Computer science for teachers

Abstract

As computing systems in general, and timesharing systems in particular, are becoming less expensive and more reliable, a number of small colleges, junior colleges, and secondary schools are in a position to use computers in the classroom. Immediately this presents the problem of training and education, since many teachers may not have had the opportunity to learn about computers and computer programming when they were in school themselves, or if they had, a lapse of several years would have made much of their knowledge out of date. If a school is obtaining its own computer, the manufacturer may provide training in operation and programming, but this may have several drawbacks. There may be a cost associated with the training, the courses may be at a time prohibiting the attendance of the teacher, and, most importantly, the courses are probably not precisely what the teacher needs to use the computer in the classroom.If the teacher is fortunate enough to be close to a university offering computer science courses, the same drawbacks mentioned above may apply. Many university computer science courses are either pure programming courses or highly theoretical courses. Courses in computer-assisted instruction (lesson design) also do not meet the teacher's needs.With this in mind, and with a growing population of secondary school and small college users, the University of Texas Computer Science department offered a special course, specifically for teachers, in the 1971 summer session.