[Squeakland] Computer as Tutor

Doug Wolfgram doug at gfx.com
Sat Apr 10 09:52:39 PDT 2004


****  I'm sure computers have a
proper place in education, but not absent a dedicated educator.

Agreed  - but just look at the face of a child who is immersed in 
interactive play. Of course, there are numerous studies on how kids who 
interact primarily with their computer turn out.  Most become socially inept.

Thoughts:

1. One advantage a computer might have over the average human educator is 
consistency. How often has a child come home from school and said "Mrs. 
Black was in a bad mood today."?

2. Computers may be useful for filling the time gaps. An educator only has 
so much time to spend with teaching.

3. Computers may offer broader knowledge than single teachers in the lower 
grades. Hardly any teachers I know in K-6 are experts in everything. That's 
one of the reasons I chose to send my child to a school that has 
college-like specialty areas for disciplines such as music, art, computers, 
science and language -- even in their K-5 program.

FWIW ... I don't want to replace teachers and we don't need to go down that 
path.  I don't think members of this group are interested in replacing 
teachers with computers. But we ARE interested in using technology to 
supplement education and more importantly, to implement new paradigms that 
may offer a better education overall.

D

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