HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

P a t r i c k Suppes Lucie Stern Professor of Philosophy Stanford Universi ty

As a comment on the paper by D r . Al io to and M s . "hornton, I: would

l i k e t o t r y t o pu t t he cu r ren t e f fo r t s i n educa t iona l t echno logy i n

h i s to r i ca l perspec t ive , From t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e I move t o t h e p r e s e n t ,

with some remarks about the ex tens ive e f for t s in San Francisco, and on

t o some p red ic t ions about t he fu tu re .

Past Educational Technologies

I can i d e n t i f y a t l e a s t f i v e major technological innovat ions i n

the pas t t ha t are comparable to the current computer revolut ion.

Written Records

The f i r s t is the i n t roduc t ion of writ ten r eco rds fo r teacI1ing

purposes i n a n c i e n t times. We do no t know exac t ly when the u se of

wri t ten records f o r instruct ional purposes began but w e do have, as early

as Plato's Dialogues, wrritten i n t h e f i f t h c e n t u r y B.C., s o p h i s t i c a t e d

objec t ions to the use of wr i t ten records .

Today no one would doubt the value of wr i t t en ma te r i a l i n educa t ion ,

but there were very s t rong and cogen t ob jec t ions t o t h i s ve ry earliest

innovation $12 education, The ob jec t ions were these : a wr i t t en r eco rd is

very impersonal; i t is very uniform; í t does no t adap t t o t he i nd iv idua l

student; i t does no t es tab l i sh rappor t wi th the s tudent . In o the r words,

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Socrates and the anc ien t Soph i s t s , t he t u to r s of s tudents in anc ien t

Athens, objected t o introducing wri t ten records and destroying the kind

of personal relation between student and t u t o r t h a t was a p a r t of t h e i r

main reason for being.

It has become a f a m i l i a r s t o r y i n o u r own time t h a t a technological

i nnova t ion has s ide e f f ec t s t ha t are not a lways uniformly beneficial .

It is impor tan t to recognize tha t th i s is no t a new aspec t of innovation

but has been with us from the beginning.

Librar ies

The second innovation was the founding of l i b r a r i e s i n t h e a n c i e n t

world, the most important example being the famous Alexandrian Library

t h a t was established around 300 B.C. Because of cer ta in democrat ic

t radi t ions, the preeminence of t h e c r e a t i v e work in philosophy and

poet ry , i t is easy to th ink of Athens as t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l c e n t e r of the

Hel len ic wor ld . In fac t , tha t cen ter was real ly Alexandria . From about

250 B.C. t o A.D. 400, not only was Alexandria the most important center

of mathematics and astronomy in t he anc ien t wor ld - - i t was a l s o a major

center of l i t e r a t u r e , e s p e c i a l l y b e c a u s e of t h e c o l l e c t i o n i n t h e

Alexandrian Library. The f i r s t real beginnings of c r i t i c a l s c h o l a r s h i p

in the western world i n l i t e r a t u r e , t h e e d i t i n g of texts, t he ana lys i s

of style, the drawing up of bibl iographies , took place in the Alexandrian

Library. This revolut ion in educat ion consis ted not s imply of having in

one place a l a r g e number of papyrus manuscr ipts but in the organizat ion

of large bodies of learning, Scholars from a l l over the western world

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came t o Alexandria to study and t o t a l k t o o t h e r s ,

Libraries of a s u b s t a n t i a l n a t u r e were t o be found i n o t h e r major

c i t i e s of the ancient world, not t o ment ion the l a rge co l lec t ions of

learning in China, India , and Korea.

Printing

The third innovat ion of g rea t h i s to r i ca l impor t ance i n educa t ion

was the move f rom wr i t ten records to p r in ted books, I n t h e western

world we i d e n t i f y the beginning date of th i s Jnnovat ion wi th the

pr in t ing of the Gutenberg Bible in 1452. It ís important to recognize,

however, t h a t t h e r e was extensive use of b lock pr in t ing i n Korea and

China three or four hundred years earlier. Nearly ha l f a millennium

later ít is d i f f i c u l t t o have a v iv id sense of how important the

innovation of pr int ing turned out to be, In the ancient world of t h e

Mediterranean there were only a few ma jo r l i b ra r i e s , a number so small

that they could be counted on the f ingers o f one hand. One of t he

famous aspec ts of Alexandria, for example, w a s the weal th and

magnitude of i ts l i b r a r y , and the Alexandrian Library of 100 B,C. had

f e w competitors. The reason ís obvious: it w a s impossible to have

l a rge numbers of copies of manuscripts reproduced when a l l copying

had to be done t ed ious ly by hand, The in t roduc t ion of p r i n t i n g i n the

fifteenth century produced a radical innovation--indeed a revolution--

in t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of i n t e l l e c t u a l and educa t iona l materials. By t h e

middle of the sixteenth century not only European insti tutions but

wealthy families as w e l l had l i b r a r i e s of ser ious p ropor t ions .

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Once again, however, there were d e f i n i t e t e c h n o l o g i c a l side e f f e c t s

t h a t were not uniformly beneficial . Those who know t h e a r t and the

beauty of the medieval manuscripts that preceded the introduction of

pr in t ing can apprec ia te tha t mass p r i n t i n g was regarded by soma a s a

degradation of the state of reproduction.

It is also important to have a sense of how slow the impact of a

technological ínnovatlon can sometimes be. It was n o t u n t i l t h e end

of the e ighteenth cen tury tha t books were used extensively for teaching

in schools . In ar i thmetic , for example, most teachers cont inued to

use o ra l methods throughout the nineteenth century and i t was not

u n t i l almost the beginning of t h e present cen tury tha t appropr ia te

elementary textbooks i n mathematics were available, It is c e r t a i n l y

my hope t h a t i t w i l l . not r equ i r e 500 years t o d i s t r i b u t e computers

i n t o schools, a figure comparable to what it took to d i s t r i b u t e

a r i thmet ic textbooks in to schools . For tuna te ly , the sca le of

d i sseminat ion in the modern world is of an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t o r d e r

from what i t was in the pas t . Perhaps my f a v o r i t e example i s t h e

es t imate tha t i t took over f ive years f o r t h e news of Ju l ius Caesar ' s

assass ina t ion to reach the fur thes t corners of t h e Roman Empire, Today

such an assassinat ion would be known throughout the world i n a matter

of minutes.

