by Greg M. Gramza, Student
Bismarck High School Sophomore
Bismarck, North Dakota
1992 Grand Prize Winner
We can dramatically improve the quality of education through the use of computers and related technologies. Now that we have such technological advancements like computers, we really should use computers as a benefit, rather than not using it when we have the capabilities to use them. Computers are the future. They will be involved in many jobs soon. If we do not get started with computers early, we may never really get back the edge of advancement in jobs from the Japanese. So the ways I presented below will not only help education, but it will also give American students a feel of what computers are all about. The best time to start is early on so children can learn more and more, and get better jobs.
One way that we could possibly use [technology] is computer-assisted instruction, known as CAI. CAI programs are specifically written for teaching individual students in school settings. They present students a question and compare the student's response with the correct answer. The program praises the student for right answers. If it is a wrong answer, the program explains the problem and gives another, similar problem. Most CAI programs cover limited material; however, some large-scale, multiyear reading and mathematics curricula have been and are currently being developed. Studies of the CAI effects on how well children learn basic skills have mostly been positive. It is easy to program, it is compatible with traditional methods of instruction, and it requires little work to organize computer use. This would be best suited for grades one through six.
Another way is a program for computers used in Wisconsin, Arizona, and New York, as well as the correctional facilities in fourteen other states. Since more than half of all prisoners were functionally illiterate and about eighty-five percent of all juveniles imprisoned had reading problems, IBM created a program, in 1991, to educate them. Wisconsin was the first state to expand this computer-based literacy program to its correctional facilities. This program has a user-friendly [interface], has a combination of television-style entertainment, and has speech synthesizers. It gives instruction in reading and writing. When used, it had produced an average increase of 2.8 grade levels over six months. This would be used for students whose skills in reading and writing are deficient. It could also be used for adults whose education must be advanced or completed.
Another way is by using a speech synthesizer. Using the speech synthesizer, a person could type any word or words into a computer and the computer would repeat or respond to the words using a "voice." This could help in English. As a person types a sentence, the synthesizer would repeat the typed words. That way a person could determine phonetically, if the sentence was in correct form. This also would be good for foreign languages as well. If a student was taking German and didn't know how to pronounce a German word, all that person would have to do is type the word and the synthesizer would repeat the word so that the student could hear it.
Using a graphic editor, a program that displays animated graphics, could also help in school. The subject it could work best in, I think, is history. The historical event of World War II would be a good area for the graphic editor. By having the right graphics programmed into the graphic editor one could see the advancements of the Third Reich and the retreats after the invasion of Normandy. Then if the teacher displays the screen on an overhead projector, the whole classroom will see the event being displayed. Other graphic editors can be used for designing and drafting. Instead of doing drawings on paper of the object to design, you could draw it using a mouse on the computer. This takes less time, is easier to fix errors, and can guarantee you straight lines and perfect angles. Therefore it would take a little less time.
Using a word processor, instead of typewriters or a pen could be used for English. Most word processors have a command to check spelling and use a thesaurus. This is a better way of looking up words because it is quicker than looking up words in a dictionary or a thesaurus. A word processor also has one thing pencils, pens, and non-electric typewriters don't have. That thing is easy mistake correcting. With a pencil or pen error, a person will erase the mistake or use correction fluid which really makes it look like a horrendous mess. With the backspace key, all a person has to do is move to the error with the cursor keys and on the mistake press the backspace key. In this way, there will be no mess and a student will feel better about the paper. The word processing program is better than writing things out because teachers cannot read everyone's writing perfectly. Some kid's lower case L's look like lower case I's, and in cursive somebody might forget about another curve and make M's look like N's, and so on. It is very simple to use and that is a good point about it.
Having problems with mathematics? There is software available that can help you. It won't do the work, but it will practice with people to understand concepts of trigonometry, geometry, algebra, calculus, and basic math. I tried one of these for fun once to see how well I could do at calculus. It gave me twenty problems and I was to figure them out. When I got an answer wrong, it told me it was wrong and why, just like the CAI I mentioned before. It then printed out my results, so that I could see how well I would do if I had dropped my current class of Algebra II Enriched and had gone to pre-calculus. These programs would be very good if three were in a mathematics classroom and everyday three students were practicing with lessons with which they had problems with.
Computers would be superb in geography. One reason is that a computer can display many things about a particular state, province, territory, or country. I know of one Shareware geography program that can tell a student useful information about a city, such as the city's ethnic diversity, religions, historical or interest places, populations, and other information that could be useful. In addition, for country or state information, it tells about the economy of the state or country and major cities. Also, it could tell the distances from one city to another.
Programs for the subject of science are in great quantities because there are so many sciences: physics, biology, chemistry, geology, and so on. Because each is so different a company really can't combine them unless they have a mixed-science type of program. For chemistry, there is a program that shows what elements combine to make a certain compound. It even shows its molecular structure. Another program could help people balance chemical equations, because it is often difficult. To test to see what a mystery substance is, a person could type into a program its characteristics and it could tell the possibilities. In physics, when a student is dealing with acceleration it could show the student the formula and an animated picture so that you can actually see what is happening. The picture would be necessary because people often cannot see what the problem is asking and they have a hard time working on it. I think a program for physics would be mostly one to practice on. Biology programs would be a little more difficult because this subject deals with the environment and objects in the environment. A program could display the cell. By using a mouse and clicking the mouse button on a part of the cell, a person can find out about a particular part. Another program might tell you the classification of a living object you type in. Another program for biology might show you the parts of an organism you type in at the prompt. For this subject, the programs mostly display information because there are no formulas to work with.
