Computers Education

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Part 1 1959 - 2007 CooperPart 2 White Paper Ramirez

Computers in Education

By Carla Cooper and Evelia Ramirez

December 2006 !ni"ersit# o$ Ca%i$ornia at &er'e%e#

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((()consttutioncenter)or*

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state

and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws andthe great expenditures for education both demonstrate ourrecognition of the importance of education to our democraticsociety. It is required in the performance of our most basic publicresponsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the veryfoundation of good citienship. Today it is a principle instrument inawa!ening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for laterprofessional training, and in helping him to ad"ust normally to hisenvironment. In theses days, it is doubtful that any child may bereasonably expected to succeed in life if he is denied theopportunity of an education. #uch an opportunity, where the state

has ta!en the opportunity to provide it, is a right which must bemade available to all on equal terms$ %&arren, 'arl 1()*+.

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s we approach -/, computing has changed from pure equation

processing technology, embodied by the MARK 1at 0arvard and the ECat

the niversity of 2ennsylvania, to information processing technology. 3To !now...

used to mean having information stored in ones memory. It now means the

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process of having access to information and !nowing how to use it.$ i #chool

boards and 2T4s once dictated what was necessary in the classroom. 5ow

education experts and IT gurus set the bar. se of computers combined with the

internet ma!e the distribution of information quic! and equitable. Computers "ust

ma!e sense in the classroom. They improve higher order thin!ing s!ills and

thereby fit in to the paradigm of the acquisition !nowledge being cognitive. 6ne

teacher, I!ai!a 2lun!ett of 7ahu!u 0igh and Intermediate #chool in 0awaii, sums

up the benefit of having his students complete their assignments via computer

saying, 3I used to spend - 18- hours grading homewor! each night. 5ow the

students get it instantaneously on the computer. They do the wor! and they !now

right away. It9s a brea!through for me.3 ii

3This is the computer generation,3 said :ichael Turico, chief technology

officer for 'dge2oint Technology, based in 2hoenix. 3If we can get them doing

math problems instead of games, theoretically the scores should improve.3iii

0owever, despite the positive praise and the attributing of improved grades to

computer use, some feel that the IT is not wor!ing fro them. manda &ilson, a

ninth;grader at 7ahu!u, said she did better with a traditional textboo!.

Complaining that her grade slipped with the computer program, partly because

the online tests required precise comma placement between answers and partly

because her computer at home is bro!en she said, 3The first trimester I got an ,

and now I9ve got a C... I don9t li!e computers. I thin! the teacher is a lot better

because you can as! them questions3.


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((()*(u)edu

=onald >itier4s pro"ect 2?T6 introduced computing to the classroom.

>itier was a niversity of Illinois 2rofessor who, in 1()(, began a computer

assisted learning model.iv 0is revolutionary pro"ect involved several thousand

terminals in the #yracuse area. Through 2?T6, he employed the practical

applications of computing for use in studying reading and math.

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Time #haring that was first introduced in 1()/ by >ob >emer.v >ut in

1(@< Aohn 7emeny and Thomas 7urt, fine tuned and successfully implemented

the concept. Aohn 7emeny was the thirteenth president of =artmouth and he

wor!ed on the :anhattan 2ro"ect. Together, he and Thomas 'ugene, 7urt a

fellow professor at =artmouth, went on invent the programming language,

>#IC. This language was more flexible in the design of educational software

than its predecessor B6T5 and unli!e C6>? it was not as business

oriented.

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www.booknoise.net/www.dailycal.org

Burther contributions to the technology arrived via the individualied

learning programs written by #tanford professors 2atric! #uppes and ichard

t!inson. t!inson was the president of the niversity of California from 1(() to

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the video game hardware of the TI ((8* lent itself to action;oriented pro"ects,

while the pple version was best suited to turtle graphics, and language

pro"ects$.vi

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In 1(E, =allas Texas4 ?amplighter school was home to a pro"ect that placed

) Texas Instruments TI ((8* computers in the classroom. t the same time the

5ew For! cademy of #ciences and Community #chool =istricts -, < and ( in

5ew For! City launched the Computers in Schools Pro"ect which was

supported by Texas Instruments and :IT. Twelve TI ((8* computers and a few

pple II4s were placed in six 5ew For! City 2ublic #chools.

