The future prospects for instructional uses of the computer. [in The emerging technology, 1972, (Part 3, Chapters 11-18), 431-568. ]
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CONTRIBUTORS:
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JOURNAL:
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Computing Reviews,
16(9),
373 -
374.
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YEAR:
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1975
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PUB TYPE:
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Book Review
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SUBJECT(S):
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Future of computers in education
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DISCIPLINE:
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Computer Science
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HTTP:
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LANGUAGE:
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English
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PUB ID:
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103-427-167
(Last edited on
2006/05/30 10:28:42 GMT-6)
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ABSTRACT:
The three subject sections in this volume have been individually reviewed; each is cross-referenced to this main entry to provide complete source and citation data.
The last Part presents a framework for decision, a chapter on economics, and others on technology, institutions, attitudes, strategies for the future, and recommendations. Finally there is a section on references, another on "selected Rand books," and an index.
The section on "Selected Rand Books" is quite interesting. Why a text entitled "The Matrix of Policy in the Philippines," or another, "The Urban Transportation Problem" would be "selected" for the reader to examine in a volume dedicated to the uses of computers in education is a mystery. Who selected these-and why? As for the reviewer, he prefers to read Boehm's "ROCKET: Rand's Omnibus Calculator of the Kinematics of Earth Trajectories" also on the "selected" list!
In "Framework for Decision," Levien and Barro view computer instruction in a system context. They do this in a figure (page 439) by graphically depicting the "Educational Institution" as consisting of four subsystems: Administrative and Support Activities, Computer-Instruction Subsystem, Conventional-Instruction Subsystem, and Noninstructional-Activities Subsystem. The authors also define system as "an interrelated set of activities, aimed at producing education and other products such as research and public service." However, the model which is presented shows no interrelationships! Aha! That's it! An "educational institution" is a system consisting of parts or subsystems which are not interrelated! Without realizing it, Levien and Barro have stumbled on the Rosetta Stone of Higher Education!
In "Economics," Barro and Levien say that "few institutions accurately know their costs of instruction on a course-by-course, or even a subject-by-subject basis." This is followed by the belief that "few-if any-institutions of higher education are able to evaluate with any objectivity or precision the effectiveness of conventional instruction in their courses, let alone to compare it with computer instruction." Thus, it is difficult for the authors to discuss the cost-effectiveness aspect of computer uses in an institution. Yet, they conclude "In sum, we believe that the net effect of these trends will be that instructional use of the computer will be cost-effective in a wide and continually growing range of circumstances in the future."
In "Strategies for the Future," Levien (page 547) states "In sum, the present situation is not conducive to the creation of a dynamic, competitive market for instructional computer uses," But (on page 561) he feels that "it seems probable that a competitive market for computer-based instructional materials can be created on the basis of any one of three technologies: large time-shared computers, minicomputers, and networks combining them." The key, of course, may be found in data revealing the number of students attending an institution of higher learning. The market for computer utilization is bound up in the market for students and, in face of a declining birth rate and postWorld War II baby generation, one can assume that computer purchases will be tied to student enrollment. Levien talks of a "market" which does not consist of students, but only of administrators and faculty. Perhaps the institution he visualizes performs research but is devoid of learners? The academician dream!
The final section is "Recommendations":
L. C. Silvern, Los Angeles, Calif.
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