Computers also help students to approach problems in a logical manner. A computer cannot run by itself without instuctions from the user. Therefore, learning computer applications is an excellent teacher of logic to the student.
In fact, computers and related technologies can help in the arts. For example, [for] band and orchestra, there is a Shareware program called Composer that helps in this area. What this program does is it lets the user compose his or her own music using all different types of notes, rests, and time signatures. Then when the person is done composing it, he or she can push an option and hear the music that he or she composed and in order to fix errors in the music. When the music is error free, the person can print it out. One problem exists, however. When the person who composed the music is playing it back on the program, the play back instrument is limited to the piano. Sooner or later, however this will change.
The next help that a computer can provide in the arts is sculpture. Before a person attempts to create a sculpture, he or she could use a program of virtual reality. Virtual reality is a three-dimensional world that has interaction with the user. If someone was planning to make a sculptured vase, the person could use a mouse to draw a picture of the proposed design, or possibly use an optical scanner to display a picture of it on the screen. The image would be 3-D and rotate on an axis showing all the aspects of the vase.
For just painting, a person could use Microsoft Windows with the Paintbrush application. This is a normal drawing program that has many different colors to paint the image and has many types of lines, geometric figures, and words to use with the drawings.
If animation is what someone is looking for, the Shareware program, The Draw, is a program to try. One could make a picture, animate it, and see it in action. It has various colors, backgrounds, and symbols to use with it.
For use with architecture or designing, one could use Computer Aided Designing to help them design cars or buildings. Computer Aided Designing, or CAD, would help with these courses. With architecture, one could design a building with help from the computer. This could lead to constructions of buildings around the San Andreas Fault that are almost immune to eathquake damage. CAD could also be used to design cars that are faster, more gas efficient, and better for the environment. This way, we won't run into troubles again with cars like the Pinto, which had some problems concerning gas tanks and gas lines.
Computers can be even used for business. In the area of the stock market, one could use the program Stocktrax, which displays opening and closing rates of stocks, changes in the stock from day to day, and trends of the stock over a period of time. Computers also, on the subject of the stock market, could be a source of buying stocks as well as selling. The key to this is a modem. You could call the New York Stock Exchange's Bulletin Board Service (also called a BBS) and make your transactions there, and they would be recorded. This would take less time than yelling and screaming at other people on the premises.
Computers are already in use in facilities where a teenager could take a driver's permit test. By using a touch sensitive screen, a person gets a question, which is usually multiple choice. Every time a question is answered, right or wrong, the result is recorded. This could be a possible new solution for test taking in classes if enough computers were available.
Everyone has had to take notes one time or another. If there were enough computers available, instead of getting writer's cramp, breaking pencils, and losing notes, one could type all the notes into a word processor and print them out when needed. The only problem that could happen is that if there is a crash of the main system, everything would be wiped out. However, the students could use floppy disks to save their notes onto instead of using the hard drive. The problem, in this case, is a virus. If the word processor program is infected, then people's disks get infected and the disks could be erased.
The question at the beginning was: How can we dramatically improve the quality of education by the use of computers and related technologies? The suggestions and facts above might be some solutions. The reason that we haven't seen children get full benefits is the school budget. The computers given are old, used, and out of style. We have at our school Apple IIe's , which I feel are closely related to the Commodore 64 . Commodores and Apple IIe's are good, but they are not as good as the IBM when it comes down to education because they are slow, basic, and their software (especially the Commodore 64) is hard to find. The Apple Macintosh is also a good computer.
Another reason, for the students not getting the full benefits, is vandalism. Students damage a lot of things in the school, including computers. Because of this reason schools are hesitant to buy a new, two-thousand dollar computer, and stick to used and old computers that the budget can afford to replace. Because of the budget, many children enrolled in large cities' poor schools won't really have experience in computers, and that is a major setback for the American dream, which I will discuss later.
Because of the hands-on method of teaching, computers can keep certain students from being distracted. Lecture classes can, at times, cause some students to daydream, whereas using computer programs would help these students absorb the material presented. Computers are only an enhancement to a subject, however, and cannot replace the actual teacher.
Children are the future of America. As I said before, children enrolled in poor schools won't have experience with computers. Computers will become a major learning tool in the future. So it is likely that a poor child might not get as good of a job as a student enrolled in electronics, computer programming, and data processing courses. The students exposed to these programs will apply for and get the good-paying jobs. However, that poor child will not get a job and cause him to live in the streets or on welfare living on public money. This raises taxes and discontented people vote out the President of the United States.
The educational system in other countries, such as Japan, is much more intense. Therefore, many industries are growing in these countries rather than our United States. This is happening on an everyday basis. We must get children involved with computers or we are basically opening the door to other nationalities and letting them take over the job market while some Americans are warming their hands over a lit garbage can in the streets. We can change it, but it should be as soon as possible. If we don't act now, it may be too late and the American dream of a job and successfulness will be a lit candle in the wind.