The placement of these computers was hardly random. ?amplighter was

and is a private school. Aohn 'ri! Aonsson, a founder of Texas Instruments, was

born in >roo!lyn and died in =allas. 0e was the mayor of =allas from 1(@* to

1(/1, held honorary doctorates from multiple universities in Texas and 5ew For!,

and was 0onorary Chairman of the >oard for the ?amplighter school. vii

>y the mid 1(E9s, however, gaming was seen a function of game consoles,

not computersG so computers with video game capabilities dropped off the mar!et

and were replaced by computers using :#=6# instead of ?6D6#. pple, which

remember was better suited to both graphics and language pro"ects, remained a

school favorite. #till used today, ?6D6 had a decline and a comebac!. 0arvard

ssociates developed 2C ?6D6 for =6# and later for &indows.

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http+,,co%%aboratorium)mat)ucsb)edu,e"ents,di*i"ations,di*i"ations)pd$

#tatistics collected by Schools #nlineshow that in 1((), only ) percent of

public schools had 3instructional3 access to the Internet. Instructional access is

defined as access to the internet in classrooms and labs. Instructional access

does not include access that is "ust for staff email. >y 6ctober 1((E, instructional

access to the internet had risen to E) percent nationally viii, but as was the case in

1((), schools in rural areas and those with high minority populations were most

li!ely to lac! access.

Iranian born, venture capitalist, 7amran 'lahian, did a great deal to bring

equity to the distribution of computers in the merican classroom. In 1((/ he

launched Pro"ectneat a pro"ect to put 1@, classrooms online, in one year, at

a cost of H*. per class. To facilitate this low cost, #ega #aturn 5et ?in!s

were used instead of traditional 2Cs to lin! to the internet. 'ach school receiving

Pro"ectneat equipment was called a S$%&E %#hared Internet 'xperience+

classroom. 'veryone got on board. #cholastic, Inc., for example, donated

subscriptions to its #cholastic 5etwor! online site. nli!e the ?amplighter pro"ect,

preferences were given to rural and disadvantaged schools.

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=uring 1((/ and 1((E even ppalachia got on line. The ppalachian egional

Commission %C+ teamed up with Pro"ectneatto put 1,-) ppalachian schools on

line. Through legislation initiated by 2resident &illiam Aefferson Clinton, ARC

received more than five million dollars for development in 1((/ and 1((E. great

deal of this money was funneled into getting the schools there on line. #till even

with equipment, schools in rural ppalachia couldn4t get on line because they didn4t have

I#24s.

6ne innovative teacher Todd #pence, a teacher at :organ Aunior 0igh

#chool in :organ County, 6hio, and a group of 1 colleagues decided that they9d

have to create their own I#2. &ith only H), they formed a company called

:organ 5et2lus, Inc. Their company provided service not "ust to the Aunior 0igh

but to all of :organ County.

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rban schools were also gaining access to the new technology. The

6a!land nified #chool =istrict, in 6a!land, California has >ruce >uc!elew, a

retired I>: systems engineer, to than! for starting their classroom and ta!e

home computer program in 1((-. &ith the help of volunteer students he founded

the #a'land Technolog( E)change. 6a!land Technical 0igh #chool, my

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almamador, provided space in the basement for >uc!elew to refurbish donated

computers which he then gave to the district. &hen #a'land Technolog(

E)changebegan it was estimated that only 1) of urban students had access

to computers at home, compared to E of suburban students. The ob"ective is

to improve educational and technological s!ills and !eep students involved and

interested in school, while reducing inequality in education.$ ix>y wor!ing on the

computers, students earned credits toward a computer of their own. The program

was funded by the 6a!land nified #chool =istrict and the :arcus Boster

'ducation Boundation. Today the #a'land Technolog( E)change is !nown as

#T* +EST) The organiation4s accomplishments have been tremendous sof

Aune, -) #T*,+esthas refurbished and distributed over 1*,/) computers

and laptops.