With regard to the pace a t which books have been introduced i n t o

education, i t would be a mis t ake t o t h ink t ha t t he re was something

pecul iar about the use of methods of rec i ta t ion in the e lementary school

u n t i l Zate i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ; s t o r i e s of a comparable s o r t a l s o

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hold a t t h e u n i v e r s i t y l e v e l . According t o a t least one account, the

last professor a t the Univers i ty o f Cambridge i n England who i n s i s t e d

on fo l lowing the rec i ta t ive t rad i t ion tha t da tes back t o t h e Middle

Ages was C . D. Broad. A s la te as the 1940 's he d i c t a t ed and then

repeated each sentence so that students would have adequate time t o

write each sentence exactly as d i c t a t ed . I cannot imagine contemporary

univers i ty s tudents tolerat ing such methods,

Mass Schooling

The fourth innovation, and again one that w e now accept as a

complete and n a t u r a l p a r t of our soc ie ty , is mass schooling. We have

a tendency in t a lk ing abou t ou r soc i e ty t o pu t s choo l s and fami l i e s

in to the same category of ma jo r i n s t i t u t ions . But i t is extremely

important t o recognize the great psychological difference between the

s t a t u s of the family and t h e s t a t u s of schools. Families are r e a l l y

deep into our blood and our cu l ture . The evidence of f a m i l i e s i n one

form o r another being the most impor t an t cu l tu ra l un i t goes back

thousands of years. Schools are no t a t a l l comparable; they are, we

might say, very much Johnny-come-lately t o our cu l ture . A hundred

years ago i n 1870, f o r example, only two percent OE young people

graduated from high school í n the United States . A hundred years before

that only a very small percentage even f inished third or fourth grade.

I cannot give you an exact percentage because our record-keeping, that

ris, our s o c i a l s t a t i s t i c s , are no t much more than a hundred years old

and we have no se r ious i dea of how many s tuden t s were a c t u a l l y i n s c h o o l

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two hundred years ago, except that we do know t h a t t h e number was q u i t e

small.

Even as s h o r t a period as f i f t y y e a r s ago, i n most of the world

less than one percent of the population completed secondary school.

During the recent upheavals connected with the "cul tural revolut ion" in

China the elementary schools, not to speak of co l leges and secondary

schools, were c losed fo r several years . In our soc ie ty as we now th ink

of i t , it is unbelievable to contemplate closing the elementary schools

f o r such a period of time. From a Chinese h i s tor ica l perspec t ive , how-

ever, i t w a s not such an important matter, f o r Chinese culture extends

back continuously several thousand years and the re i s i n t h a t c u l t u r a l

t r a d i t i o n no s a l i e n t p l a c e f o r mass schooling.

In many developing countries of the world today the best that can

be hoped is t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y of t he young people w i l l be given four

grades of elementary school. Until the populatíon growth is brought

i n check, i t w i g 1 take all avai lab le resources t o achieve th i s much.

The pos i t ion of America as a world leader in educat ion is sometimes not

adequately recognized by my fellow Americans, because w e accept as so

much a p a r t of our cul ture the concept of al1 young people completing

secondary school and a high percentage going on to co l l ege . In f a c t ,

our l eadersh ip in c rea t ing a soc ie ty wi th mass education i s perhaps one

of the most important aspects of American inf luence in the world.

A s r ecen t ly as t h e l a t te r p a r t of the n ine teenth cen tury the

Bri t ish phi losopher , John Stuar t M i l l , despaired of democracy ever

r e a l l y working anywhere i n t h e world f o r one reason--it was simply not

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possible to educate the major i ty of the popula t ion . In h i s view it was

not possible to have a s igni f icant percentage of the populat ion able tQ

read and to be in formed about po l i t i ca l events . A s i n t h e case of many

such predictions, he was very much i n e r r o r . The r e v o l u t i o n i n mass

schooling is one of t h e most s t r i k i n g phenomena of the twent ie th century.

Testing

The f i f th educa t iona l innovat ion is t e s t i n g , which is i n many ways

older than the concept of mass schooling. The g r e a t t r a d i t i o n of t e s t i n g

was f i r s t e s t a b l i s h e d , i n China; t e s t i n g t h e r e began i n t h e f i f t h c e n t u r y

A . D . and became firmly entrenched by the twelf th century A . D . There is

a continuous history from the twe l f th cen tu ry t o t he end of the n ine teenth

century in the use of tests f o r t h e s e l e c t i o n of mandarins--the c i v i l

servants who ran the imperial government o f China. The c i v i l service

posit ions held by mandarins were regarded as t h e e l i t e s o c i a l p o s i t i o n s

in t he soc i e ty .

The importance of these tests i n Chinese society ís w e l l a t t e s t e d

t o by t h e l i t e r a t u r e of var ious per iods. I f 0n.e examines, f o r example,

t h e l i t e r a t u r e of t he f i f t een th o r s ix t een th cen tu ry , one is impressed

by the concern expressed fo r performance on tests. A v a r i e t y of l i t e r a r y

tales focused on the ques t ion of whether sons would successful ly complete

t h e tests and what this would mean fo r t he f ami ly , (As you might expect,

in those days women had no p l a c e i n t h e management of the soc ie ty and

no place as a p p l i c a n t s f o r civil s e r v i c e p o s i t i o n s , ) The procedures of

se lec t ion were as r igorous as those found in a contemporary medical

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school or a graduate school of bus iness in the Uni ted S ta tes . In many

periods fewer than two percent of those who began the tests (which were

arranged in a complicated hierarchy) successfully completed the sequence

and were put on the l i s t of e l i g i b l e mandarins.

