June 1997 — Features
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Computers in Education: A Brief History
The Constructivist approach viewed learning as a reconstruction of knowledge. Papert asserted that learning is more effective when the learner actually constructs a meaningful product. In building computer-driven LEGO constructions, the student learns to define a problem and the tacit practical problem-solving skills needed to solve it. Papert has tried to move education from "computer literacy," an appreciation of computing, to "computer fluency," the application of computers to solve real problems.[12]RAPID GROWTH OF COMPUTER-BASED EDUCATION
In the late 1960s, in order to make access to computers widely available, the National Science Foundation (NSF) supported the development of 30 regional computing networks, which included 300 institutions of higher education and some secondary schools. By 1974, over two million students used computers in their classes. In 1963, only 1% of the nationís secondary schools used computers for instructional purposes. By 1975, 55% of the schools had access and 23% were using computers primarily for instruction.[13]
The Microcomputer
Initially, because computers were expensive, educators purchased time-shared systems and adopted procedures to ration or restrict usage to provide access to as many people as possible given limited resources. In 1975 a remarkable thing happened, the economics that once favored large, time-shared systems shifted to low-cost microcomputers and the personal computer revolution began.
By the late seventies personal computers were everywhere -- at the office, the schoolroom, the home, and in laboratories and libraries. The computer was no longer a luxury, but was now a necessity for many schools and universities. Many universities required incoming freshmen to own a computer. What began as a grassroots revolution driven by students, teachers and parents, was now a new educational imperative as important as having books and libraries.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPUTER-BASED EDUCATION
James Kulik at the University of Michigan performed a meta-analysis on several hundred well-controlled studies in a wide variety of fields at the elementary, secondary, higher- and adult-education level. He found that computer-based education could increase scores from 10 to 20 percentile points and reduce time necessary to achieve goals by one-third. He found that computers improved class performance by about one-half a standard deviation, less than the one sigma difference that could be accomplished by peer tutoring.[14] However, this analysis did not include newer studies utilizing advanced technologies and newer educational paradigms. But, this study did answer the question: do computer-based technologies work? They most certainly do.