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&ho was it that said if you ma!e it they will comeJ$ :en account for /-

of proprietary software developers and only about 1.) of free software

developers are women.x In the (4s the mar!et was flooded with edutainment$

software. s a former 6a!land resident, I remember my son4s first grade, ta!e

home, computer. #ince we already had an I>: 2# -, I was afraid that we

wouldn4t qualify for a ta!e home computer. 0e had the software '='

>>IT and more, but the ostenssoftware used by the school was highly

coveted. Bortunately, because the school computer used eight inch floppies and

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the software wasn4t available on smaller floppies we qualified. ostenswas "ust

one of many companies vying for attention. Brom :ay 1 through 6ct. andwith$ and firewall$ became household words. 5apster was created by an

eighteen year old college drop out, #hawn Banning. 0e combined chat and peer

to peer file sharing into an online service. Through his service users could allow

anything on their hard drive, copyright protected or not, or not to be uploaded to

someone else4s hard drive. 5apster was an international success, but it was

shutdown in -1 due to lawsuits from the music industry.

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((()3eb)be

&hy change to &indows when you can get K for freeJ ?aunched in --

pple4s K for Teachers$, was a program that one upped :icrosoft by giving a

free copy of the :ac 6# K version 1.- Aaguar$ to every 7;1- teacher in the

.#.xiiThe free copy of Aaguar$ was accompanied by free copies of pple4s

=igital 0ub applicationsLi:ovieM for digital video editing, i2hotoM for organiing

and sharing digital photos and iTunesM for building a digital audio library.

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In -* :cDraw;0ill, Cisco #ystems, and 'dge2oint Technology began a

pilot program in 0awaii to test online courses in pre;lgebra, lgebra I and

lgebra II. The Glo-al .earning &et/or' $a/aii Pilot Pro"ect, as it is called,

made online courses available, free of charge to public and private schools

statewide. In exchange, schools were as!ed to provide data on their use.

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nces)ed)*o"

In -), (( of public schools used software that bloc!ed offensive web

addresses from being accessed. #eventy;nine percent required parents to sign

an internet access agreement, and /@ had contracts, detailing a code of

conduct to be adhered to, that the students had to sign before they would be

granted net access. >ecause internet use is voluntary, li!e driver4s education,

most parents and students, who won4t sign other contracts, readily sign the

internet access policies.

Classrooms with internet access went from


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internet can be accessed via cell phone, pc, or laptop. #;Nideo Connection

enabled televisions can double as monitors. :ultiple operating systems,

including ;ista are now available. :a!ing distance learning available to all,

virtual classrooms allow anyone with a personal computer and access to the

internet to enroll in a course. #tudents in traditional classrooms, as well, enroll

and register in classes via the internet. 'ven a great many universities require

that students own a personal computer and maintain internet access. #tudents

carry laptops to class. Instructors use laptops to display images that would have

previously been shown via pro"ectors, and text boo!s have interactive websites

that are designed to enhance the learning experience. >ecause the technology

has advanced so much in so short a time, it is hard to imagine advances that I.T.

won4t ma!e in the future.

Re$%ection+ ad Rea%it#

If you4re li!e me you solve mathematical equations in your sleep that you

can4t even remember when you wa!e upG your dreams are in color, li!e movies,

with strangers tal!ing fluently in languages that you can4t understand when you4re

not asleepG you thin! in full sentences and flowing paragraphs, but the thoughts

come too quic!ly to write down or verbally record. If you4re li!e me you need a

wireless, micro, brain wave transmitter and recorder, and brain wave decoding

software. These devices and this software haven4t been created. I am not

proficient in math or science, but if I can thin! it, someone can build it. nless

more is done to decrease socioeconomic disparities in the access of educational

information technology %IT+, many imagined inventions will never be developed.