Although t e s t i n g h a s a his tory that goes back hundreds of years ,

i n many ways i t is proper to regard t es t ing as a twentieth-century

innovation because it was o n l y i n t h i s c e n t u r y t h a t t h e s c i e n t i f i c and

technical s tudy of tests began. It is o n l y i n t h i s c e n t u r y t h a t t h e r e

has been a se r ious e f fo r t t o unde r s t and and t o d e f i n e what c o n s t i t u t e s

a good test f o r a given apt i tude, a given achievement, or a g iven sk i l l .

Moreover, t h i s i n t e n s i v e s t u d y of t e s t i n g from a technical s tandpoint

was primarily a focus of American research by such educa t iona l

psychologists as Edward L. Thorndike. The t r a d i t i o n t h a t Thorndike

began has become a major one i n our society and is a source of continual

controversy in terms of i s s u e s of f a i r n e s s and ob jec t iv i ty . Ce r t a in ly

currerLt speculations as to the reasons for the dec l ine i n the ve rba l

and mathematical scores on the Scholast ic Apti tude Tests provide an

exce l len t example of the kind of d e t a i l e d s c r u t i n y w e give our tests

t h a t is completely uncharacter is t ic of any t r a d i t i o n o f t e s t i n g , whether

i n China, Europe or the United States p r i o r t o t h i s c e n t u r y .

The f ive innovat ions tha t I have discussed--written records,

l ib rar ies , p r in ted books , schools , and tests--are the ve ry f ab r i c of our

educational system today. It is almost unthinkable to contemplate a

modern educational system without each of these innovations playing an

important part.

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O f these f ive technologies , none had been i n any way adequately

Eorecast or out l ined a t t h e time it was introduced, O f course, a f e w

individuals foresaw the consequences and had something to say about

those consequences, but cer ta inly the detai ls of the use of any of

these f ive technologies had not been adequately foreseen, l a m certain

t h a t t h e same thing will be t r u e of technologies now developing €or

use í n t h e f u t u r e , and so I do not want to appear conf ident tha t

what I say i s a co r rec t s cena r io fo r t he fu tu re . But I want t o s ay

something about each of t h e f i v e . F i r s t , I have mentioned, and I want

t o re-emphasize, the very recent and h i s t o r i c a l l y v e r y t r a n s i e n t

character of schools. It is a phenomenon i n a general sense of the

l a s t hundred y e a r s i n t h e most developed p a r t s of the world, and a

phenomenon of the l as t t h i r t y y e a r s o r s o ( t h a t is, s i n c e World War 11)

i n the underdeveloped p a r t s sf t h e world. Now, an Tmportant question

for the fu ture i s t h i s : I n f i f t y o r one hundred years, w i l l we abo l i sh

schools? Will we d e l i v e r i n t o t h e home, o r i n t o small neighborhood

uni t s , by technological means a l l curr iculum and instruct ion? Further ,

w i l l t he des i r e s o r goa l s of the individual , the family, the parents ,

or the neighborhood group be such that children will not be ín school ,

but a t home o r i n t h e neighborhood? The answers to t hese ques t ions

are not easy t o p red ic t o r t o f o r e s e e .

The same kind of fo recas t may be made f o r books. The importance '

of books t h a t we have f e l t f o r several hundred yea r s , since the

beginning of the Renaissance, and tha t has been assoc ia ted with t h e

developmept and education of an informed cit izenry, may fade away. I

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I , ' t '

1 i , L i

t '

I

think that all of us, a t l e a s t t h o s e of my age, have seen t h i s already

in the case o f young s tudents . Some recent s tud ies have ind ica ted tha t

t he cu l tu ra l r e f e rence po in t s of t he younger generation are no longer

t o be found i n books, o r i n c u r r e n t n o v e l s , b u t i n t e l e v i s i o n and movies,

In t he case of tests, I also p r e d i c t t h a t t h i s c l a s s i c a l t e c h n o l o g y

w i l l decrease in importance. I b e l i e v e t h a t tests w i l l dec rease i n

importance because w e will have the technological means t o keep a much

more s a t i s f a c t o r y and much more de ta i led record o f the l earn ing of

individual s tudents . Thus inferences about the performance of s tudents

and t h e i r c a p a b i l i t i e s f o r t a k i n g n e x t s t e p s w i l l depend upon a much

more subs tan t ia l record , a much b e t t e r b a s i s of inference than we have

ín cur ren t tests,

A s f o r l i b r a r i e s , t h e y w i l l be totally transformed, 1 f e e l more

confident of t h i s p r e d i c t i o n t h a n of any of t he o the r s . E lec t ron ic

access w i l l be wide ly ava i lab le in homes, i n o f f i c e s , and in s choo l s

of what other organizat ional kind we have. There w i l l b e l i b r a r i e s but

they w i l l b e e l e c t r o n i c l i b r a r i e s .

Finally, what abouts t h e wr i t ten record? The wri t ten record will

undoubtedly continue t o have importance, but I th ink t ha t when i t comes

t o teaching, the object ions found in Plato 's Dialogues t o the co ld and

n e u t r a l w r i t t e n word as opposed to t h e warm and f r iendly vo ice o f the

teacher w i l l once again be heard and perceived as serious objections,

What I am saying i s t h a t , i n s t a r t i n g t o think about the future , w e can

forecast obsolescence o r semi-obsolescence for a l l of t h e g r e a t

technologies of t he past--and t h a t is proper and appropr ia te .

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Issues Raised by Computer-Assisted Instruction

The current operational use of computer-assisted instruction in

many schools in this country, a use that is well exemplified by the

detailed discussion of Alioto and Thornton, raises a number of issues

of a broad educational and social kind to which I would now like to turn.

