Computer Applications In Education Research Articles

Computer Applications in Education: A Historical Overview

In recent years, computers have permeated our lives. From the office to the living room, computers are transforming the ways we work and play. It is no surprise that they are also transforming the ways we learn. Computers are being used with increased frequency and success in schools at all grade levels and in all subject areas, as well as for special education, adult literacy programs, college instruction, and training in industry and the military. In this chapter, however, we restrict our review to the impact of computers on education at the precollege level. We follow the development of educational computer applications from their beginning as content delivery systems to today's intelligent tools and intellectual assistants. Our examination of educational computer applications is divided into three parts. First, we review the history of computer use in schools and examine the current state of hardware and software usage. Second, we review the research that has examined the impact of computer applications on students' learning and achievement. Finally, we examine current trends in educational computing that appear to hold the brightest promise for the future.

Developments in the use of microcomputers in North American schools: To what extent is the teacher's role changing?

Many North American educators have stated that the computer is making a profound impact on the role of the teacher. It has been predicted that 'within twenty years the computer will be the major delivery system for education at all levels and in practically all subject areas' (Bork, 1984). Teachers are told that computers are causing a 'revolution' in schools and that, because of computers, teachers 'must evolve or dissolve' (Kelley, 1985), and, 'as the world is being revolutionized by computers, the future of schools and teachers, it seems, will be digital as well' (Oakes and Schneider, 1984). In some ways the view that computers are causing a revolution for North American teachers appears to be supported. Whereas in 1979 even a single microcomputer was a novelty in most North American elementary schools, today multiple microcomputer systems are commonplace in educational settings. Between Spring 1983 and Spring 1985 the number of microcomputers in use in U.S. schools quadrupled, from about 250,000 to over one million; the median number of computers in elementary schools rose from 2 to 6, and in secondary schools rose from 5 to 21 (Becket, 1986). In addition, approximately 85% of U.S. secondary schools and 30°7o of U.S. elementary schools now have a computer laboratory (Becker, 1986). In Canada, computer activity is comparably well established (Simair, 1985). For example, the province of Ontario supports the ambitious integration of hardware support, software development, and teacher training through its Computers in Education Project which, among other activities, subsidizes Ontario schools in their acquisitions of networked microsystems and locally developed software (Penny, 1986). Other Canadian provinces also support innovative developments in the application of computers in education, notably Manitoba with its software development and distribution project (Sandals, 1986), and Alberta with its activity in both localarea and wide-area networking (Bell, 1986). Teacher training opportunities relative to computer use in education have also proliferated. For example, a survey of Canadian teacher training institutions (Collis and Muir, 1986) found all but one of them to offer credit courses in some aspect of computer use for teachers. In addition, less formal computer-related training is now readily accessible to the majority of teachers. 'Computers in education' conferences appear throughout North America, with virtually every state and province hosting annual computer-using teachers' meetings or conferences. And yet, despite all this activity, there is little evidence of many, or even any, substantial overall changes having occurred in the essential aspects of education; in what students learn, or how they learn, or in how teachers teach (Oakes and Schneider, 1984; Tucker, 1985). The average North American elementary school microcomputer is likely to stand idle 75% of the time (Becker, 1983); only 15% of secondary school teachers, including those teaching computer science, use computers with any regularity (Becker, 1986); the typical science teacher has never once used a computer as part of the science laboratory or lesson (Lehman, 1985); only about 6% of

Using the computer to promote conceptual change the case of elementary arithmetics

A pedagogical and psychological framework for the development of computer applications in education is described. This framework, phenomenography, holds that learners generally understand or conceptualize phenomena in the world in qualitatively different ways. Learning is then seen as a qualitative change from one way of conceptualizing a phenomenon to another. Children's development of elementary arithmetic skills is taken as a case in focus and some examples of how to use the computer as a medium to build interactive didactical environments to promote conceptual change are given.

Three Perspectives for Computer Applications in Education

What do teachers really want from the computer? What factors influence their opinions? This paper is a compilation of three independent studies of educators' perspectives on computing which show certain common points of interest. In using software within the curriculum, teachers favor a variety of materials ranging from the highly creative and open-ended to the more pedantic and highly-structured. Questionnaires need not elicit many details regarding respondents' areas of specialization and academic background, but should survey breadth of educational computing experience. Teachers show creativity when given an opportunity to express it. An instrument for further study is suggested.

Computer applications in education and training: taking that first byte: An overview of the field

Computer applications in education and training: taking that first byte: An overview of the field

Computer applications in education and training: taking that first byte: The process

Computer applications in education and training: taking that first byte: The process

Improving the User/Machine Interaction

AbstractThe increase in computer applications in education has heightened the problems and concerns regarding user/machine interaction. In an attempt to address these problems, educational learning concepts can be applied to program design in order to enhance the user's communication with the computer. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate methods and techniques which can improve the communication between the user and the machine, especially in microcomputers.

HARNESSING THE COMPUTER IN EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Computer applications in education have generally either (1) streamlined some existing routine operation such as payroll or scheduling or (2) attempted some very sophisticated modeling of, for example, learning processes or cost functions for an institution. None of these applications has made a noticeable impact on the practices or the management of education. The proper function of the computer is as a filter to suppress irrelevant data and highlight critical data, to make short term projections of trends, to visually display the dynamics of system interactions, and to allow managers and teachers to interact with models of the system (e.g. the student or the school) they are supposed to be in charge of. The paper sketches the outlines of a computerized information system designed to use the strengths of the computer to complement the strengths of the human teacher and manager.

Recent Applications of Computer Technology to School Testing Programs

This review contains a summary of the principal applications of computer technology to school testing programs reported during the five-year period ending December 1968. Readers are referred to Cooley and Hummel (1969) for a comprehensive review of current efforts to apply computer systems techniques to guidance. There are three journals which have regular computer sections on computer applications in education and psychology. An excellent source for programs developed and applied to test analyses is the section included in the spring and autumn issues of Educational and Psychological Measurement. The computer section in Behavioral Science published bimonthly, although it mainly focuses on programs developed for research purposes, also reports on programs developed which are appropriate to psychometric procedures. The Nation's Schools includes a computer section which focuses on school data-processing applications. Other periodicals devoted exclusively to computer applications in education are as follows: AEDS Journal, AEDS Monitor, Automated Education Handbook and Newsletter, Data Processing for Education, Journal of Data Education, and Journal of Educational Data Processing.

Educational uses of electronic computers in the United Kingdom

The general picture is perhaps one of lop-sided development. Numerical applications of computers in education are progressing rapidly: other applications have hardly yet begun. The difficulties in initiating such applications are partly economic: the necessary hardware is not easily obtained. Even more, however, they arise from lack of personnel: it is difficult to find people with time and ability to use the equipment which already exists.