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Internet access is a !ey to the equitable distribution of information technology. ll

merican children have access to the internet at school, but many merican

children have no access to the internet at home

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i#imon, 0erbert , 3=esigning 6rganiations for an Information ;ich &orld,3 in :artin Dreenberger %'d.+Computers, Communications, and The 2ublic Interest, >altimore, :=O Aohns 0op!ins 2ress, %1(/1+.iihttpO88starbulletin.com8-*8@8E8news8story*.htmliii httpO88starbulletin.com8-*8@8E8news8story*.htmliv httpO88www.isbe.state.il.us8earlychi8pdf8little;printsPv-;i1a.pdfvobert &illiam >emer %Bebruary E, 1(- L Aune --, -*+ was a computer scientist best !nown for his wor! at I>: duringthe late 1()s and early 1(@s.

vihttpO88el.media.mit.edu8?ogo;foundation8logo8index.htmlviihttpO88www.ti.com8corp8docs8company8history8"onsson.shtmlviiihttpO88www.arc.gov8index.doJnodeIdQ1-(ix httpO88www.pointsoflight.org8awards8dpol8winner.cfmJward5umQ11-1xhttpO88www.misbehaving.net8software8index.htmlxihttpO88www.microsoft.com8presspass8press81((@8apr(@8momprf.mspx

xiihttpO88www.apple.com8pr8library8--8oct81/macosx.html ; 1*!


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&a%d(in eachin* and :earnin* ?n%ine)= ppa%achia /a*azine anuar# -pri% 1999 ser) Winter 2006 @http+,,((()arc)*o", inde)do4noded1290A)

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students in the nited #tates have more access to computers today and are affected by the

technological change. Computer literacy has become a must for # students today, and we

now see that students have to prove themselves capable of using a computer in order to

graduate from .#. high schools. Today, children are introduced to computers even earlier

than high school in order to improve language and writing s!ill as well as increasing their

general !nowledge about the world. 0owever, not every child benefits from computers,

especially those with severe reading and writing problems. Children that come from

disadvantaged bac!grounds also tend to benefit less from computers than those from

privileged environments. In other words, computers in schools have the potential to benefit

some students in certain ways but it cannot erase social inequalities that play an important

part in the success that children will have as students.

ome computers

In the last twenty years the use of computers has become part of the schools4

curriculum and as a consequence students and teachers4 expectations have changed too. In

1(E@, -) of high schools %0istory of Computers, pg.


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ability to use word ;processing has allowed students to use the computer as a tutor. study

conducted by Aohn 2. Cuthell in a period of six academic years between 1((* and 1(((, in

the 7, reveals important students4 perspectives on the use of computers while completing

their homewor!. 6ne of the students argued that computers can get you mar!s for

presentation, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure %Cuthell, *)+.$ In fact more than

half of the students interviewed by Cuthell believed that computers helped their grades and

the quality of their wor!. This cross;sectional study, the students were different ages, exposes

the disadvantages that those students without a computer at home or little access to one at

school, are facing as they learn.

:ac' o$ ccess to computers

Children benefit from computer educational programs, but they still depend deeply on

their mentors, parents, and teachers to guide learning. &hile students become independent

learners when they use computers, there are those that lac! access to computers and even if

they did have access they would not benefit li!e others. s 2aul ttewell and Auan >attle

argueG children from poorer homes may not gain as much from using home computing as

more affluent children do %ttewell R >attle, 1+.$ There are many factors affecting children4s

educational attainment such as family sie, social capital, cultural capital, gender, race,

ethnicity, as well as policy and many other factors. frican merican and ?atino children

benefit less from the advantages that Caucasian children en"oy when they have computers at

home or school. Dender also plays a factor as girls have been shown to lose *attle, /+. In this

respect, the access to computers can ma!e a difference, but the way in which computers are


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used is one of the most influencing factors that can ma!e the difference for the child.

Computers have made it possible for students, parents and teachers to communicate

during after school hours. lthough a good communication between parents, students, and

teachers have to exist before the use of computers, new technology has allowed parents to

ta!e a more active role in children4s education. s mentioned before, computers correlate with

better grades, but they also correlate with higher math and reading scores. In a study with #

eight graders ttewell and >attle found that when controlling other factors, children with

access to computers increase math score by1.) to -.) points over the average. 0owever, as

said before parents and teachers have to be involved in their children4s activities at home and

school. #tudents become engaged in educational computing only if their parents$ and

teachers ta!e an active role in selecting software, spending time with the children at the

computer, offering encouragement %ttewell R >attle, (+$ and helping them figure out

software. Therefore, educational programs do not guarantee educational successG rather it is

a combination of many factors, "ust li!e schools or homes owned computers, that will allow

children to achieve their highest potential.