I will discuss four rather closely related issues that have had a certain

prominence in the discussion of computer-assisted instruction (CAI):

1) individualization of instruction, 2) standardization of instruction,

3) complexity of instruction, and 4 ) freedom ín education.

Individualization of Instruction

The first issue centers around the claim that the deep use of

technology, specifically computer technology, will impose a rigid regime

of impersonalized teaching. Perhaps the best ímage of this issue in the

popular press ís that of student protest at being represented by computer

records in the files of the central school administration.

To those advancing this claim of deep impersonalization, ít is

important to say that indeed this is a possibility, Computer technology

could be used in t h i s way, 2nd ín some instances it probably will. This

is little different from saying that there are many kinds of teaching

and many ways ín which the environment of learning and teaching may be

debased, The important point to insist upon, however, ís that ít ís

certainly not a necessary aspect of the use of the technology.

Indeed, our claim would be that one of the computer's most

important potentials ís exactly the opposite. Computers can make

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learning and teaching more personalized rather than less so. Students

will be subject to less regimentation and lockstepping, because computer

systems will be able to offer highly individualized instruction.

It is important that the remark about individualized instruction

not be passed off as sloganeering. For many years,courses in the

methodology of teaching have emphasized the importance of teaching

according to the needs of individual students and therefore attempting

to individualize instruction as much as possible. It is recognized,

however, by anyone who has examined the structure of our schools either

at the elementary- or secondary-school level that a high degree of

individualization ís extraordinarily difficult to achieve when the

ratio of students to teachers is approximately 25 to 1.

One direct approach is to reduce this ratio to something like 5 or

10 to 1, but the economics of this approach is totally unfeasible in

the long run and on a widespread basis. All the evidence points to

the fact that the cost of having first-rate teachers in the classroom,

training these teachers appropriately, and providing them with the kind

of salaries that will be competitive with other technical and

professional jobs in our society will simply make it impossible f o r

schools to afford any drastic reduction in the student-teacher ratio.

One of the few real opportunities for offering individualized

instruction lies in the use of computers as instructional devices.

I do wish to emphasize that I do not envisage replacing teachers

entirely, especially at the elementary-school level. It would be

my estimate that even under the maximum use of technology only 20 to

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30 percent of students' time in the elementary school would be spent at

computer terminals. While classes or substantial parts of classes were

working at terminals, teachers would be able to work with the remainder.

Moreover, they would be able to work intensely with individual

students, partly because some of the students would be at the terminals,

and equally because routine aspects of teaching would be handled by the

computer system.

A t the post secondary leve1,matters are very different. At most

colleges and universities,students do not now receive a great deal of

individual attention from instructors. Certainly we can all recognize

the degree of personal attention ís greater in a computer program

designed to accommodate itself to individual students' progress than

in the lecture course on a general subject that has more than 200

students in daily attendance.

Complex intellectual problems are yet to be solved in offering

tutorial computer programs on advanced subjects at the university level.

1 do believe that the teaching of basic skills ranging from elementary

mathematics to foreign-language instruction at the college level can

well be performed by computer-assisted cocrses, - Extensive results of

many efforts in computer-assisted instruction at the university level

at Stanford are reported in Suppes (3.981).

Standardization of Instruction

A second common claim is that the widespread use of computer

technology w i l l lead to excessive standardization of education. This

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claim was ra i sed repea ted ly in genera l d i scuss ions wi th educa tors and

the in te res ted publ ic . In 1968 when I w a s l e c t u r i n g on computer-

a s s i s t e d i n s t r u c t i o n i n A u s t r a l i a , e x a c t l y t h i s claim was made by one

of the senior professors of educa t ion in Aus t ra l ia . When h e was asked

how many d i f f e r e n t books on Aus t r a l i an h i s to ry are used i n t h e A u s t r a l i a n

secondary schools, the reply was t h a t two books are used i n over 90

percent of t he c l a s ses .

-.

To thosefami l ia r wi th cur ren t p rac t ices in t ex tbook adopt ion and

use in elementary and secondary schools, i t is clear t h a t a high degree

of s tandard iza t ion a l ready exists i n educatiorn, It is important to

admit a t once t h a t a s t i l l greater degree of s tandardizat ion could

arise from the widespread use of computers. This is a p o s s i b i l i t y n o t

to be denied. It ís , however, i n no sense a necessity. It would

t echn ica l ly be poss ib l e fo r a state department of educa t ion , for example,

t o r e q u i r e t h a t a t 1O:lO i n t h e morning every fourth-grader be adding

one-half and one-third, or every junior high school b e r e c i t i n g t h e

amendments to t he Cons t i t u t ion . The central danger of the technology

is that edicts can be enforced as w e l l as i ssued , and many persons are

r i g h t l y concerned a t the spec tor of r i g i d s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n t h a t c o u l d

be imposed.

I think we would a l l agree that the ever- increasing use of books

from the s ixteenth century t o the present has deepened the varieties of

educational and in t e l l ec tua l expe r i ence generally ava i l ab le . It is not

d i f f i c u l t , however, t o c o n s t r u c t a car ica ture o f p resent concerns in

terms of the hor rors i t might have been claimed would be introduced with

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the widespread use of books. It is e a s y t o v i s u a l i z e a c e r t a i n t y p e of

c r i t i c a rgu ing t ha t t he h igh ly i nd iv idua l i zed and e f f e c t i v e q u a l i t i e s

of the individual teacher 's voice could be lost ín the completely

standardized use of the wr i t t en word and the wr i t t en t ex t . The

ind iv idua l iza t ion of comment, t he adap ta t ion of comment to t he expres s ion

of individual s tudents and to the i r respons iveness and comprehension,

would be l o s t i n the use of books in place of teachers.

