and the business community. Future generations would benefit greatly from a systematic effort to identify the proper role of computers in our education system. Such an undertaking requires thought, organization, effort, and critical thinking, all things which we (should have) obtained from our prior education.
I strongly believe that the time to discuss the rightful role of computers in the educational project is now. Then again, we could forgo critical discourse altogether and simply “Google” our way to a solution, right?