Computers in schoo%s

ccording to Charles Coo! there are four approaches to the design of computer

based educational activities %Cole, Cole, R ?ightfoot, *(E+$ that relate to teaching. Computers

can ta!e the form of tutor, pupil, resource, and transformer in the classroom. s a tutor

computer the CI; computer;aided instruction$ approach is used to present the child with

information that has to be learned. &hen it is time to test the child CI tests the child with

questions offered at the end each lesson, and determines if any learning happened. 6ne of

the advantages that CI offers is that it can !eep trac! of the exact scores of the child and

identify those problems, especially in mathematics. In this manner, the computer identifies


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the users4 cognitive strengths and wea!ness %Cole, Cole, ?ightfoot, *(E+.$ 0owever, the CI

has not demonstrated the same flexibility and subtlety of a well;qualified human teacher

%Cole, Cole, ?ightfoot, *(E+.$ 6n the other hand, the idea of the computer as pupil allows the

child to explore and become an independent learner.

The idea of the computer as a pupil follows the Aean 2iaget4s theories of development

that have very much influenced the ideas of teaching and learning. 0is theory considers that

children must develop their understanding of the world though active exploration of their

environment %Cole, Cole, ?ightfoot, *(E+.$ 6ne such program is ?6D6, designed by #eymour

2aper at :IT, which allows students and teachers to design their own models. This model

introduces children to algebra with a game where they follow explicit instructions$ and teach

it to a cartoon and program the computer. &hile students become independent learners using

?6D6, they still need a human teacher to guide them through the program.

The third approach considers computers to provide resources to teaching that no other

form of technology can offer. This approach assumes that computers are capable of providing

various !inds of information in abundant amounts. In return, learning is sure to occur and the

child to benefit. 6n the other hand, developmental psychologists argue that these resources

are unli!ely to be used if the school does not have a social system that encourages and

supports children4s initiatives %Cole, Cole, R ?ightfoot, **(+.$ s explained at the beginning of

this section, if a school lac!s the social capital computers will not have the same advantages

for the children attending as they will in a healthier setting where their education is supported

by all involved. 6f course, disadvantaged schools have the potential for change to a healthier

and supportive educational system that will allow any !ind of technology to benefit their

children. lthough, many argue that technology has the potential to close performance gaps

we will argue that educational performance is culturally bias and computers can only do so

much to erase social inequalities.


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Computers have also transformed classroom dynamics, especially in their

relationships with each and their teachers. The use of interactive technology allows schools

as well as regions to wor! together and exchange ideas. These interactions are supposed to

promote small wor!ing groups. Teachers have also found that students are genuinely

interested in wor!ing together when technology is involved. #tudent self;esteem has been

shown to increase in students that are exposed to computers, especially if students find

teacher support when wor!ing and learning with educational software.

Discussion

The history of computers in schools and in homes is rich in the nited #tates, and its

importance has been recognied by schools as well as government policy, even though

funding for education in general has decreased. egardless of the decreasing federal funds in

education, the number of computers in schools !eeps increasing. Today teachers, parents,

school administrators, and students communicate through various forms, and the computer is

one of many that are changing classrooms. The responses to the effects of computers in the

classroom are mixed, because while some students benefit from computers in the classroom

others do not fair well. #ocial inequalities interfere with the positive effects that educational

computer programs are capable of providing. In this respect, the possible computer

approaches in the classroom will always need human to shape the way in which students will

learn.


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&ib%io*raph#

1. ttewell 2, >attle A. 0ome computers and school performance. Information #ociety, vol.1),no.1, Aan.;:arch 1(((, pp. 1;1. 2ublisherO Taylor R Brancis, #.

-. Cole :., Cole #., ?ightfoot C. The =evelopment of Children. 5ew For!, 5F O &orth2ublishers, -).

Computers Education

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