NOW w e a l l recognize tha t there is a t r u t h a t t h e h e a r t of t h i s

car ica ture , bu t i t i s no t a t r u t h t h a t a r g u e s f o r t h e a b o l i t i o n o r

suppression of books in educa t ion , It a r g u e s r a t h e r f o r a wide v a r i e t y

of educational experiences.

There i s every reason to bel ieve that the appropriate development

of C A I programs w i l l enable us t o take a h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t s t e p beyond

the in t roduct ion of books and t o o f f e r u n p a r a l l e l e d v a r i e t y and depth

of cur r icu lum to s tudents of a l l ages, Indeed, the problem in avoiding

standardization is n o t t h e l i m i t a t i o n s of the technology, but our

ignorance of how to d ive r s i fy app roaches t o l ea rn ing i n mean ingfu l and

s ign i f i can t ways,

The b a s i c s c i e n t i f i c d a t a on these matters are p i t i f u l l y small,

Opinions can be found in every educat2onal group, but they are opinions.

Moreover, from an ope ra t iona l s t andpo in t í t is n o t p o s s i b l e t o f i n d

any wide d i v e r s i t y of approaches t o most of t he s t anda rd sub jec t s i n

the curriculum. Do w e want an audi tory approach to the learning of

language f o r me student and a visual approach for another? Do we want

a p o l i t i c a l l y o r i e n t e d p r e s e n t a t i o n of American h i s t o r y f o r some s tudents

e

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and a socially oriented presentation for others? Do we think that

different cognitive styles can be identified in a sufficiently deep

way to justify and guide the preparation of vastly different curricula

in the same general subject matter?

These questions are not in any way bound to computer technology.

These are fundamental questions about the science of curriculum, the

art of teaching, and the philosophy of education that reach out to

very general questions of social policy, The computer is there to

be used in whatever way we choose. Uniform standardization of the

curriculum will be the end product only if we are so lacking in

imagination as to achieve nothing else.

Complexity of Instruction

The third claim often heard is that the limitations of the

technology and the problems that must be overcome in using it will

lead to the development of curricula that will almost necessarily be

simpleminded ín character. There are indeed some unfortunate

historical examples tn'the literature of curriulum efforts,

especially curriculum efforts in a technological setting.

In the early days of programmed instruction, for example, a

number of texts on elementary mathematics were written by

psychologists or educators who did not have adequate training in

mathematics. The programmed texts were splattered with "howlers" that

received the eager attention of the mathematics educators charged with

reviewing the books. Similar kinds of blunders can occur in the case

45

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of computer-assisted instruction, but there is nothing special about

computers, and it is hard to see that a serious argument can be made

to claim that there is any reason why computer-assisted Instruction will

be worse than other forms of curriculum.

The world is full of textbooks that are obviously bad in many

respects. Within mathematics, for example, there are elementary books

that are full of mathematical mistakes; there are also elementary

books that are mathematically correct, but pedagogically bad beyond

belief. No doubt programs exhibiting these two extremes will also be

written for computer-assisted instruction in mathematics,

There are reasons, however, for thinking the situation will be

more self-corrective in the case of CAP than in the case of ordinary

textbook writing. One reason is simply that data can be gathered and

authors can be presented in tough-minded fashion with a clear picture

of the defects of the materials they have written. For example, in a

program in elementary mathematics if a particular sequence of concepts

or problems is missed by a high percentage of the students encountering

it, the transmission of this information to those who wrote the progrzm

í s an obvious signal that changes are needed.

Surprising as it may seem, authors of textbooks in elementary

mathematics seldom receive such information. They get many good and

penetrating criticisms from teachers and other persons concerned with

curriculum, but they seldom get hard behavioral data on individual parts

of the text. Similarly, the evaluation that compares a given new text

with a standard old text by looking at the achievement data for

46

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3 i '

experimental and control groups i s almost always far too coarse an

evaluat ion to provide any focus for revis ing the p a r t i c u l a r f e a t u r e s

of the new t e x t . On the other hand, the problems of ga ther ing de ta i led

data about an ordinary textbook are too onerous t o b e f e a s i b l e í n

mos t cases.

Freedom in Education

The fou r th and f i n a l i s s u e 1 wish t o d i s c u s s is the p lace of

ind iv idua l i t y and human freedom i n a modern technological society. The

crudest form of opposition to widespread use of technology in educa t ion

and i n o t h e r p a r t s of s o c i e t y is t o c l a i m t h a t we face t h e real danger

of men becoming s l a v e s t o machines. This argument is o r d i n a r i l y made

i n a romantic and naive fashion by those who seem themselves t o have

l i t t l e understanding of sc ience o r technology and how i t is used i n our

soc ie ty . The b l a t a n t n a i v e t 6 of some of these ob jec t ions i s well

i l l u s t r a t ed by t he s to ry of t h e man who was o b j e c t i n g t o a l l forms of

technology i n our society and t hen i n t e r rup ted h i s d i a t r ibe t o say t h a t

he has t o rush o f€ t o telephone about an appointment with h i s d e n t i s t ,

No s c i e n t i f i c a l l y informed person ser iously bel ieves that our

soc ie ty could surv ive in anyth ing l ike i t s present form without the

widespread use o€ technology. It is our problem to understand how t o

use the technology and t o b e n e f i t w i s e l y from that use. Indeed, the

claim about: s l ave ry is j u s t t h e oppos i t e of t h e t r u e s i t u a t i o n . It is

only in th i s cen tury tha t widespread use of s lavery has been abolished,

and i t may be c la imed by his tor ians of t h e d i s t a n t f u t u r e that mankind

47

could not do without s lavery, because just as human s l aves are being

abolished, within a shor t time span they w i l l be replaced by machine

s laves whose use w i l l no t v io l a t e ou r e th i ca l p r inc ip l e s and moral

s e n s i b i l i t i e s Q

One can indeed imagine a h i s t o r i c a l t e x t of 2500 o r 3000 A . D .

