Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Seeing Through Computers
In the introduction of the article "Seeing Through Computers, Education in a Culture of Simulation" Sherry Turkle states, "Today nearly everyone is certain that schools and universities should teach students about computers, but exactly what they should teach isn't so clear." I kept this quote in the back of my head throughout the article to see what my opinion would be after reading it. As a Special Education major I constantly have to think about what is best for my students and what will help them understand the material best, and after reading this article, I am still unclear of the best way to teach students about computers. In my opinion I think it would be best to educate students on both aspects of computers. What do you think is more important for education, algorithm or simulation, and how can they best teach students about computers literacy? The article disucusses the "Walk-Through Computer" exhibit at the Boston Computer Museum which focused on the several layers of how a computer worked from the behavior of a program to the anatomy of the hardware and low level software that made it all work. Do you think this would be beneficial for students learning about computers? The other part of the article discusses the importance of educational software and simulations, which brings up another debate today. Many believe that students may not be learning much while using educational software. What is your opinion on simualations influencing education and changing the way children learn? Turkle ends the article by saying, "We make our technologies, our objects, but then the objects of our lives shape us in turn." What do you think that she meant by this and do you agree or disagree with this quote?
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9 comments:
It seems that, realistically speaking, learning about computer programs and a general understanding of where to look for help in order to run functions of computers would be the most beneficial training. I think it would certainly be beneficial to learn all about how computers function down to the basics, however this is much more involved and complicated and I do not believe that the benefits would equal the amount of time and energy spent educating our students.
The role of the computer in the classroom is to aid in the learning process. Maybe, however, this role is actually a lot smaller and simpler than we have given credit. Computers can be a great source of information, if used correctly, and can help in certain rote learning (i.e. math skills etc.) However, teaching students about Architecture through SimLife seems like a waste of time. We can certainly study our society today and how we view people, wars, and current societal issues through recent video games, but in general education it might not be as helpful. Let us get back to the boring teacher-student hands-on learning approach, minus the computer.
Computers are a great tool to help educators teach. The key word here is help. People need to be instructed how to use computers as a teaching tool. The way teachers go about teaching children how to use computer programs are essential to make sure that the children truly understand what and how the programs are trying teaching them. It is beneficial for educators and students to learn about computers in order to do this.
In regards to simulations influencing education and changing the way children learn, I believe that there is a limit as to how much these simulations can teach. Teachers can not simply rely on these programs to do all the teaching. These programs can not teach everything students need to know.
Personally, I do think that the algorithms and inner-workings of a computer should be taught. Without this understanding, computers can still help learning, but it would not be as beneficial. Interesting how there is a debate about kids working on computers without knowing all the behind-the-screen functions, yet one can get a drivers license without having to know (mechanically) anything other than "the right pedal goes...and the left pedal stops."
To answer the question of the best way to teach computer literacy to students, I think my experience was perfect. From 2-4th grade, in my elementary school, we had Apple II computers, where I learned to use Floppy Disks (Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, etc.) and I learned basic DOS-level programming (if-and statements and print). From about 5-8 we used Macintoshes, with a desktop and hard disks, and used it for KidPix (painting/drawing program) and word processing. In high school, we moved to iMac's and more advanced software (Adobe programs, Auto CAD). And now I'm in college, walking around with a Flash Drive, burning CDs left and right while simultaneously playing a Flash game on Newgrounds.com.
Short answer- basic computers for kids, and make the machine more advanced as they grow.
I think that the role of a computer is to provide help and assistance to things that take a long amount of time to do such as typing, searching for resources, etc. I understand that it is important to know how things work and why they do, however I don't see the need to learn the basic building blocks of computers. They are very intricate, detailed objects that are hard to decipher. I think having a basic knowledge and understanding of how things work the way they do is good to have. Computers help us to many things, and very quickly. They are moreso an aid to daily tasks.
On the other hand, to know how to do things that the computer does automatically for us is helpful as well. Math skills for example, they should be known in case of some kind of crisis where computers die and can't be used for those purposes. We would have a meltdown in America.
Right after I read this artlicle I thought there was no need for algorithm. I didn't think there was any need to know how computers really worked. Then when we were in class and Professor Shovlin had to go through and put in all these different codes just to get a game to work I started thinking, and I knew I would never be able to do anything like that. Therefore, I thought it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to teach both simulation and algorithm.
As far as educational software is concerned I think it just depends on the software. I know when I was in school we had games that taught and helped us practice our math skills and I think those were great. They were just like flashcards but more fun. We also had a game that taught us how to type which I think is so great because today we probably tpye more than we write. But again it just depends on the game. I don't think a computer game can teach a child how to read and write but I do think it could enhance a child's skills.
I think that the best way to learn is by doing. I my experience i learn much faster with a hands on activity. So to get students to learn computers, there needs to be computers in class rooms. Teachers need to not be afraid to use them in their class and definitely need to incorporate them into there lessons. Whether it be just teaching basic keyboarding skills or showing a student how to accurately do research using the internet. Computers have rapidly taken over our society and without computer skills students can get left behind when looking for a job.
I think computers are a great asset to have access to at all times. computers are great tools for education as well as personal uses. In order for kids to learn computers they need to have access to them in classrooms and out of classrooms. i don't think i could have learned how to use computers to the extent i do with out using one consistently throughout the day. in classrooms computers can help kids with research, at the same time kids need to be shown how to know what is accurate information and what is false information. computers are a great tool and i think they are going to be pushed into our lives more then they already are.
I think it is apparently clear already that yes teachers and universities alike should be discussing how they are going to "teach" the world of computers to students. It is understandably so that some form of teaching should be happening at the academia level. Turkle tackles this conflict head on in the article. I thought the introduction and opening paragraph were the best in the work. I got bored with her facts upon facts telling us all about how the computer has evolved since its invention. I was bored with the article. I did find what she said to be true though; computer literacy is associated with school curriculum just as closely as reading, 'riting and rithmetic (the 3 RS) were for our generation. Computers have definitely made my learning easier. I liked the line, "when you show me that result, the computer understands the answer, but do you?". Sometimes I wonder how much we are really learning, and how much are our computers taking over. I also thought the title for her piece was "Seeing Through Computer was an interesting choice because of her reference to the Boston Computer Museum, where visitors can walk through a computer ...sounds like a good time to me!!
I think computers are great educational tools. Think about how much work you accomplish through the use of computers daily. Its almost rediculous how relient educational (especially college) programs rely on the internet. Almost every class requires students to have access to a computer. However, i do not believe that a student needs to know how a computer works, they only need to know how to make it work. For example, all of us know how to make a car go from point A to B, but how many of us could change our own breaks or even explain the mechanics under the hood? Most of us dont know, because its not neccessary to know, and the same goes for computers.
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