Internet Info 1997 December/Internet_Info_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1997.iso/isoc/pub/isoc_news/1-4/n-1-4-020.05a

Text File | 1994-03-26 | 6KB | 106 lines

Subject: n-1-4-020.05

Use of Technology and Education:
What to teach? How to learn?

by Oscar Becerra T. <[e-mail]>

I would try to share with you some thoughts and ideas regarding the use
of computers in general, and INTERNET in particular, in the educational
process, most of these ideas came while working with teachers, parents,
school officers and, most important, children.  A great part of the process
that lead into the generation of these ideas was done using INTERNET and
therefore this report will try to "show the way by walking it rather than
tell how nice it would be to walk".

First of all some basic assumptions I find important to stress:

o  The observed outcome of the educational process after 12-14 years (k-10
   or k-12 depending on the educational system) is that most of what has been
   taught is forgotten. There is even a book named "All I really need to
   know I learned in Kindergarten".

o  Most of what we learned and never forgot was  learned  in  a non-structured
   way (i.e. taught by peers due to an immediate need to know instead of taught
   by teachers in a classroom)

o  There is a structural difference between the natural way of learning things
   and the school way: In the natural way you take a comparatively small amount
   of time and effort to learn and you enjoy the power given by this new know-
   ledge for a long time, examples of this are: learning to walk, to ride a bi
   cycle, to play chess, reading and writing, etc.

   In the school way you take a long time to learn
   but no time to enjoy the power (nor the opportunity to understand if there
   is any) given by the new knowledge, examples: Thales theorem, balancing of
   chemical equations, parts and writing of letters, etc. The natural way is
   life oriented, the school way is test oriented, so after the test you may
   forget about it, moreover you will only remember the awful time spent try
   ing to learn, meanwhile in the natural way the power enjoyed by the
   apprentice because of the new knowledge dwarfs the awful time spent
   learning.

o  Technology (computer, telecommunications, TV, etc.) is not a goal in itself,
   therefore the question: What is the effect of the use of technology in
   education is the wrong one? as well as plans to teach about technology.
   The final objective of putting technology in the classroom is to make it
   a better place to learn, not a better place to teach.

o  Teaching is focused on making life easier for the teachers, learning is
   focused in making students better for life. The objective of the education
   process should be to better prepare the students to live in the real world.
   Whether this objective can be measured by any kind of predeveloped test is
   another question.

Based on those basic assumptions here are some guidelines for using technology
in the educational process. Again what follows is the result of
experience and of observing what children like best at school and what
kind of things are those they really learn:

o  Don't teach about computers unless it's inevitable, let children play
   with them and give them plenty of opportunities to ask how to obtain
   the results they want. They will sure learn more about computers this
   way and enjoy it at the same time.

o  Use tools that children can master easily and use for a long time. My
   favourite one is Logowriter, you can teach how to use it in five minutes
   to a 5 year older (it will take longer with adults) and he/she will enjoy
   it for life.

o  Let the children 'do whatever they want to' with the new tools and give
   them more when the ones they master are not enough to do what they want.

o  If children are learning to or already know how to read, let them use
   a word processor. Again
   don't worry about the fancy features (centering, underscoring, highlighting)
   of the WP but in the content  of what the children want to express, here
   is where INTERNETworking is extraordinarily powerful as an educational
   tool. Children will be asking for Geography, History, Environmental
   and Political concepts much of the time well beyond the reach of
   curriculum requirements.

o  Once the basics are mastered (2 or three months are usually enough) have
   the children work on projects of their own that may be related to the
   curriculum content.

o  About grade two, the need for keyboarding skills might be evident and
   acquiring it may be offered to those interested. Don't forget most tea-
   ching methods for keyboarding have been developed thinking in older people
   who think and learn differently, therefore follow your intuition with more
   confidence than the instructor manual of the keyboarding package you've
   bought (this suggestion is valid for teachers teaching keyboarding to
   children not for programmers teaching anything to children).

o  Let children share what they learn with others, don't grade the computer
   class (anybody remembers a bicycling test after learning how to ride?).
   be attentive with what they want to do, not what you want to teach.

These are general guidelines and following them we expect children to integrate
the computer as part of their culture and be able to develop projects related
to curriculum areas by grade three. The projects will gain in complexity
as time goes by and the need for some more advanced tools (advanced in the
sense of computer software technology).  In the process teachers will be
seen as advisors and helpers in the  acquiring of desired skills which will
help the whole education process
because interest in traditional school issues will enhance.