a s s e r t i n g t h a t f o r a s h o r t p e r i o d i n t h e l a t te r p a r t of the twent ie th

century there was l i t t l e s lavery p resent on ear th , bu t then i t was

discovered that machines could be made that could do a l1 the work of

human slaves, and so in the twenty-f i rs t century the luxury of s laves

and the persor,al service they afforded was brought not to the

privileged few as had h i s t o r i c a l l y b e e n t h e ease be fo re t he twen t i e th

century, but as a standard convenience and luxury for a l l people on

ea r th

I n our judgment, t h e t h r e a t t o human i n d i v i d u a l i t y and freedom

does not come from technology, but Erom another source that was well

described by John S t u a r t Mill i n h i s famous essay On Liberty. H e s a i d ,

The grea tes t d i f f icu l ty to be encountered does no t lie i n the apprec ia t ion of means toward an acknowledged end, b u t i n t h e i n d i f f e r e n c e of pe r sons i n gene ra l t o t he end i t s e l f . If i t were felt t h a t t h e f r e e development o f i nd iv idua l i t y i s one of the l ead ing e s sen t i a l s o f well-being; that i t i s no t only a co-ordinate element w i t h a l l t h a t is designated by t h e ternns c i v i l i z a t i o n , i n s t ruc t ion , educa t ion , cu l tu re , bu t is i t s e l f a necessary par t and condition of a l l those things; t h e r e would be no danger that l iber ty should be under- valued, and the adjustment of the boundaries between it and s o c i a l c o n t r o l would p resen t no extraordinary d i f f i c u l t y .

Jus t as books Ereed se r ious s tuden t s from the tyranny of overly

simple methods of o r a l r e c i t a t i o n , so computers can €ree s tuden t s from

48

the drudgery of doing exact ly similar tasks unadjusted and untai lored

to t he i r i nd iv idua l needs . A s i n t h e c a s e of other p a r t s of our soc ie ty ,

our new and wondrous technology is the re f o r b e n e f i c i a l use. It i s

our problem t o l e a r n how t o use i t well.

When a c h i l d of s ix beg ins t o l ea rn i n school under the direct ion

of a teacher,he hardly has a concept of a f r e e i n t e l l i g e n c e a b l e t o

reach objective knowledge of the world, H e depends heavily upon every

word and ges tu re of t he t eache r t o gu ide h i s own r eac t ions and

responses. This i n t e l l e c t u a l weaning of ch i ld ren is a complicated

process that w e do not yet manage or understand very w e l l , There a r e

too many a d u l t s among us who a r e n o t a b l e t o expres s t he i r own f ee l ings

o r t o r each t he i r own independent judgments. We would c la im tha t the

wise use of technology and sc i ence , pa r t i cu la r ly i n educa t ion , p re sen t s

a major opportunity and challenge. We do not want t o claim t h a t w e now

know very much about how t o r e a l i z e t h e f u l l p o t e n t i a l of human beings;

but w e do not doubt that our modern instruments can be used to reduce

the personal tyranny of one individual over another, and increase

individual. freedom.

I n t e l l e c t u a l Problems of the Future

Computers That Talk

Let me break t h i s d i scuss ion o f fu tu re i n t e l l ec tua l problems i n t o

fou r pa r t s t ha t w i l l take us back through some of t h e earlier technologies,

The f i r s t problem is s imply that of ta lk ing (ora l speech) . What d o e s - i t

t ake t o get a computer t o t a l k ? The f a c t is t h a t t h e t e c h n i c a l i s s u e s

a

are a l ready pre t ty well í n hand. Perhaps the reader has seen on

te lev is ion "The Forbin Project"--a movie about two l a r g e computers í n

the Soviet Union and the Uni ted S ta tes ge t t ing toge ther t o dominate

the world. To those who have seen that movie, l e t m e make a casua l

remark about ta lking. A t echn ica l c r i t i c i sm o f t he movie i s t h a t t h e

two very l a r g e and sophisticated computers were conducting only one

conversation a t a time. Already i n our computer system a t Stanford,

we have eighteen channels of independent simultaneous talk and the

computer talks independently and d i f f e r e n t l y t o e ighteen s tudents a t

the same time. So you see, we have the capac i ty for t he computer t o

ta lk . What we need, however, is bet ter information about what i s t o

be said. For exrmple, when L serve as a tutor , teaching one of you,

o r even when one of you is teaching me, intuitively and n a t u r a l l y w e

fol low cues and say things to each other without having an expl ic i t

theory of how w e say what we say. We speak as p a r t of our humanness,

i n s t inc t ive ly , on t h e b a s i s of our p a s t experience. But t o satis-

f a c t o r i l y t a l k w i t h a computer,we need an exp l i c í t t heo ry of talking.

Computers That L i s t en

The replacement of the writ ten record, the kind of record that

was objec ted to in P la to ' s Phaedrus , can be ava i lab le t o us i n t h e

talking computer. The o the r side of t h a t c o i n which Socra tes a l so

emphasized, or should have emphasized, concerns listening. It i s a

much more d i f f i c u l t t e c h n i c a l problem, The problem of designing a

computer t h a t c a n l i s t e n t o a s t u d e n t t a l k is much harder than havi-ng

a student listen to the computer talk. However, the problem is

solvable.

The Use of Knowledge

To have an effective computer-based system of instruction, we

must transcend mindless talking and listening and learn to understand

and use a large knowledge base. For example, if we were simply to

require information retrieval from a knowledge base, it would be

relatively simple in the near future to put the entire American

Library of Congress in every elementary school, The capacity to store

information is increasing so rapidly that we will be able to store

much more information than could ever possibly be used.

