Computers in Education

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Computers in Education

• Computers in Humanities Education
• Geoffrey M. Rockwell
• x 24072
• Togo Salmon 309A
• grockwel_at_mcmaster.ca
• URL http//www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/hccrs/ihch
  ome.htm

McMaster University
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Computers and Education

• Three phases
• Development of Drill Materials (PLATO)
• Development of Multimedia Materials
• HyperCard and the explosion of interactive
  teaching materials
• Simulations and Educational Games
• Availability of CD-ROMs
• Virtual Classrooms and Virtual Courses
• Availability of the Internet
• Conferencing Systems

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Virtual Courses

• What are the parts of a traditional course?
• What can we do online?
• What can we not do?
• What would a virtual university look like?

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Virtual Courses

• Student Management Environment
• Accounting Billing
• Presentation Materials
• Online Tutorials
• Reference Materials
• Online Lectures
• Communication Environment
• Discussion Lists, Chat, MUDs
• Collaboration Tools
• Assessment
• Drop-off Boxes, Computerized Exams

Electronic Classrooms
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Virtual Courses II

• We can integrate environments
• Separation of learning from assessment
• Free learning (Advertisements?)
• Paid certification/Assessment
• Virtual University?
• Who would come?
• Would it work?
• Would the education be as good?

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Computers and Learning Today

• Have you used computers to learn?
• What can courseware do that a book cannot?
• What can courseware do that an instructor cannot?
• What can courseware not do?

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How are computers used in Education?

• Administration - Institutional Databases
• Communication
• Presentation - Classroom/Lecture Tools
• Distance Education - Conferencing, WWW
• Self-Paced Materials
• Interactive Drill - Grammar and Vocabulary
• Multimedia Tutorials - Pictures, Text, and Sound
• Simulation - Flight Simulators for the Mind
• Testing - OMR and Computer Based Testing

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Reference (Real World) Tools

• Bibliographic Databases - Library OPAC, MLA Index
• Electronic Texts - Online Journals, Online Texts
• Multimedia Works - CD-ROMs, Encyclopedias,
  Simulations

The most educational software is that which you
might really use in the field. You not only learn
the discipline, but you learn real tools used in
the discipline.
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Creation (Real World) Tools

• Productivity Tools - Word Processors, E-mail,
  Databases
• Computer Graphics Tools - Photoshop
• Audio and Music Tools - MIDI
• Multimedia Development Tools
• Internet Tools - HTML Authoring, Site Creation
  Tools
• Programming, Statistics, and Other Tools

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What cant a computer do?

• Respond intelligently to a student
• Deal with the unexpected input
• Respond to complex input usefully
• Initiate activities
• Assess natural language whether spoken or written
• Help students without computer skills or access
• Motivate students who are

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What can computer do for learning?

• Facilitate communication
• Allow students to work on their own time
• Allow students to work in their own space
• Provide access to richer materials and distant
  resources
• Motivate certain students
• Provide more responsive self-study materials
• Provide automatic assessment of certain types of
  input