Some principles for the human use of computers in education

✍ Scribed by Thomas A. Dwyer

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1971
• Weight: 1009 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7373
• DOI: 10.1016/s0020-7373(71)80003-2

✦ Synopsis

There are two recurring themes found in recent proposals for educational innovation. The first speaks to the importance of a humanistic approach to education; to the futility of imposing subject content on the student who does not perceive its acquisition as important; to the unlimited potential, on the other hand, of learners who elect to make the pursuit of some educational goal their own private crusade. The second theme is concerned with the potential of computing and information processing systems as instructional devices. This paper argues the importance of communication between these two views. Five principles for relating computer technology to a humanistic view of education are given, and an experimental program in the Pittsburgh public school system which is based on these principles is briefly described. A software system called NEW-BASIC/ CATALYST has been developed as a result of this undertaking. Several examples derived from this work are shown.