A different and more difficult question ris how to get the student

to interact with the sizable knowledge base, A s we come to understand

how to handle such a knowledge base, the school computer of the future

should be able to answer any wayward question that the student might

like to ask. Moreover, as we all know, once a student uses such a

capability, he will have a strong tendency to pursue still further

questions that are more difficult and more idiosyncratic. It will, I

think, be wonderful to see how children interact with such a system;

in all likelihood, we will see children give to learning the high degree

of concentration and the sustained span of attention they now give to

commercial television.

There is one related point I want to emphasize. From the very

beginning of school, students learn quickly the "law of the land" and

51

know they should not ask questions the teacher cannot answer. This

task of d iagnos ing the l imi ta t ions of teachers begins ear ly and

continues through college and graduate school. So, once w e have the

capacíty f o r answering out-of-the-way q u e s t i o n s , i t w i l l be marvelous

t o see how s tudents w i l l take advantage of the opportunl ty and test

t h e i r own capac i t i e s w i th a re len t lessness they dare no t exhib i t now.

Need f o r Theories of Learning and Instruction

The fourth problem, and i n many ways the least-developed feature

of this technology, is the development of an adequate theory of

learning and i n s t r u c t i o n , We can make the computer t a l k , l i s t e n , and

adequately handle a l a r g e knowledge data base, but w e s t i l l need t o

develop an exp l i c i t t heo ry of l ea rn ing and ins t ruc t ion . In t eaching

a student, young o r o ld , a given subject mat ter o r a g i v e n s k i l l , a

computer-based learning system can keep a record of everything the

student does. Such a system can gather an enormous amount o€

information about the student. The problem ís how t o u s e t h i s

ín format ion wise ly , sk i l l fu l ly , and e€f ic ien t ly to t each the s tudent .

This is something t h a t t h e v e r y b e s t human tu tor does w e l l , even though

he does not understand a t a l l how he does i t , j u s t as he does not

understand how he ta lks . None of us understands how w e t a l k and none

of u s understands how we i n t u i t i v e l y i n t e r a c t w i t h someone we are

teaching OR a one-to-one b a s i s . S t i l l , even though our past and present

theories of ins t ruc t ion have no t c u t very deep, í t does no t mean t h a t

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we have not made some p rogres s . F i r s t , w e a t least recognize that -

52

t he re i s a s c i e n t i f i c problem; tha t a lone i s progress. One hundred

f i f t y y e a r s ago the re w a s no e x p l i c i t r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t t h e r e was even

a problem. There is not s t a t e d i n the educa t ion l i t e r a tu re of 150

years ago any view t h a t it is impor tan t to unders tand in de ta i l the

process of l ea rn ing on the p a r t of the s tudent . Only in t he twen t i e th

century do we f i n d any systematic data o r any Systematic theoret ical

ideas about the data . What precedes th i s per iod is romance and

fantasy unsubstant ia ted by any soph i s t i ca t ed r e l a t ion t o ev idence .

So a t l e a s t w e can say that we have begun the t ask .

Al te rna t ive Educa t iona l S t ruc tures

L e t me give some examples of changes w e c a n e f f e c t i n t h e

s t ruc tu re of e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s by using appropriately the new

technology of computers and television. Because of my own s p e c i a l

i n t e re s t i n compute r s , I sha l l concen t r a t e on computer p o s s i b i l i t i e s ;

but it should be understaood that television would a l s o be a component

for the proposed changes in s t ructure .

High Schools

My f i r s t example concerns the organization of high schools. An

American phenomenon,much d iscussed in the h i s tory o f educa t ion in the

twent ie th century,has been the introduct ion of the consolidated hígh

school that brings together students from small schools to a c e n t r a l l y

loca ted l a rge school tha t o f fe rs a v a r i e t y of educa t iona l oppor tuni t ies

and resources to the s tudents . The American consolidated high schools is

one of the glories of t h e h i s t o r y of education. Today, however, many

5 3

of us €eel tha t t he l a rge h igh s choo l has become one of t he most

d - i f f i cy l t i n s t i t u t ions t o deal with from a soc ia l s tandpoin t . The mass

aggregation of adolescents in one spot creates an environment that is

on the one hand impersonal, and on the o the r po ten t i a l ly exp los ive ,

partly because of t h e l a r g e numbers of s tuden t s and supe rv i s ing adu l t s

in c lose quar te rs .

The use of our new technology w i l l make poss ib l e an a l t e rna t ive

s t r u c t u r e t h a t will r e tu rn u s t o t h e small schools of t he pas t . The

ideal h igh school of. t he fu tu re may c o n s i s t of no more than a hundred

students and, in many cases , be l oca t ed c lose t o s tuden t s ' homes; i t

=ay be a spec ia l i zed s choo l , c a t e r ing t o s tuden t s ' pa r t i cu la r

i n t e r e s t s . The v a r i e t y of curriculum and other educational resources,

such as l i b ra r i e s , t ha t has been s o ímportant a f e a t u r e of t he

consolidated high school, w i l l be made a v a i l a b l e by computer and

television technology. I should say in th i s connec t íon tha t the

changes that can be broupjhtabout through the use of computers are more

d r a s t i c and more radical than those that can be effected only through

te lev is ion . The d i f f e rence is t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of a high level of

i n t e rac t ion 'between the cornputer program and t h e s t u d e n t , t h e s o r t of

th ing tha t i s not poss ib le wi th a s t anda rd t e l ev i s ion l ec tu re o r

laboratory demonstration.

Elementary Schools

My second example concerns a l t e r n a t i v e s t o elementary schools.

Through most of t h e h i s t o r y of c i v i l i z a t i o n , young chi ldren have been

54

t aught p r imar i ly a t home, o f t e n p e r h a p s i n an extended family group.

We now h a v e t h e t e c h n i c a l p o s s i b i l i t y of r e t u r n i n g t h e s t u d e n t t o

the home o r t o a small neighborhood group. Although these

a l t e rna t ives have not yet been thoroughly explored, i t is important

t h a t d i s c u s s i o n of t h e i r a v a i l a b i l i t y b e g i n as e a r l y as poss ib l e .

A s fa r as I know, t h e new romant ics ín educa t ion have no t d i scussed

t h e r a d i c a l p o s s i b i l i t y of d i s s o l v í r g e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l s e n t i r e l y and

r e t u r n i n g t h e c h i l d t o t h e home--or t o a neighborhood group of t h r e e

o r four homes--for h i s e d u c a t i o n .

I n d e s c r i b i n g t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y , l e t m e emphasize that 1 am n o t

ma in ta in ing t ha t i t is n e c e s s a r i l y a wise move, 1 do, however, think

i t i m p o r t a n t t h a t t h i s t e c h n i c a l p o s s i b i l i t y is now a v a i l a b l e . A t

the very least , it should be explored experimental ly . By proper use

of computer t echnology, the bas ic sk i l l s of reading, mathematics, and

language arts can e a s i l y b e b r o u g h t t o t h e s t u d e n t i n t h e home o r i n

a c l u s t e r of homes. Most of the e lementary sc ience cur r icu lum a l so

can be handled by computer . Other par ts of the e lementary sc ience

curriculum, of t h e s o c i a l s t u d i e s program, and much of t h e work i n

a r t and music could be handled by te levis ion. I envisage a s i t u a t i o n

i n which a master teacher would d i v i d e h i s time among several u n i t s .

The mothers of t h e c h i l d r e n would assume r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s f o r s u p e r -

vis ion and some would work as t eache r s ' a ides . Such an approach

would be comple te ly na tura l , because of the p roximi ty of t h e school

t o t h e i r homes. In many u r b a n s e t t i n g s , €or example, i t would be

n a t u r a l t o p l a c e classrooms i n a p a r t m e n t c o m p l e x e s . I n o t h e r d i s t r i c t s ,

55

I

a small one-room bui ld ing could be added, or it migh t even be f eas tb l e

t o pay a small r e n t t o one of t h e f a m i l i e s f o r t h e u s e o f s p a c e i n a

home. The main t h i n g t o a v o i d is h e a v y c a p i t a l e x p e n d i t u r e f o r p h y s i c a l

p l an t s ; we have had too much of t h i s i n t h e p a s t .

Higher Education

The t h i r d a l t e r n a t i v e s t r u c t u r e d e a l s w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n . Here

t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s are perhaps the easiest t o implement and may be

rea l ized sooner than the o thers . In t h e areas surrounding Stanford,

several community c o l l e g e s are a l r eady o f f e r ing cour ses f o r c r e d i t by

t e l ev i s ion . A s w e face t h e c o s t s t h r o u g h o u t t h e world of provid ing

higher educat ion for increasing numbers , the use of computers and

t e l ev i s ion t o r educe cos t s and t o d e c e n t r a l i z e t h e e d u c a t i o n a l e f f o r t

seems almost i n e v i t a b l e . One can see t e r m i n a l s a v a i l a b l e í n a p a r t m e n t

complexes f o r s t u d e n t s a t t h e community-col2.ege level. A t a l a te r

s tage, one can envisage terminsls i n plants where employees work f u l l -

time, bu t a l so ac t ive ly pu r sue t he i r educa t ion . I should ment ion that

in Cal i fo rn ia , for example, a reasonable percentage of s t u d e n t s i n t h e

state h igher educa t iona l sys tem are employed ful l - t ime, s imultaneously

wi th t he i r emol lmen t as s tuden t s . The development of such a d e l i v e r y

system for higher educat ion w i l l also na tu ra l ly answer demands f o r

con t inu ing educa t ion fo r adu l t s . A t a more d i s t a n t d a t e , o n e can

expect the terminal resources descr ibed earlier t o b e a v a i l a b l e i n t h e

home f o r t h e t e a c h i n g of a wide range of subjects , f rom foreign

languages t o advanced technical courses in science and mathematics .

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i ! r ;

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I emphasize, however, that the problems of i n s t i t u t i o n a l change

of t he so r t j u s t d i scussed are poorly understood. There i s evidence

t h a t u n i v e r s i t i e s , for example, are among the most Conservative

i n s t i t u t i o n s i n o u r s o c i e t y . In any case, the r ap id development of

a l t e rna t fve s t ruc tu res fo r educa t ion will be ne i the r s i m p l e nor easy.

On the o the r hand, the wi l l ingness of community co l l eges , which do

not have a long t rad i t ion , to cons ider new methods of i n s t r u c t i o n

and new approaches i s encouraging, There are problems of prejudice

and entrenchment, but there are a l s o i n t e l l e c t u a l problems of under-

s tanding the kinds of organiza t ion w e want f o r t h e f u t u r e . The

technology affords many p o s s i b i l i t i e s , b u t we have not thought

through which of these possibil i t ies we cons ider the most advantageous,

t h e most i n t e r e s t i n g , o r t h e most exc i t ing .

The c e n t r a l i d e a I have been stressing ís that through computers

we have the means t o d e v e l o p a l t e r n a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s t h a t will

effect ively decentral ize the present educat ional system. -The i s s u e of

decen t r a l i za t ion of s e rv i ces , of places of work, of almost a l l aspec ts

of our l i f e is gradual ly coming t o t h e f o r e as a c e n t r a l s o c i a l and

p o l i t i c a l problem of t h e las t p a r t of the twentieth century. The

issues involved in decentral iz ing educat ion w i l l be among the most

s ignif icant of these problems of decen t r a l i za t ion , The problems t h a t

f ace us are not rea l ly t echnologica l : they are conceptual,

i n s t i t u t i o n a l , and s o c i a l . I have cer ta inly not made any concrete

suggest ions for tackl ing these problems; a t most, I have t r i ed t o

br ing them t o your a t ten t ion .